A question which is frequently asked concerns the necessity or otherwise of resting periods. This also is a question upon which definite experimental work is required before a positive conclusion can be arrived at. It has been recommended that tapping operations should be suspended during the period of leaf-fall, and this advice seems to be based upon reasonable grounds. In climates such as those of South India and the northeast side of Ceylon, the yield is found to be reduced almost to nothing during the prolonged dry season. In these climates the year is divided of necessity into a season of tapping and a season of rest

From the available evidence it seems probable that in countries not subject to periods of prolonged drought continuous moderate tapping is likely to be more profitable than alternate periods of rest and severe tapping. The continuous method is also distinctly more convenient in connection with the working of a labour force. The theoretical advantage of the continuous method is associated with the habit which the tree seems to acquire of manufacturing a steady supply of latex.