TAPPING 69 



satisfactory as the system of bark incision with a gouge 

 or similar tools, may prove to be the solution of the 

 problem in the Amazon Valley, by procuring a marked 

 increase of latex without additional labour or the 

 exposure of the tree to any danger of damage from 

 cambium disease or borer. 



A few years ago in Ceylon a suggestion was put 

 forward by Mr. Northway to establish a system of 

 tapping the latex cells by the use of incision instead of 

 excision methods. The idea was to prick the cells in 

 place of paring away the cortex with a gouge or other 

 species of tapping knife. For this purpose a many- 

 pointed rotary disc some 2 inches in diameter was 

 invented, and this was attached to a handle about 

 9 inches in length. A shallow cut with a gouge was 

 made in the outer bark to provide a channel leading to 

 the receiving cup ; this cut was reopened daily, and the 

 pricker was run over the exposed cortex with sufficient 

 force to penetrate the latex cells, causing the milk to 

 exude freely and flow down the channel to the receiver 

 at the base of the tree. The objections raised to this 

 system by the Ceylon planters were that it was slow in 

 comparison with gouge work done by expert tappers, that 

 the yield per tree was no greater, and the number of 

 trees tapped daily by each coolie was considerably less 

 than with the existing methods, and that under efficient 

 supervision the prevailing system of bark excision in- 

 flicted no practical damage on the trees and admitted of 

 a satisfactory renewal within a reasonable period of time. 

 In these circumstances the ideas of Mr. Northway made 

 little progress in Ceylon or the Malay Peninsula ; but 

 they have been applied successfully on his own estate, 



