180 RICHMOND. 



MODE OF PRODUCTION. 



Recent resin. — At least 50 per cent of the Manila copal exported from 

 the Philippines at the present time is collected in the Davao district 

 of Mindanao and probably 90 per cent of the resin produced in this 

 region is obtained by blazing living trees. The best results are secured 

 by removing strips of bark about 1 meter long and 20 to 30 centimeters 

 wide from different sides of the tree, thus offering clean surfaces for 

 the resin to deposit as it exudes from the cut edges of the bark. 



Another method of tapping practiced by the native collectors, which 

 makes no provision for a clean surface upon which the resin may deposit 

 and consequently gives a product which is generally mixed with chips 

 and bark, consists in hacking a wedge-shaped place in the trunk of 

 the tree. 



The resin first appears as almost colorless tears, which soon harden on 

 their outer surfaces. As the exudation continues, the fresh resin, instead 

 of flowing out over the first portion produced, appears to force the latter 

 outward by depositing beneath it; that is, the outer surface is always 

 hard and friable. Consequently, the hardening process is extremely 

 slow, and the size of the lumps of hardened resin collected is dependent 

 upon the length of time it is allowed to form. In this manner it requires 

 about two weeks to produce pieces of solid resin of marketable size. 

 No reliable information is at hand with respect to the quantity of recent 

 resin which is produced by a single tree in a given period, or regarding 

 the effect of seasonal changes upon the rate of production, although the 

 native collectors state that the resin flows best just after the rainy season. 

 The tapping or blazing of much longer areas of the tree trunk, as is 

 practiced in Borneo, would undoubtedly give a much larger yield per tree. 



MINERAL RESIN. 



In distinction from the recent gum obtained as above described, the 

 living trees have another way of producing commercial resin. When 

 excavations are made so as to expose their roots, deposits of hardened 

 copal possessing very similar chemical properties to the artificial resin 

 are frequently encountered. The origin of such deposits is not clear, 

 although it is well known that cutting or otherwise wounding the roots, 

 as well as the stems, of living trees also induces a flow of resin. In New 

 Caledonia the following method of producing kauri copal from different 

 species of Agathis was formerly employed : Large pits were dug under 

 the trees and cuts made on the exposed roots. The excavations were then 

 carefully covered over and allowed to fill with resin, which hardened in one 

 or two months into blocks. This method of production is also to some 

 extent practiced in the Philippines and it furnishes a resin which at first 

 is muddy in color and consistency, but which hardens in about two 



