8o 



THE WHOLE ART OF RUBBER-GROWING 



of the " mother " bark. It was the fashion with 

 the Ceylon and Indian planters to take off the outer 

 bark several weeks before attempting to tap the tree, 

 with the result that their Cearas immediately 

 " sulked ", shedding their leaves prematurely, and 

 ultimately going off into a long, long sleep which, 

 looked so much like death that destruction in- 

 variably followed without the poor tree having a 

 chance to prove its latent vitality. 



Now it should be a cardinal principle in the ex- 

 ploitation of the Manihots that under no circum- 



(A) S- 6 "Diameter (B) 



A 5" to 6" diameter of tree, 

 3 feet from the ground. At this 

 growth Ceara trees may safely be 

 tapped. 



B Third and last section, 12 , 

 to be stripped in one fall season. 



c Second section, 12" 



D First section, 12", showing 

 outer bark stripped and inner bark 

 tapped. 



E Length of a full season's tap- 

 ping area, viz. 36". 



F Distances and position of tap- 

 ping "jabs". 



stances must the outer bark be removed without at 

 once releasing the consequent tension of the tender 

 inner bark by tapping the whole of the area thus 

 exposed. The proper way to do this is to " jab 

 the tree, as shown in the following sketch, with the 

 recognised Ceara knife. This is a tool that may be 

 handled safely by the most careless of coolies, inas- 

 much as it is provided with a " shoulder " guard 



