128 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



gutters. The incisions are made by a 

 right-handed and left-handed workman, 

 each with a broadax, having a straight- 

 edged blade 1 2 inches wide. The men 

 work on opposite sides of the tree ; each 

 man directs the head of his broadax 

 somewhat downward, and with one 

 stroke makes an inclined gash about 

 one-fourth of an inch deep across the 

 flat face on his side of the tree. The 

 incisions are made slightly deeper at 

 their lower ends. The gash on one 

 side should be made about an inch lower 



the lower gutter should pass beyond 

 the angle about one and one-half inches, 

 thus forming a spout to convey the 

 resin from both gutters into the cup 

 below (Fig. i). 



In hanging the cup, care should be 

 taken to drive the nail (a common 6- 

 penny wire nail) at a sharp downward 

 incline, and deep enough to leave only 

 about three-fourths of an inch exposed. 

 The nail is driven on the same side of 

 the tree with the upper gutter, so that 

 the cup when hung shall not be more 



FIG. I. SHOWING THE POSITION OF CUP AND GUTTERS. 



than on the other, but both should be 

 so placed that there will be a space 

 about 3 inches wide above them for 

 the passage of the hack in the later 

 chipping of the faces. Into the incisions 

 thus made the galvanized iron gutters 

 are firmly inserted, either by pressing 

 one edge upward into the cut, or, better, 

 by slipping the gutter endwise into the 

 upper end of the cut and pushing it 

 downward into place (Fig. i). The 

 lower end of the upper gutter is brought 

 to, and then forced down one-fourth of 

 an inch beyond, the angle where the 

 two faces meet ; while the inner end of 



than half an inch below the end of the 

 spout of the lower gutter, and the nail 

 shall be as far as possible from the 

 dripping resin. This point is of great 

 importance, for when the cups are filled 

 with rain water, the fresh resin, lighter 

 than water, at first forms a floating 

 disc on the surface. As more resin 

 drops on this, the disc enlarges until 

 it touches and becomes anchored to the 

 wall of the cup. If the cup is properly 

 placed, this point of contact will be 

 well away from the nail-hole, which 

 will consequently not be clogged by 

 the resin. As more resin drops upon 



