68 THE RUBBER INDUSTRY 



trunk being placed against the tree to give access to the 

 staging. Experience proves that overhead tapping is 

 no more injurious to the rubber-tree than when the 

 latex is drawn from the lower levels ; but the yield is 

 not so abundant, and the first cost of erecting the plat- 

 form, and the loss of time and the danger to life and 

 limb when ascending and descending the primitive 

 appliance doing duty for a ladder, are factors that must 

 be duly taken into account as affecting a final cost of 

 production. It often happens that the lower portions 

 of the stems are so badly scarred by ill usage with the 

 machadinho that tapping is impossible, and then the 

 trees must be abandoned unless the work is continued 

 overhead ; in such cases it is absurd to allow old super- 

 stitions regarding possible injurious effects to stand in 

 the way of a harvest being obtained by utilizing this 

 method. 



A system of tapping in vogue among the Indians 

 many years ago is still practised to a small extent, 

 especially near the River Tapajoz. Split canes about 

 ij inches wide are twisted round the lower part of 

 the tree, and the interstices between the trunk and 

 the cane filled with clay, thus forming a channel round 

 the stem. Above this channel incisions are made with 

 the machadinho, the latex flowing from these cuts to the 

 cane trough, and thence to a tin cup placed at the foot 

 of the tree. This method is interesting as a relic of 

 ancient usage, but in itself has no particular advantages 

 to recommend it as superior to the customary process 

 employed ; it has, however, a very important bearing in 

 regard to the application of another form of tapping 

 attempted in Ceylon and Java, and, although not so 



