Rubber plantation in Arunachal Pradesh - man taps rubber

From the archive record

Arunachali man collecting latex from a nearby rubber tree. The collector makes a thin, diagonal cut to remove a sliver of bark. The milky-white latex fluid runs out of the bark, much as blood would run out of a small superficial wound on your skin. The fluid runs down the cut and is collected in a cup. After about six hours, the fluid stops flowing. In that six-hour period, a tree can usually fill a gallon bucket. The tree can be tapped again with another fresh cut, usually the next day. Rubber tapping is the process by which the latex is collected from a rubber tree. An incision is made in the tree's bark, which cuts through the latex vessels, from which the product then flows. Timing of the incision must be planned within the planting cycle to optimise the latex yield. Source: science.ho