TAPPING 71 



is strict observance of definite instructions in regard to 

 the use of the pricker, and accurate returns of the 

 labour employed and the yield obtained from the 

 various classes of trees. The experiment may need 

 the attention of one man with practical experience of 

 the Northway method for a time, but a period of six 

 months should be ample to prove the success or failure 

 of the system so far as it applies to existing conditions 

 in Brazil. 



The only really serious difficulties in the way of the 

 widespread adoption of the extraction of the latex by 

 means of pricking instead of cutting the cells with the 

 machadinho or gouge are the thickness and irregularity 

 in the bark of forest-grown trees, and in connection with 

 the high density of the milk causing coagulation in the 

 channels before reaching the receiving cups. There is 

 small doubt that these obstacles can be overcome 

 successfully by careful attention to, and intelligent 

 appreciation of, the general circumstances, and to the 

 local conditions in regard to common-sense modifica- 

 tions in the construction of the pricker and the applica- 

 tion of the latex troughs to the stems of the rubber-trees. 



The collection of rubber from castilloa trees is carried 

 out on quite different principles from the custom estab- 

 lished in connection with the Hevea, and it is conducted 

 in the following manner: Gangs of men, varying in 

 numbers from half a dozen to twenty or thirty, travel 

 through the forests where the castilloa is known to be 

 fairly abundant, and tap each group of trees as they are 

 discovered. The trunks are slashed to a height of from 

 6 to 8 feet from the base, and the latex allowed to 

 flow into cavities hollowed out near the foot of the 



