The Shasta courier., 1862-12-13
How Turpentine is Produced.

The immense forests in North Carolina,
which cover the sandy ridges between the
swamps and water-courses. consist almost
wholly of the long leafed pine, the Paus
pdiustris of the Southern States From
them is gathered one of the great staples of
North Carolina. the turpentine. And al
though this product and its derivatives are,
in our country almost as common as bread
and meat, very little is known of the manner
of procuring them. We will therefore en-
deavor to describe it accurately: These
trees at maturity are seventy or eighty feet
high, and their trunks eighteen or twenty
feet in diameter near the base. They grew
close together, very straight without branch
es to two thirds of their height Overhead,
their interloeking crowns form a continuous
shady canopy; while beneath tie ground is
covered with thick, yellow mating of
pine-straw, clean, dry, level and unbroken
by uudergrowth. The privilege of tapping
the. trees, is generally farmed out by the
land owner at a stated price per thousand,
say from twenty to thirty dollars. Under
this privilege the laborer commences his
operations. During the winter he chops
deep inotches into the base of the tree, few
inches from the ground and slanting inward.
Above, to the height of two or three feet,
the surface is scarifed by chipping off the
bark and outer wood, From this surface
the resinous sap begins to flow about the
middle OF March, at first very slowly but
more rapidly during the heat of the sum.
mer, and slowly again as winter approach.
es. The liquid turpentine runs into the
notches or boxes as they are technically
called, each holding from quart to half
gallon. This, as it gathers, is dipped out
with wooden spoon, barrelled, and car
ried to market, where it commands the high.
est price. That which oozes out and hardens
upon the sacrificed surface of the tree is
scraped down with an iron instrument into
sort of hod and is sold at an inferior price.
Every year the process of scarifyng is car.
ried two or three feet higher up the trunk
until it reaches the height of twelve or fif.
teen feet, as high as man can reach con-
veniently with his long handled cutter
When this ceases to yield, the same process
is commenced on the opposite side of the
trunk. An average yield is about twenty.
five barrels of turpentine from thousand
trees, and it is estimated that one man will
dip ten thousand boxes.
The produce is carried to market on q
sort of dray or cart which holds but two
barrels. consequently the barrels are always
seen setting about in the woods in couples
Ano ueos at ienStn uie uDuer tneSe repeat
&c operations. They are then felled, cut in.
to small sticks, and burned for tar. The
dead trees are preferred for this purpose, be.
cause when life ceases, the resinous matter
concentrates in the interior layers of the wood.
In building a tar kiln a small circular
mound of earth is raised, declining from the
circumference to the centre, where the cav.
ity is formed, communicating by a conduit
with a shallow ditch surrounding the mound
Upon this foundation the split sticks are
stacked to the height of ten or twelve feet.
The stack is then covered with earth as
in making charcoal, and the fire applied
through an opening in the.top. As this con-
tinues to burn with smouldering heat. the
wood is charred, and the tar flows into the
cavity in the center, and thence by the condu.
it into the ditch, or into vessels sunk to re.
cevie it.-Cor. Oregon Farmer