RUBBER AND RUBBER PLANTING 129 



repays the cost of tapping, and the risk of serious 

 injury is great owing to the thinness of the bark. If 

 the planter can afford to wait until the trees have 

 reached a somewhat larger girth so much the better. 



Before describing methods of tapping in detail, we 

 may give a general account of the ordinary routine of 

 an estate on which the harvesting of the rubber is in 

 progress. A start is made in the very early morning, 

 since the earlier the trees are tapped the more freely 

 does the latex flow. Each tapper has a certain number 

 of trees assigned to him or her. In some cases each 

 worker is allotted the task of tapping a certain number 

 of trees and is paid by the day. On other estates 

 payment is made according to the quantity of rubber 

 obtained. In such cases each tapper has the run of 

 a somewhat larger area. In either case the quality 

 of the work performed requires thorough supervision, 

 since the least carelessness in tapping may lead to 

 serious injury of the bark. At the first round the trees 

 are tapped and collecting cups of tin, glass or coconut- 

 shell are placed in position to receive the latex. When 

 the tapping round is completed, the coolie makes a 

 second round provided with a pail of enamelled iron, 

 into which the contents of the several cups are poured. 

 The latex is carried to the factory, where the quantity 

 obtained by each tapper or group of tappers may be 

 separately coagulated, and the wet rubber weighed, 

 before it passes on into the general stock. A third 

 round may then be made in order to scour the cups and 

 L. 9 



