54 EXPLOITATION IN GASOONT. 



One would think it was going to give way under the weight of its 

 branches. 



" In private woods the incisions are sometimes 4 or 5 metres long, 

 and 2 or 3 are opened at once on the old trees. This is a mistake, 

 because, if more resin is obtained for the moment, the longevity of 

 the tree is materially diminished. 



" As has been said, gemmage a mort is practised on old trees which 

 are to be felled, and upon those which are to be removed, so as to give 

 more room to the others. With the latter, it is done so soon as they 

 can bear a qvarre, which is when they measure from 50 to 60 

 centimetres round, this they usually do at about twenty years of age. 

 The quarres are opened as in the gemmage a vie, only they are en- 

 larged more rapidly, and several are made on the tree at once. It 

 usually takes three or four years to gemmer d, mort, or to bleed them 

 to death. 



" When a quarre is opened or scarified the sap is seen in the form 

 of drops on the exposed wood ; some runs down the wound, the rest 

 solidifies and forms a crust, this is the Galipot. In former times the 

 gemme was allowed to run down to the foot of the tree, where it was 

 collected in a little trough cut in a root or hollowed in the ground. A 

 great deal was lost, especially during the first year, as much of it 

 was absorbed by the sand. Now small earthen pots are hung on the 

 tree, and are gradually raised so as to be on a level with the incision. 

 To direct the gemme into the pot there is a little zinc spout slightly 

 attached to the tree ; the pot is kept in its place between this spout 

 and a nail fixed below it on which it rests. To prevent any loss the 

 pot may be covered by a piece of wood. The resinier or resin collector 

 examines the pots when he scarifies the wound, and he empties them 

 when full. The Galipot is scraped off once or twice in the course of 

 the year. 



" The use of pots and spouts is known as the system of M. Hughes. 

 The outlay at first is greater, but the gemme is purer and in larger 

 quantities, the difference being as four to three, so says M. Samanos. 

 It is much employed in the Dunes, at Cape Breton, at Mimizan, at 

 Biscarosse, at La Teste. It is less usual in Dax, and still less so at 

 Mont de Marsan. The gemmage is there inferior, because, to prevent 

 loss by absorption in the ground, the workmen lead the gemme from 

 several quarres into the same trough. Now to do this they are obliged 

 to out spouts in the foot of the tree which pierce the wood almost 

 completely round the tree, and this causes a rapid decay. Gemmage 



