San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-16
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT. OF
AGRICULTURE.
FORESTRY DIVISION.
Effect of Turpentine Gathering,
on the Timber of Long
Leaf Pine.

ago, it was stated that tests, made
on timbers of Longleaf Pine, bled
or unbled, lent countenance to, the
belief that bled or tapped timber
did not suffer instrengthby virtue of
the tapping. Further tests and
examinations permit now the an
nouncement without reserve that
the timber of Longfeaf Pine is in no
way affected by the tapping for tur-
pentine. This refers to its mechan-
ical as we'll as chemical properties,
and hence even the reservation that
it might suffer in durability is now
eliminated and any prejudice
against the use of bled timber in
construction, wherever the unhled
timber has been considered desir-
able, must fall as having no foun-
dation in fact, being based only on
vague belief, proved to be erron
eOuS.
1t is to be hoped that this fact
will be made widely known among
builders, architects, and engineers
who have hitherto made discrimi-
nation against bled timber and
thereby deprecated or discouraged
the manufacture and impeded the
sale of an article which answers all
the purposes of construction and the
unrestricted use of which is dictat-
ed by true economy.
The basis for the statement re-
garding the mechanical properties
is furnished by a series of tests
comprising not less than 500 tests
on 81 trees of this Pine, bled and
unbled, from various localities.
The somewhat puzzling fact that
bled timber exhibited, if anything
greater strength in the tests has
been accounted for by the fact that
the turpentine orchards are located
mostly on sites which produce bet
ter quality timber as we'll as larger
yield of turpentine.
To determine whether any chang
es in the chemical composition take
place, a series of chemical analyses
of bled and unbled timber has been
made, which indicates that the re-
SinouS contents of the heartWOOd
are i'll no wise affected by the
bleeding, the oleoresins of the
heartwood being non-fuid, the
whole turpentine flow is confined to
the sapwood.
Among other interesting facts re-
garding the distribution of resinous
contents through the tree which
will be published in a separate bull
letin, it appears that trees standing
side by side and to all appearance
in similar conditions show very
varing quantities of resinous con-
tents.
To make sure that experiences
did not, if sifted down, contradict
the results of these Investigations,
a competent agent, Mr.. F. Roth,
visited turpentine orchards and saw
mills in the Longleaf Pine region.
He reports that nobody was found
although it was claimed by some
able to discern any difference in
the appearance of the bled and I'M
bled timber; that in spite of con-
sumers' specifications for unbled
timber, they are almost invariably
served with a mixture without
finding it out, that experience in
the districts where bled timber is
cut and used has not sustained the
claim of inferiority.
This information is furnished in
advance of the full report on the
investigations in question in order
to remove as quickly as possible
the unwarranted discrimination
against the product of nearly one
million acres of Southern pine,
which are annually added to the
total acreage in turpentiue
orchards.
This result of authoritative in
vestigation should be worth sever
al million dollars to the forestry
interests of the South, permitting
reader use and sale for a product
that left uncut endangers the future
of the forest by the destructive
CONGREGATIONS to which it is special
ly subject. B. E. FERNOW,