48 RUBBER 



thereon. The operator stands on the ground to make 

 the lower ones ; when he has reached as far up as he 

 can in this way, he climbs the tree by means of a bush- 

 rope ladder, or hauls himself up in a rope cradle, or on 

 stirrups made by twisting a rope spirally round the 

 trunk. At the base of the trunk a calabash is put, 

 and the latex trickles down into this by way of the 

 zigzag cuts. 



The latex is poured into the dabree, where it naturally 

 coagulates into sheets. These sheets are hung up first 

 on the framework of the dabree to drain, and then in 

 a shed to dry ready for being sent down to town, to 

 the owners of the grant. 



Under peril of losing their licence, the owners are 

 responsible for seeing that their labourers obey certain 

 regulations, which have been made with a view to 

 keeping the balata-trees in good condition. No tree 

 may be tapped until its trunk measures 3 feet round 

 at a distance of 4 feet from the ground. Only half the 

 trunk surface may be bled in one season ; the cuts 

 must not completely penetrate the bark, must not be 

 more than 1| inches wide, and there must be a distance 

 of at least 10 inches between any two of them. No 

 part of a tree may be retapped until the old wounds 

 have quite healed, a process which takes from four to 

 five ^^ears. 



Balata is largely used for machinery-belting. The 

 latest statistics give the total weight of balata exported 

 by British Guiana during the first nine months of the 

 year 1910-1911 as over a million pounds. 



