New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-09
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.
BY soLoN ROBINSON.

Southern States, and intimately eonnecteu WIN
their agriculture since an army OF men ana teams
thns employed must be fed from the products OF
the soil or else upon imported food. Inc Iatter Is
the case am sorry to say, altog ther TOO oiteh'
since contend that State district of country
can be considered IN n really prosperous condition
that imports food for its laborers, whether men OF
teams. -
THE TURFENTINE BUSINESS.
Every traveller by railroad through the pine for
esis of North Carolina and other States Astounding
In the longesf pine pRUs pal'stris or pinas A"'id
ls for doctors disagreed has been struck with the
singular appearance OF the trees, sometimes extend
ing for miles along each side of the road, ana as far
back as the eye could penetrate; for every tree
seemed at first sight az though 1t had Deen Whi'e-
washed upon one side about as high as man heau.
If seen b. moonlight, the person might readily De-
ueve. IL a believer in such things, that he had got
into a very large field full Of ghosts for such for
est cer,ainly has a very weird appe rance such
scene is exhibited by a turpentne.plantatlon tnat
has been thoroughly worked the process being first
TO chop box near be root of the tree, large enough
10 hold from one to four pnts into which the juice
of the tree oozes while The cut remains fresh Then
TO keep up the supply. the bark and portion of the
sapSood are cut away immediately above tue box.
This utting process is continued from time to time
through the Summer,aud perhaps two or three Sum
mers, extending as high as man can reach, Win
peculiar-shlpod DOL. Inch makes acut Ike gouge'
forming diagonal cnannels from each side toward a
centre line that leads down 10 the box where the
semi-Hquid turUeatue gathers. When the box IS
filed tue turpentne Is dipped out with al iron tool
made for tie purpose into iron .uckets when are
carried by neck-yoi,e from tree TO tree. and when
full to barrels placed here and there among the
trees the barrels when filled are carried 10 the dis
tnlery.-
GATHERING TIE PITCH.
After the scarfying process has reached helEht
OF several feet considerable portion OF the plch
congeas on IT'S way down and beachcs white III the
ayr and il is this that gives the trees their ghost
like appearance The first run of the trees. called
"vircin turpentine" Is ike pure honey straw-col-
ored and is the most valuable. Ihat when Is
scraped from the tree has lost considerable por-
ton of ITS volatile quality by evaporation IN the
hot sun. ami OF course yields less spirits OF tAr-
pentine upon Installation, winch, in sections remote
from rail or water transportation IS the only vau-
able portion; the rosn beng waste matter, not
worth hauling. l have often seen the rosln drawn
from the stills into conductors generally three
e0rnered wooden trOughs, and 50 led of some rods
from the disilleTy into "a natural hollow or excaVa-
ton, and there set on fire a genuine exempilhca-
ton of Southern wastetulueSs, which Is almost ey-
erywhere exhibited in all agricultural or ma uiac-
turing operations. In its very ncIpiency the tur-
pentlne business is founded upon waste-the waste
of vast tracts OF fine forest; for the trees after the
second boxing and scarifyng the other side,
must soon die for only htJe strip Of bark IS left
between the cuttings. just to keep the tree alive
long enougn to he thoroughly drained of its valu-
able juices. Ghen decay commences hastened by
the annual burning OF the wlre-graSs, which covers
the surface IN nearly all of the pine forests aud
gradually the trees TALL 20 the ground aud are con-
sumed and with them the greater portion OF the
young trees, which would IN twenty years replace
the old ones ii the fires could be kept from their
destructive work. But fires will never cease while
catte-raisng Is the sole business of majority of
the "piney woods people"
TIE WASTE INVOLVED.
When the tufpentiue plantation is in the vicinity
Of saw-mlls. some of the best of the trees. after
having yielded up or rather down, their stores OF
pitch are cut for lumber, although they are valued
by the mill-men a6 much less than fresh trees. AS
general rule think It wOuld be far to estimate
that every gallon of spirits Of turpentine that goes
10 market represents the destruction OF tall pine
tree which, left untouched, would eventually be
worth more tnan all the pitch drawn from 1t and
the interest upon the money from the time Of its ,
sale TIL the tune the tree wanted for lumber
Whatever the profit of Installation may be, there
is none for those who tap the trees and gather the
pitch, above the usually low wages of common la
borers The owner of the trees, whether he hires
the work done or rents the plantation to Others has
q very small margin to recOmDense him for the de-
struction of the timber. Indeed that does not
seem to enter into the calculation. Like cotton
planting the object Is to get something out of the
land at once without any care for those who may
come after the present owner and who will tnd In
the one case soil Invested of all its natural fertil-
ity and in the other broad tracts of sandy land,
Of little value for any purpose but to grow pine
timber almost barren of trees. even stumps, for
the fire when it gets hold of the broken splln-
tiers never let's go until they burned down pretty
well below the earth's surface. To person of as
many years as l count upon my calendar. who has
witnessed the wantOn destruction of the pine for
ess of several Northern States the sight of turpen
tine works in these Southern woods, extensive as
they now appear is not one for rejoicing, as the
sight of any great productive industry should be.
WORK AND WAGES.
/ alluded to the low wages of the laborers who
gather the pitch. This because no skill is re-
auired nothing but mere brute strength and that
not continuously, that sTOngme prefer 1t TO farm
work. They are generally hired at about fifteen
dollars month land rations," which means, for a
month about fifteen pounds of fat pork, and from
sixteen TO twenty-four quarts of meal, Just
1t comes from tue mill. Sometimes equivalent
OF part OF tne meal ration Is given SWEEP pott-
toes or beans, and employers give small
ration of molasses. With such fare, and housed III
rude log cabins. often with a large family, these
turpentne-gatherers labor to live" with pros
pect before them but to live and labor Some of
them find employment in Winter in the cooper
shops, or IN providing timber for the cooperS; the
slaves beng split from straight-rifed pine trees,
the butt cuts only being used and the rest of the
tree adding another item to the grand total Of
waste.
THE TCEPENTiNE DIsTILLERIEs.
furnaufine tiller,os which ara offon oooy