Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-09-05
Farm and Household.
The Turpentine business.

Astounding in the long-loaf pine CpjHUs pm ias-
iris piHus tustrdii,. for doctors disagree has
been struck with the singular appearance Of
the trees, sometimes extending for miles along
each side Of the road, and as far back as the
eye could penetrate for every tree seemed
at first sight as though it had been white
washed upon one side about as high as
mans head. If seen by moonlight, the per-
son might readily believe, if believer III
such things, that he had got into IA very large
field full Of ghosts, for such forest certain
ly has a very weird appearance. Such scene
is exhibited by turpentnc plantation that
has been thoroughly worked the process be-
ing first to chop box near the root Of the
tree large enough to hold from one to four
pints 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
sapwood are cut away Immediately above the
box. This cutting process is continued from
time to time through the summer and per
haps two or three summers, extending as high
M IL man can reach, with a peculiar shaped
tool which makes cut like a gouge form
ing diagonal channel from each side toward
IL centre line that leads down to the box where
the sem-iquid turpentne gathers. When
the box is filled, the turpentinc is dipped out
with an iron tool made for the purpose into
iron buckets. which are carried by neck
yoke from tree to tree. and when full to bar
rps placed here and there among the trees
the barrels when filed are carried 10 the dis
tillery.
GATHERING THE PITCH.
After the scarifying process has reached
height of several feet, considerable portion
of the pitch congeals on its way down and
beaches white in the air, and it is this that
gives the trees their ghostly appearance
The first run of the trees called virgin tur-
pentine,' is like pure honey, straw-colored
and is the most valuable. That which is
scraped from the tree has lost a considerable
portion of its volatile quality by evaporation
i'll the hot sun, and Of course yields less spir-
its Of turpentine upon distilation, which, in
sections remote from rail or water transporta-
ton, is the only valuable portion the rosin
being a waste matter, not worth hauling. l
have often seen the rosin drawn from the
stills into conductors generally three-cornered
wooden troughs and so led of some rods
from the distlllery into natural hollow or
excavation, and there set on fire genuine
cXemplfcation OF Southern wastefulness
which is almost everywhere exhibited in all
agricultural or manufacturing operations. In
its very iucipiuncy the turpentine business is
founded upon waste-the waste of vast tracts
of fine forests for the trees, after the second
boxing and scarifyiug on the other side must
NNbl blts lbl OhlN a lllllt hlIlD VI bhIh rs itli
between the cuttings, just to keep the tree
alive long enough to be thoroughly drained
of its valuable juices. Then decay commen-
CCs hastened 10y the annual burning of the
wire grass which covers the surface in near
y all of the pine forests and gradually the
trees fail to the ground and are consumed,
and with them the greater portion of the
young trees, which would in twenty years re-
place the old ones if the fires could be kept
/. /
never cease while cattle raising is the sole
business OF a majority Of the ''piney woods
people
THE WASTE INVOLVED.
When the turpentine plantation is in the
vicinity of saw-mills some of the best of the
trees after having yielded up, or rather down,
their stores of pitch. are cut for lumber al
though they are valued by the mill-men at
much less than fresh trees. As a general rule,
| think 1t would be fair to estimate that ev-
cry gallon of spirits of turpentine that goes
to market represents the destruction of a tall
pine tree, which, if left untouched would
eventually be worth more than all the pitch
drawn from it and the interest upon the mon
ey from the time of its sale till the time the
tree was wanted for lumber.
Whatever the profit of distillation may be,
there is none for those who tap the trees and
b'NNANA s-4N I'A'NA4f "DN'N III u'eAAiN INV Nhb-
es of common laborers. The owner of the
trees, whether he hires the work done or
rents the plantation to others, has very
small margin to recompense him for the de-
structlon OF the timber. Indeed, that does
not seem TO enter INTO the calculation. Like
cotton planting the object is to get some
thing out OF the land at once, without any
care Tor those VINO may come after the pres
ent owner, and who Will hnd IN the one case
a soil Invested of all its natural fertility, and
IN the other broad tracts OF sandy land OF lit
Tie value Tor any purpose but to grow pine
lumber almost barren OF trees, or oven
Stumps, for the fire when 1t once gets hold of
the broken spllnters never lets go until they
are burned down pretty well below the earth ;
,,'t ,,,o,i q" PdI,l7 aI may sG"lS a.
the wanton destruction Of the pine forests of
several Northern States. the sight of turpen-
tine works in these Southern woods, extern
sive as they now appear. is not one for re-
ioicing. ms the sight of any great productive
industry should be.
.,....,....
WYNN AMI "N0iH'
alluded Ia the low wages of the laborers
who gather the pitch. This is because no
skill Is required; nothing but mere brute
strength, and that not continuously, so that
strong men prefer 1t to farm work. They
HIc beucIhlll AIISu AT Aoo"t Altteu uul4hIh u
month and ratiOns' which means, for a
month, about fifteen pounds of fat pork, and
from sixteen to twenty-four quarts of corn
meal, just as it comes from the mill Some
times an equivalent of part of the meal ra-
ton is given IN sweet potatoes or beans. and
some employers give small ration of molas-
ses. With such fare, and housed in rude log
cabins, often with IA large family, these tur-
pentine- gatherers labor to live with no
prospect 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 being split from
straight-rifted pine trees, the best cuts only
being used, and the rest of the tree adding
another item to the grand total of waste.
TF,F rrynpPnTr,Y DIsT111RRrrs
INC uiPehtih' ulS,iI'eIies' "ilch are oi.eh
seen o'"Se 7" 'i'e rH'l"ayA through Tue pine
region, Are hlpS' sihguluIiy ruue IN appear