The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1848-10-11
From the Charleston Mercury
PRODUCTION OF TURPENTlNE.

From the Charleston Mercury.
PRODUCTION OF TURPENTlNE.
Mr.. EprroR: ,tice in your paper of
Yesterday communication upon the pro
duction Of llrpentine, with directions for
those who may desire to engage IN tho busI-
ness. have long wondered, sir, that our
planters have not given more attention 10
The subject. The culture fCotou, parl'cu'
lar!y IN The low country of this State, has re-.
warded the planters so badly for many years
that il is a matter Of qualification 10 see
pointed out some more profitable employ
ment. South Carolina and Georgia abound
in pine forest Of the hest kind for The Prn'luc-
ton of turpentine. The few who have been
engaged in producing turpentine in thus
State for two or three years past have faIrly
proved ihal our-tr will yield as abundant.
iyas inNorth Carolina. They have always
fi,,nd too, ready sale in the Charleston
market for their crnps. We have establish
ed here an extensive turpentnc dIstIlleryv,
requiring supplies often g eater than can DC
furnished in this market. Besides the de-
mand ar distiIla,inD, if large quantities of
raw turpentine were sent to this market,
there would arise aIarge demand for export,
Charleston being perhaps he most fav"ra.
BILE port On the coast for shipping to the best
advantage.
The communication have referred 10 in
The beginning of this article, gives almost all
she information necessary to undertake the
business of producing turpcntine. beg.
howevcr. 10 add dsmeItTing1whi-h will r'.'sa
foIy instruct the beginner at the business.
A good crop season, with occasional show
ers IS about the mcst favorable season tor
the running Of the trees. The trees should
he boxed al least Is inches fr IN. The ground,
so as not to be overrun by heavy rains. and
Tor greater convenience in dipping Also
The boxes. moreove, should bc cut when
the form ofthe tree will permit. on the north
side tofihe tree. They are not so much ex-
posed then to The action Of the sun. The
turpentine when running to the box, project
cd in this way. will retain more of the sP'r
It's, Besides the advantage OF saving more
spirits from evaporation, by having the box
on the north side of the trees. YOU have The
fnxes protected from the dust and leaves
that Az about with the south winds which
prevail most constantly during the summer.
When the boxes are cut they should be we'll
cleaned pof chips. and in chipping The tree
afterwards, care should always he taken to
eKeep tic chips of wood and bark from TALL
ING intd The boxes. 1t is important in box
inc the trees 10 see that the hands perform
their task properly, and not allow them t"
misIead you as they will frequently do, by
Saving that they perform their task. without
half doing so. Neglecting this particular
YOU MAY suppose, when the running season
comes, that ye,ii are making bad crop
without knowing the true cause OF the short
yield--that your trees are not half boxed.
The experiment, learn, has been made sue
ccssfulIy IN chipping over the same spot
twice. The object of doing this is to have
The lunning exposed on less of the face OF the
tree, and to make the trees produce for
greater number of years before the chipping
gets so high up as to be very mcoven'ently
managed. As the chipping goes on from
year to year, YOU have longer face OF the
ircc for the turpentlne To pass over before Il
reaches the bnx. The value of the turpen'
tine ethen is very much diminished, and you
have to gather it from the face OF the tree
for scrane, which is worth but about one.
half as much as what is dipped from the
boxes.
To guard the trees from The worm and
from fire, rake away the chips and leaves
every season. The tnrpentine should he
gathered clean as possible from the boxes
and put up in neat barrels of uniform SIZE
and about the standard weight. which at
present is 800 pounds gross weight, In
dipping turpen,inr. the Virgin or yield "l
the first year should not be mixed with the
clippings from trees Of older running. il
should be carefully barr.cd by itself, aud
sent to market quickly. This quality of,ur'
peutine, is most valuable just after it is gath
cred. dminishes in value when kept. by the
rapid loss of the spirits, The older dppings
.ofturpentine retain the spirits better than the
Virgin dip. and may be withheld from mar
gket without the risk of much loss Of spirits
When you have done dipping your crop from
The boxes. you then scrape from the face o
the tree the Turpcntine which has adhered
to il, and barrel this by itself for lurPentlnt
known as scrape. 70 make the labor les
painful the long dipper will save much s'oop
ing, which fatigues the hand more than an!
other portion of the labor. The tools ne
cessary for preparing the trees for TurPen
stinecan, learn, be had in Charleston.
Under good management, there Is NJ
branch of agricultural industry at the South