Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-12-10
THE sPRucE-euM PICKER.

THE SPRuCE-GUM PICKER.
An Industry For which the State of Yer
mont Was Once Famous-
Genuine spruce-gum has almost dis
appeared as q regular article of mer-
chandise, from the Bennington market
merly the supply was abundant, the
price low and the quality frst-classL
But the supply now depends on mere
chance, the Rum-piclzer giving little at
tention to the gathering of the COM
modify, as there is no money in the
business The sawmills, pulp-mills
and forest fires have wrought such
devastation among the big tracts of
spruce trees which formerly clothed the
Green mountains that the occupation of
the gum-picler is almost gone. Some
times q lumberman or q mountaineer
in Woodford, a town adjoining Ben
nington on the east discovers a tree
that win yield several pounds of mar
ketable gum. which is brought to Ben
nington. where it finds ready market
at a good price. The price depends en-
tirely upon the quality. ranging all the
way from fifty cents to a dollar and q
half a pound Gum of poor quality is
readily distinguished by its opaque
ness and by its very intimate
admixture of minute bits of bark,
which became entangled in the
gum when il exuded from the tree in
semi-liquid state Poor gum is further
distinguished as being too heavy or too
light bitter, and permanently sticking
to the teeth in some cases, and very
hard and crumbly in other specimens
Gum of the finest grade Is either trans
lucent or transparent. of light am Der
color. filled more or less with minute
bubbles of air, breaking with a short.
shining fracture. and having a sweet,
peculiar, and balsamic odor and taste
The word gum. however is popularity
misapplied. as the substance is. proper
~ speaking. a resinous matter.
A considerable portion of the gum
offered for sale in Bennington is sent
west in small packages by mail The
reason of this is that large numbers of
eastern people who have gone west miss
their accustomed chew" and send back
to their Old home for small supplies at
a time. In this way. too. quarter
pound packages of gum are sent across
the continent to California, where the
article is valued almost beyond price.
Several years ago an enterprising young
man, w. II. Martin, of Bennington,
worked up a very large trade in this
commodity. Tons of gum by mail ex-
press and freight were sent by him
to remote sections of the country, and
the demand was often greater than the
supply. The gum. however, which was
of extra fine quality, was obtained in
the state of New York. Mr.. Martin
was subsequently appointed postmas-
ter at Bennington, and the gum bust
ness was abandoned. Perhaps the
most famous gum-picker In Vermont is
Alonzo K. Bishop. of Woodford. He is
professional in this peculiar industry.
Bishop is about forty-fve years old,
we'll built, good-uatured and wears
long hair. During the hot season.
when gum can not be gathered in
merchantable condition, owing to its
sickness and its liability to run to-
gether, Bishop poses as a farmer and a
Yankee-notion peddler. But when cold
weather sets in Lon" as he is famil-
iarly called in all the region round
about penetrates the deep forests of
the mountain in pursuit of his favorite
calling, which he has followed all his
life. With a bag slung over his shout
der. and carrying a long. slender pole.
which is armed at one end with sharp
| chisel, that gum may be detached from
the tree at a considerable distance
from the ground, this man roams the
mountains, often days at a time. alone,
and miles from any human habitation.
N Y. Times