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a period of about equal length is allowed to elapse without 

 tapping. On others and the majority of places tapping is 

 continued without cessation, in some cases trees having 

 without any reduction of yield been tapped for 34 to 4 years 

 every other day without cessation. On the question of 

 daily or alternate days' tapping planters are also divided, 

 and experience of yields points somewhat to the advantage 

 of the latter practice. 



There is no physiological reason why the tapping 

 should cease during the leafless or fruit-bearing period; the 

 cutting of the small portions of the bark which tapping 

 implies being in the case of a tree of 20" or more in girth 

 so slight an injury as to be negligible. 



The best and simplest criterion for deciding how long 

 to continue tapping is found in keeping a record of the 

 amount of latex from each tree from 1,000 trees or from a 

 field. If these figures show no serious and continuous de- 

 cline there is no reason to stop tapping. On the other hand 

 when, after a series of tappings, say 40 or 50, the amount of 

 latex obtained decreases in a marked manner and this 

 decrease is constant, the yields being less and less, then it is 

 advisable to stop for a period of a month at least, and not 

 to begin again until by an experimental tapping it is found 

 that the flow is again large. 



On one estate the tapping for a number of cuts was 

 habitually stopped when the yield had attained the maxi- 

 mum, and after some weeks tapping again produced less 

 yield which increased till the arbitrary time of ceasing. 

 The method, which is adopted to a great extent from fear of 

 using too much bark, is most unprofitable as it leads to 

 stopping before the best yields have been obtained. 



It is natural ly wise to so arrange tapping operations 

 that it will not be necessary to retap renewed bark for some 

 considerable period, but we do not yet know by experiment 

 in the Ala lay States what length of time is necessary for a 

 healthy tree, carefully tapped, to produce new bark contain- 

 ing a large number of well-filled latex vessels. The time 

 of four years has been arbitrarily fixed by some planters 

 and their tapping schemes are arranged in relation to that 

 period. That four years, three years, or two years are 

 necessary for the formation of bark suitable for tapping 

 cannot yet be definitely stated, but it is highly probable 

 from isolated cases where such experiments have been made 

 that four years is unnecessarily long. 



