200 FORESTRY IN THE LANDES 



There seems to be a good deal of variation in the frequency of tapping. 

 Some chip once a week during the entire season, others every 5 days, 

 while still others will only chip once every 12 to 15 days; this latter 

 method decreases the resin flow. On the whole, it is better to chip at 

 regular intervals, with the rule that the chipping would be more frequent 

 during the hot weather in the summer than during the spring or autumn. 

 A common rule followed in the Landes is to "chip once every 5 days from 

 May 15 to September 15 and once a week during the remainder of the 

 period." 



The cups are usually cleaned seven times a year and the rain is poured 

 out after chipping. The trees are scraped once sometime between 

 October and December. It is usually recommended to begin the first 

 of March and continue until the end of October.^' 



It is not only necessary to secure a quantity'" of gum but also to secure 

 a good quality. Therefore, it should not be allowed to deteriorate in the 

 cups. Yet to collect too frequently means uimecessary expense. To dip 

 ten times per season is hardly necessary, while seven or eight times is a 

 good average. Five (collections a year, on the other hand, is not often 

 enough. The difference between good, clean resin and that which is full 

 of chips and other debris may be as much as a dollar per barrel. 



Effect of Tapping. — There is no question but that the turpentine 

 operation decreases the rate of growth of maritime pine, but, on the 

 other hand, it makes the wood harder and more durable and the im- 

 pregnation even extends to the heartwood. The general opinion is 

 that tapped trees are better for flooring, boards, ties, and planks, while 

 untapped pine is better for telegraph poles, mine props, and box boards. 

 Unquestionably the quality of the wood diminishes after 25 to 30 years 

 of tapping alive, and is inferior to wood cut from trees tapped to death for 

 only 3 to 4 years. 



^' J. H. Ricard, writing in 1910, made the following conclusions: Tapping opera- 

 tions are from March to October. The face should be chipped every 8 days in spring 

 and fall and every 4 to 5 days in summer. The pot should be emptied every 2 to 3 

 weeks and there should be one barrel for storage per 1^000 trees tapped. There are 

 about 40 chippings per season and the cut should be less rather than more than 0.3 

 inch; wide faces are unnecessan' because the resin comes from the sides of the cut and 

 "the return in resin has not been proportional to the surface of the face." After 4 

 years of tapping trees should be given a rest of 2 to 3 years. Trees under 8 inches in 

 diameter are rarely tapped unless they are to be removed in thinnings. A workman 

 can chip 1,000 to 2,000 pine per day, according to the ground, and often tends about 

 4,000 trees. 



»° The workmen received, before the war, one-half the resm for their pay and the 

 operator or owner furnished the cups and gutters. The smoothing off of the bark 

 begins the last of February and the scraping off of dried pitch is usually finished in 

 early December. In the interim the resin tappers work at clearing underbrush and 

 pruning young stands. 



