NEW TAPPING SCHEME 



193 



New Tapping Scheme. — The French have abandoned the fifth year 

 of tapping (see Fig. 17, a and b) because of the following objections: (1) 

 Difficulty of chipping the face when it is over 9.8 feet in height; (2) this 

 high face, which is often too deep because of the difficulty of accurate 

 chipping, heals poorly or at least very slowly; (3) an important part of 

 the bole is damaged by a high face. For these reasons the tapping period 

 has been changed from 5 to 4 years. The dimensions for the faces now 

 are: 



TABLE 21.— WIDTH AND HEIGHT OF FACES 



With the former fifth year system in vogue the total height was 3.70 

 meters (12.1 feet) before 1904; 3.40 meters (11.1 feet) from 1904 to 1909; 

 and 3.20 meters (10.4 feet) since 1910. A translation of the official tap- 

 ping rules is given in the Appendix, p. 429. 



According to Cattin and Saint- J ours a period of rest of 1 or 2 years is 

 not always necessary with strong, thrifty trees, although the annual 

 growth is unquestionably increased if the rest is given. On the Florida 

 National Forest in the United States there are 6 years of tapping followed 

 by 3 years of rest ; with the French system of tapping such a period of rest 

 is generally considered unnecessary. 



In the forest of La Teste trees but 7, 10, and 12 inches in diameter each 

 (being tapped to death) had three faces the first year and later four to five. 

 The trees tapped alive had one face only. Formerly, the faces began on 

 the south side and went to the north, then to the west, and then to the 

 east. Now the first face is placed on the east side of the tree (away from 

 the ocean) where the growth is best, then to the west; the third and fourth 

 faces being regulated by the contour of the tree. The best growth in this 

 locality is always opposite the ocean and the prevailing winds. 



This reduction in the length of the tapping period, when applied to 

 forests being worked on 5-year cycles, will mean the revision of working 

 plans. The regeneration by clear cutting will be every 4 years instead of 

 5 years as formerly, and the cycle for thinnings will also be reduced from 5 

 to 4 years. In the future the cleanings will be made earfier after re- 



