11 
Part VI.] Preparation of Turpentine , Rosin and Gum. 
tapping * ‘ wound.’ Large trees yield mucli more drip 
per square inch of wound than small trees, and it is there¬ 
fore doubtful whether it will pay to tap small trees. 
There is apparently no extra yield from the south side of 
the tapped trees. 
“ (9) The tapping is done with 12 inches Draw-knives or Spoke- 
shaves, as they are found to be much handier than axes ; 
and the gum-oleo-resin is scraped off the surface of the 
wound with blunt knives about 6 inches long. 
“ (10) A tapping wound one foot broad is apparently too large. 
The original wound might be made only 6 inches broad ; 
and in freshing it, an inch or so might be left untouched 
at the bottom, and the wound should be started low down 
on the tree so as to allow for subsequent freshing above.” 
(Hi) Tapping in Gwalior State. 
Probably the most conclusive proof that tapping can be carried 
out on a commercial scale comes from the Gwalior State. In the 
Sheopur Range, some hundred miles from Gwalior city, tapping opera¬ 
tions have been carried on, for generations, by the forest villagers of 
Sieroni, contracts having been given annually for the right of collection. 
When the writer inspected these forests in February 1917, he found 
that practically not a tree was to be found, large or small, which did 
not show marks of healed wounds. Plate I illustrates the result of 
tapping and the mode of healing of wounds. 
The tapping is carried out by an aboriginal tribe, called “ Saharyas,” 
who work in pairs, generally two men or a man and a woman, the former 
blazing and the latter collecting the gum-oleo-resin. They estimate 
that one pair can collect 10 to 12 maunds per season, and this is pro¬ 
bably about correct, when taking into consideration the price at which 
it is sold and the lazy habits of these people. The method of tapping 
is as follows :— 
A blaze is made all round the tree, about 4 feet from the ground 
_it might, with advantage, be started lower down the stem—and to the 
depth of one-third the thickness of the bark. The blaze is made with a 
special instrument (Plate II), the head being of iron, some 6 inches long 
and 2 inches broad, slightly curved and with the cutting edge on the 
lower side, one end being fitted with an eye, to which a handle is fixed 
very similar to that of an axe, though slightly bent at the upper end. 
* Note.— These cracks form in a longitudinal direction, as the bark dries, over the 
surface of the stem where tapping has taken place. 
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