Quote:
Originally Posted by harveyc
Tog, this is fascinating. When you were inoculating the tree in the photo above, were you going into the cambium layer or further into the wood itself?
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Harv, the hole is drilled
all the way to the centre of the tree. The idea is to have an big open wound cos in nature, the resin oozes out to block any physical injury. By doing so, maximum resin production is assured. Some methods use hollow plastic piping inserted into the hole to keep it open.
In nature, through time, like 20 years or so, a chunk of resin like coagulated blood is formed trying to block off the open wood. This is known as heart wood. It is so dense that it will sink in water. This gave rise to the Chinese name,
Cham Heong which means
Sinking Fragrance. This is the highest quality of resin found and big blocks of 100gm or more will cost from $ 20,000 per kg in value. Such is burnt at festivities by the ultra rich middle eastern people as a show of their status. There are also rich people who buy such chunks as collectibles. However, with the commercial method, the resin is only found as stains in the wood as the period allowed for resin formation is short.