130 RUBBER AND 



to collect the scrap rubber which has congealed in the 

 cups or upon the bark of the tree. More often this 

 work is relegated to a less experienced hand. Periodi- 

 cally also the shavings of bark which have fallen upon 

 the ground are collected, and even the earth upon 

 which latex may have trickled is not wasted; from 

 both these sources low grades of rubber are extracted 

 in the factory. 



Tapping processes may be divided into methods of 

 incision and methods of excision. In the excision or 

 paring methods, which are almost universally employed 

 in practice on estates, a thin shaving of bark is removed 

 from the tree at each tapping. Incision methods are 

 designed to extract the latex by pricking or gashing 

 without removal of bark. 



Incision Methods of Tapping. 



Methods of incision or pricking have many points 

 to recommend them, at least in theory. If we are to 

 credit the dictum of Mr Herbert Wright, that the best 

 method of tapping is the one which leads to the greatest 

 flow of latex with the least possible removal of bark, 

 a pricking system in which no bark is removed should 

 be superior to any method of paring. There are 

 however many other points to be taken into considera- 

 tion besides the flow of latex and the removal of the 

 bark. It may therefore prove instructive to discuss the 

 disadvantages under which some systems of pricking 



