CHAPTER 7

HARVESTING THE RUBBER


It is a cheerful sight to see the workers, men and women, dressed
in all the colors of the rainbow, trooping out from their quarters
to begin the day's work. The tapping must be done early in the
day, for the latex or rubber juice stops flowing a few hours after
sunrise.

When the trees reach eighteen inches in girth at a point eighteen
inches from the ground, they are ready for tapping. This growth is
usually attained when the trees are about five years old.

In tapping, a narrow strip of bark is cut away with a knife, the
cut extending diagonally one-quarter of the way around the tree.
At each succeeding day's tapping the tapper widens the cut by
stripping off a sliver of bark one-twentieth of an inch in width.
[Footnote: This method of tapping is shown on the front cover] He
must be careful not to cut into the wood of the tree, as such cuts
not only injure the tree but permit the sap to run into the latex
and spoil the rubber. When the tapper has made the proper gash in
the bark he inserts a little spout to carry the dripping latex to
a glass cup beneath.

Later in the morning the workers make the rounds of the trees with
large milk cans, gathering the latex from the cups. When the cans
are full they are carried to a collecting station, called a
Coagulation Shed. It is as clean and well kept as a dairy. Here