The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1894-12-28
: GATHERING SPRUCE GUM.
Tons of it Collected Each Winter ~
Millions Of Chews In u Ton.

Tons of it Collected Each Winter and
Millions Of Chews In u Ton.
Gathering gum is quite a business by
itself. and is.carried on much more sys-
dramatically than is generally supposed.
The gum-picker is busy fellow, and,
seaside resort, has only Il few months for
his business. w hen the woodsmen enter
the forests in the fall the gunl-pickers
follow and continue in the woods till
springtime. There are men who make 4
practice, of nipping from the spruce this
material known as gum, and do nothing
else. They follow the choppers through
pluck from the trunk all the gum they
may find.
Besides gathering it from the trees cut
down to make logs the picker shells it
from the standing tree; but this is much
harder method. although in many cases Il
larger quantity is procured, because none
is lost, us in the case where the spruce
is falling and rolls against other giants
of the forest. stripping it at times of sew
elal quarts of it's gum deposits, providing
there is well-iilled seam in the tree
In collecting the humps of gum from the
standing spruce the picker has an appa-
atus especially arranged for the purpose.
1t consists of a long pole, on the top of
which is a little sack that will hold about
{. piece of iron or steel made like Il ham,
mer and working upon pivot, while a
cord is attached to the end and extends
to the foot of the pole. The picker places
the top of this picking machine along the
gummy seam of the spruce, and by oper-
ating the little hammer by means of the
cord is able to clip off the Jumps of gum
into the sack located under the top of the
hammer. Sometimes from one tree Il
bushel Of gum is picked, but not very
often is the gatherer fortunate i'll finding
so productive Il spruce, and he is quite
contented in plucking from Il pint to half
Il buShel from each.
When the days picking is finished all
return to camp. and, sitting around the
open fire i'll the evening clean this gum
piece by piece, some requiring quite a
large amount of scraping while other pieces
need hut little. Quite often the picker
will find a spruce with Il large seam from
tree. while bullying from each side will
be bright. clear Jumps of choice gum. He
also finds trees with large Jumps projecting
from the side, while in the spruce not
seam can be found. Great punches of
gum are frequently found on the trunk
of the tree.
There are different kinds of gum. The
choice is the clear and best Jumps. what
the picker terms bright Then comes the
second grade, consisting Of the assortment
next to choice. while the third grade is
disposed of at Il low figure, and is made
into Il patent gum. a fgurehead of the
gum pickers is the middleman, who is
general manager, superintends the work,
and sells the gum. From one posse of
pickers this mitl1leman often handles 1000
pounds in Il season. Often he makes deal
with the pickers by supplying them with
food and clothing and finding a market,
the profits being shared. You will under
stand that the gum is always toted sew
eral miles through the woods to reach a
point Of transportation.
The most gum handled by dealers in
this section is received from Aroostook
county. Canada, and New York state.
Gum. not being a manufactured article,
is free Of duty. An Augusta firm handled
over 1900 pounds last year. When candy
sol! for Il cents Il pound an even exchange
was made for pound of gum. During
the summer. if You have ever visited> the
forest and observed the spruce, you have
doubtless noticed that the gum was of a
sticky nature; it is then that it forms
for the next winters gum gatherer. and
when the cold weather comes it gradually
hartlens. No patent gum has as yet sur
passed the flavor of the spruce, and as long
rs these trees stand will the gum chewer
cling to its product.-Daily Kennebec
Journal -