118 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS 



THE SCHEDULE. 



1. Rides relating to Rubber. 



The Southern Nigerian Rules should, with the modifications 

 indicated below, be applied to the Gold Coast Colony and 

 Ashanti, but not to the Northern Territories, as but little is 

 known about the rubber-producing plants of that region. 



Rules 1 and 2 of the Rules may stand. 



Rule 3 should be modified to suit local arrangements. 



Rule 4 should be altered to the effect that these Rules do not 

 apply to Reserves, which, as I have mentioned before, should be 

 managed under rules specially framed for that purpose. 



Rule 5 to stand; the titles of the officials mentioned in the 

 Rule may require alteration in accordance with local procedure. 



Rule 6. To stand. 

 Rule 7. Ditto. 



Rules 8, 9, 10, and 11 can stand; the title " District Commis- 

 sioner" may be replaced by the general term "Commissioner." 



Rules 12, 13, 14 can remain unaltered. 



Rule 15. The minimum girth may, I think, be reduced to 

 24 inches. 



Rule 16' should be completely altered and replaced by one in 

 which the following are provided for instead : 



(1) That the trees are not tapped during the months December 

 to June. 



(2) That under no circumstances should the cuts penetrate 

 deeper than the cambium layer, and on no account must they 

 enter the wood. 



(3) No tapping shall be done higher up the tree than 12 feet 

 from the ground. 



(4) That tapping be undertaken only in the early morning, 

 and not later than nine o'clock, provided that on cloudy or 

 rainy days, when the sun is obscured, it may be carried on up 

 to a later hour. 



(5) That the system of tapping followed is that known as the 

 "half herring-bone" method, which may be described as 

 follows: 



A vertical, very shallow channel, not more than i-inch wide, 

 is cut from the base of the tree up its trunk to a height not 

 exceeding 12 feet. From this channel, branch channels are cut 

 at an angle of 45 with the main channel, and on one side only 

 of that channel. The branch cuts should be at intervals of 

 6 inches, and should not go more than a quarter round the tree. 



