210 PRACTICAL FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



This system of continuous or practically continuous light tap- 

 ping, combined with heavy tapping on the trees shortly to be 

 felled, has now been generally adopted in the Kumaun Working 

 Plans. It is a sound and simple system and thoroughly justified 

 in all areas where the middle and younger age classes are well 

 represented, which ensures that a continuous supply of younger 

 trees become tapable and take the place of the mature trees as 

 they are felled. It is however a very doubtful point if this system 

 of continuous tapping can be justifiably applied to many foivsts 

 newly reserved in Kumaun, where we find the middle and younger 

 age classes almost totally absent. In such areas continuous 

 .tapping will inevitably lead to a hiatus and drop off yield in 20 

 years when the older trees have been thoroughly tapped, and there 

 are no younger trees to take their place. The total all in cost 

 of delivery of reain at factory site, and the selling rates for the 

 manufactured products are the two dominant factors which 

 limit the scope and radius of tapping in the extensive pine forests 

 of Kumaun, and any reduction in the cost or rise in the selling 

 rate will automatically increase the possible output. 



3. Organisation of the tapping labour. The resin industry 

 employs a very considerable amount of labour, which is employed 

 (1) in- the winter in fixing pots and lips, and making the com- 

 mencement of channels in new coupes, (2) in the hot weather and 

 rains in freshening the channels weekly, collecting the crude 

 resin from the pots and taking it to the forest de"p6ts. Labour is 

 also required throughout the year in carrying the stocks of resin 

 from the forest de"p6ts to the main export de"p6ts lohars in repair- 

 ing and sharpening tools, solderers for soldering up the tins of 

 resin, potters for making the clay pots or receptacles. 



In the early days of the industry, all labour was paid by fixed 

 daily wage an unsatisfactory system which led to idling and gave 

 the subordinate staff many opportunities of dishonesty. From 

 1911 to 1918 a system was evolved of farming out the resin coupes 

 to contractors, with a fixed payment per maund of resin delivered. 

 This was a great improvement on the daily wage system and made 



