The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-13
PRODUCTS OF The PINE TREE
Some Suggestions as TO How They May
Be Increased.

/ Boxes-How the Quality ana Guam
tity Of Crude Turpentine Could Be In
craased-Facts of Interest to Turpen-
/ tine Operators.
The naval stores industry has made Sa-
/ vanuah the largest market of its kind
I in the world and adds much to swell its
/ shipping. its exports, its bank clearances
and Wholesale trade; hence. any sugges-
I tion how this business can be improved,
{ or existing wastes stopped, must be OF in
/ terest and value to many readers OF the
Morning News, which is now, and has
/ been for many years, recognized as the
most faithful and reliable recorder of the
naval stores. trade.
/ The laws of Georgia wisely fines the pc
/ riod during which new boxes can be cut.
/ limiting the time from Nov. 10 to March 1.
/ The law does not, however. interfere in
| any other way. and leaves the use of val
| liable timber, which cannot be replaced
/ in less than from thirty to fifty years,
/ to the discretion of the land owner, or
/ turpentine operator, which is abused to
! such q degTee as to threaten the entire
/ destruction of our pine forests.
Probably IS per cen. of all the timber
/ III the southern LQGptullAS DtiL ueo al
ready been boxed, and unless more ra-
tional and economical methods are re-
/ sorted to in the near future the supply OF
timber will soon become exhausted, and
! the naval stores business q thing of the
/ past.
/ Ten or fifteen years ago the operator
| paid for the lease of 1880 boxes, or one
| crop, for the term of three years S75 To-
! day he pays for the same privilege $500
/ and often much more, if the timber is
/ desira BILE and close TO a shipping point
/ or to his stll.
/ This is a clear indication that the I'M
/ erring rule of supply and demand Is stead
/ lily at work. that this price win be doubled,
| trebled, and even quadrupled within the
! next ten years, as it mas been within the
I last ten.
So far the consideration paid for timber
/ is so small. being less than cent per box
per year, that the timber itself is only of
small Importance, and the whole bust
/ ness, as far as the timber is concerned,
/ has been one OF reckless butchery and
wanton waste Not more than 30 per
cent of the uurpentine eXuded by the
/ generous and prolific pine tree ever
| reaches market and probably less than
/ 20 per cent of what a pine is capable of
/ producing has seldom, if ever been gath
/ cred south Of the North Carolina state
/ line.
/ In the first place, the boxes are too
3 INuCA tEOWuCu Ia the lilAbtlf WHICH AZ q
/ very short-sighted and ruinous policy
/ Experience has shown that a tree can
! only yield a certain amount OF crude
/ turpentine in a given time, and over
/ boxing only increases the labor and de-
! stroys the timber, j does not increase
/ the yield.
To exempHfy the matter: If a tree
! large enough TO have three boxes cut
/ barely having a strip Of bark between the
/ boxes so as TO keep the tree alive, had
! only two cut the yield of crude turpen-
/ tine would be fully as large as from the
/ three. BY cutting a third box the eX-
pense OF rent boxing and shipping are
/ increased 50 per cent. without any return
whatever, while the danger Of losing the
tree IS greatly increased.
The Two and three years lease system
! is a very bad one both for the land
/ owner and for the turpentne operator.
4 No lease should be made for less than five
! years, or still better, ten years, which is
about the legitimate life and usefulness
/ OF a pine tree for turpentining purposes,
! if properly treated. A short lease encour-
ages Overlooking and other ruinous prae-
tees Timber land, overlooked, becomes
/ useless for forty years while moder-
ately boxed timber can be pack poAeu
within 20 or 25 years. A short lease is a
premium for the ruin of the timber,
while a long lease is Il guarantee against
destruction and waste.
To make the crude turpentine flow freely
the trees are wounded, with an L-shaped
tool weekly, during six months or the
wear After a week the previous soaring,
commonly called hacking, or chipping, has
become coated with turpentine, Whlch mas
PARTLY dried and hardened, and the pores
Of the sap wood have become clogged
for about one-quarter of an inch
To renew the flow freely it is only nee
essarv to remove a chip or shaving one
quarter or three-eighths of an inch in
thickness. Commonly the chips removed
are from half an inch to one inch in thick
ness, or about two or three times as much
as is necessary. -,
The crude turpentine, as II exudes from
the tree. Is always the same, no matter
INV otter or how long the tree has been
chipped. The pure turpentine Is, however,
deteriOrated subsequently from various
causes sun and air, rain and wind, chanse
ii only to {. lesser extent running over
fat wood and stale gum is the main cause
OF Dolution Of the otherwise pure turpen-
tine The old stale gum is very dry and
|, thirsty It deprives the newly eXuded
turpentine of q large proportion OF us
spirits on the other hand, the fresh
tt,rpent tine acts as a solvent, ana p3rliy
becomes discoIored by the dark resinous
matter of the fat wood, before II reaches
the box. while a large proportion OF the
eetp, IL deuosited on the tree, as the less
valuable scrape or hard turpentlne. Inc
higher the face of the box becomes the
farther the crude turpentine has to travel
the. more It will be deprived Of its spirits
Inc more discolored the liquid turpentine
becomes. tho larger the quantity Of scrape
turnentiue formed and the less profita-
HE the working Of the tree becomes. II
is evident that the thickness OF the chips
removed regulates the productive capacity
ana usefulness of tree, yet strange 10
say. this very important point. namely
how fast the hight OF a box should be
increased has been left entirely to the
discretion.o of a careless and ignorant nelro,
doing his work by task,
The higher the tree is laid bare, the bet
ter it suits him, as he has to stoop less in
his work. In this manner there is us
ually enough surface laid bare in one sea-
SON to last two years or more n the
strokes wore properly gauged, either by
careful chipping or by some mechanical
appliance to the chipping tool which
would assure automatically q uniform
thickness Of the chips removed. As "A rule
there is enough wood and bark removed
In two years to cost four or hve without in
creasing the yield one particle. OF course,