443 



whereas compartments 3, 4, and 5 were tapped by Garos with half 

 inch carpenters' gouges introduced for the first time as an experi- 

 ment. The gouge was worked with a small mallet and is reported 

 to be the best of the three methods, as it does not damage the tree 

 so much *as the dhao or kukri, shallow wounds, only bark deep, 

 being made, instead of the deeply-incised and jangged wounds 

 caused by the last-mentioned tools. In this connection, it is im- 

 portant to remember that the rubber cells are located in the inner 

 bark layers, and that to obtain the latex flow, it is unnecessary to 

 wound any portion of the cambium. It is therefore, expedient 

 that the tapping tool employed should be capable of being con- 

 trolled and guided to a greater extent than is practicable with a 

 dhao or kukri, which can be used only with a forcible, and, oftener 

 than not, a damaging cut. 



6. The plantation was inspected by the Conservator as recently 

 as the 13th of the present month, when it was observed that bark 

 was already forming over the gouge cuts, that is to say, within 

 eight months of the tapping operations, and it seems safe to pre- 

 dict that these kinds of wounds will be thoroughly healed twelve 

 months after their first infliction. The dhao cuts, on the other 

 hand, take longer to heal, and compartments 1 and 2 that were 

 tapped in January, 1899, are on ty now recovering from the opera- 

 tion. Roughly speaking, it may be stated that these kinds of cuts 

 take six months longer to heal than those made with the gouge. 



7. The outturn of raw unclean rubber obtained by the different 

 Comparison of raw methods was slightly in favour of the dhao and 



outturn obtained by kukri, compartments 6, 7, and 8 yielding '79 of 

 different tools. a p 0un( j p er tree, as compared with -65 of a 



pound per tree yielded by compartments 3, 4, and 5. But the slight 

 difference in favour of the dhao is more than counterbalanced by 

 the greater damage caused to the trees, while it is reported by 

 Mr. Copeland that the loss in weight caused by the extraction of 

 foreign matters is in favour of the gouge — the actual ratio based 

 on the results of carefully weighing the first two days' tappings 

 being as 3 to 5. Unfortunately, the clean rubber obtained from the 

 different compartments was subsequently not kept separate, when 

 it became impossible to correctly differentiate between the clean 

 outturn resulting from the use of the different tools, and the figures 

 exhibited under this head in Statement A attached are considered 

 to show results too favourable to compartments 6, 7, and 8, at the 

 expense of compartments 3, 4, and 5. 



8. In this connection it may be noted that, with the help of 

 New tool recently Messrs. Ahmuty & Co., of Calcutta, a new kind 



designed. of gouge has lately been made, which promises 



to turn out better for the work than either of those above men- 

 tioned. 



9. Considering the figures relating to loss of weight, owing to 

 Loss of weight by cleaning and drying, as a whole, it would appear 



intermixture of for- that, on the raw material as first collected, this 

 eign matters, etc. losg came to about ^ percent., a proportion 



