St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-02-06

A Industry Fer which the etats q vee.
soesuiss sprscs- II 81 almost dis-
appeared - regular article Of meE.
ehandise, from the Bennington market
says Q Vermont correspondent For.
merly the supply was abundant the
price low and the quality Arst-clasA
But the supply now depends on mere
chance. the gula-picleer giving little st-
tention to the gathering Of the com
modify. a there = NO money In the
business The sawmillA pulp-mills
and forest Ares have wrought such
devastation among the big tracts OF
spruce trees which formerly clothed the
Green mountains that the occupation Of
the gum-piclker Is almost gone. Some
times . lumberman OF . mountatneer
In Woodford. . town adjoining Ben
ningtop on the east discovers . tree
that win yield several pounds Of mar.
ketable gum, which h brought to Ben
ningtou. where il finds . ready market
1t . good price. The price depends en-
tirely upon the quality. ranging al the
way from ffty cents 70 doal&: and .
half . 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 entsngled In the
gum when It exuded from the tree In
. semi-liquid state. Poor gum Is further
distinguished - 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 Il either trans
lucent or transparent Of . light amber
color, filed more or less with minute
bubbles Of air, breaking with . Short
shining fracture, and having . sweet
peculiar, and bslsamic odor AMI taste.
The word gum. " however is popularly
misapplied, - the substance h. proper
" speaking. . resinous matter.
A considerable portion of the gum
offered for sale in Bennington ID 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
70 their old home for small supplies at
time. In this way. too. quarter
pound packages Of gum arc sent across
the continent to California, whore the
article is valued almost beyond price.
Several years ago IN enterprising young
man, w. Il Martin. Of bennington.
worked up . 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 VA
Of extra fine quality. was obtained IN
the state OF New York Mr. Martin
was subsequently, appointed postmas'
ter at Remington. and the gum busi
ness was abandoned Perhaps the
most famous gum-picker In Vermont L
Alonzo X. Bishop. OF Woodford. He ID
. professional in this peculiar industry
Bishop Is about forty-hvc years old,
well built, good-natured and wear
long hair. During the hot season
when gum can not be gathered In
merchantable condition, owing to ita
sickness and its liability 10 run 70
gether. Bishop poses as farmer and
Yankee.notion peddler. But when colo
weather sets In ''Lon, "a he Is fsmil
iarly called In all the region rouni
about penetrates the deep forests ol
the mountain In pursuit of his favorit'
| calling, which he has followed all hi
life. With . bag slung over his shoul
der, and carrying long. slender pole
| which Is armed at one end with sharl
chisel, that gum may be detached from
| the tree at . considerable distane'
from the ground. this man roams th
mountains. often days at time. alone
and miles from any human hsbitatiou
m " Times 500