THE TAPPING SCHEME. 209 



tapping has to be forgone. Furthermore, the clay pots left in the 

 forests at the end of five years' tapping period are entirely lost, 

 unless (as rarely happens) there is a succeeding coupe in the 

 immediate vicinity. It does not pay to carry pots far. 



' It is therefore proposed to introduce a more continuous process 

 of tapping, with a decrease in the intensity for all the cliir forests 

 of the Naini Tal division. The proposal is practically to adopt 

 the French method of tapping, i. e. one channel per tree, with no 

 rest period. In the Landes the minimum girth is 3', and a new 

 channel is started every five years, the individual channel reach- 

 ing up to a height of 12'. 



" In the Himalayas it is impossible, owing to the configura- 

 tion of the ground, to tap as high as 12', about 6' to 8' 6" is 

 the limit. To i>e on the safe side and as this continuous tapping 

 is a new departure in India, it is proposed to fix a minimum girth 

 of 3' 6" and to start a new channel every six years. On the 

 other hand, as many of our trees are over-mature, and of very 

 much larger girth than is ever reached in France, trees of 7' girth 

 may have two channels every six years. If (as may frequently 

 happen on the steeper slopes) the channels become too high in the 

 sixth year for working, this sixth year will remain idle. There 

 seems to be no reason for doubting that what the French maritime 

 pine will stand, the cliir pine will stand, and we have therefore a 

 Jartioii ground for holding that tapping to this extent will not be 

 i xcessive. 



" Combined with this continuous, or almost continuous, light 

 tapping will be heavy tapping on trees to be felled within the next 

 five years. In this type of tapping the number of channels is 

 determined by what can be comfortably squeezed on to the tree. 

 In practice 4" to 5* have to be left at the bottom of the tree 

 between channels, or they run into each other higher up. As a 

 general formula for well-shaped cylindrical trees, the maximum 

 number of channels which can be put on is **, where N = girth of 



trees in feet." 



H 



