| Daily. | Two Days. | Three Days. | ||
| 100 per cent. | 60 per cent. | 45 per cent. |
and throughout the course of the experiment neither of the other sections showed any appreciable improvement in position relative to the daily section.
In actual yields “per tapping” over the whole period the alternate-day and the third-day divisions showed advantages of 20 and 35 per cent. respectively over the daily portion.
At the beginning of the second year of experiment another section of blocks was opened with a single cut on a quarter, tapped daily. This enabled direct comparison between the values of one cut and two cuts on a quarter in daily tappings and between a daily single cut and two cuts tapped alternate daily.
It appeared that the daily single cut yielded over the period of experiment 80 per cent. of that obtained by tapping two cuts daily; and that in the comparison between two cuts tapped alternate-daily and a single cut tapped daily the latter had an advantage of about 40 per cent. in yield.
This result has been used by advocates of daily tapping generally, but it does not constitute a fair argument, inasmuch as the single cut was tapped twice as often, and its position was always relatively low on the hole of the tree. It has been shown in the comparison between the daily single cut and the two cuts daily that the influence on yields of the superimposed cut is relatively small. A fairer comparison would have been obtained if the two cuts tapped alternate-daily had been either amalgamated to form one long cut on half the tree or to form a V on half the tree, thus placing the cuts in the opposing sections on the same level. With the knowledge that the yield obtained from cuts is always greater per tapping by using the alternate-daily system, it would appear to be plain that the one long cut on half the tree would at least equal the yield of the single short cut tapped daily on a quarter tree.
Single Cut on Half Circumference (Half Spiral).
Note.—In this particular instance the cut is changed to the opposite half of the tree every half-year.