The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-11-26
TURPENTINE FARMING.
Some Pastoral Experiences.


In this land of the sun bonnet, pecan
and mighty stretches of pine forests,
what is known as "turpentine forming
corresponds to the grazing period" OF
the Pacific coast country. There, dur
ing the grazing period, Spanish gram
does owned vast tracts of land, over
which roamed great herds. 1t was the
yearly yield of hides and tallow from
these herds that netted their owners,
who were not toilers, but for the most
part gamblers, the princely incomes
they enjoyed There is no such large
and easily obtained income from tur-
pentine farming, but the acreage re-
ouired for a turpentine farm or orchard
is large, not less than three or four
thousand acres, and it is usually the
initial step in opening large portions OF
the unsettled tracts of pine-woods
country here in the south. In Florida,
where the acreage of pine is large, the
turpentine farmer is just beginning to
operate. Unlike many of the farmers
who till the soil, he is in every instance
an expert. AS it was with the pastoral
patriarchs Of Bible times the turpen-
tine farmer has no fixed abiding-p place,
but goes from one great pine forest to
another, without reference to state
lines followed by his swarthy workers,
one or two hundred strong, and his
family.
The first thing n opening turpen-
tine farm, after securing the right to
turpentine the trees for certain peri
cd, usually about three years, is to To-
cate the still. This done, the turpen-
tine farmer and his workers proceed,
figrIratively, to pitch their tents.
These tents are little yellow board
houses with an outside chimney half as
large as the structure itself, made of
big pine sticks laid up crossbar fashion
and generously daubed with clay. The
chimneys in these quickly constructed,
temporary abiding places are the all
important part, and when turpentine
farm is first opened the greeting
among the workers is not the ordinary
inquiry in regard to health, but,
"Mornin'! How is yo' chimney? Is hit
worlSin' all right?"
The most important work of opening
turpentine farm or orchard is build
ing the still, and it is also the most eX-
pensive. To build the still and open an
orchard of. say twenty thousand trees,
costs not less than seventy-five hun
bred dollars. Under ordinary clrcum-
stances, when turpentine and resin are
bringing a fair price, this amount, to-
gether with a fair interest on the mon
ey invested, is made the first year. Al
ter that whatever is made is clear gain,
although the first year is always more
profitable than any that follows, as the
| first crude gum that tree yields,
which is known as the virgin dip,
makes the fine white resin that brings
the highest price, and also the best
| spirits of turpentine.
Most of the turpentine farmers in
| this part of the country are from
| Georgia and South Carolina, which, in
| the language of the expert, has been
''turpentined'' for years. Many of
these farmers have grown old in the
business, as have their black helpers.
| Once the right to turpentine a tract
of three or four thousand acres OF pine
| land is secured, the trees are boxed,
the still built ard in a few weeks tur-
| pentine and resin are being hauled to
the nearest railway station and
| shipped.
1t was such a day as early June
brings at the north, that a little party
| from Chicago visited a turpentine farm
newly opened. just beyond the limit of
| the village.
| The boxing of the trees, which hap
| pened to be going on when We arrived,
consists of cutting, a short distance up
| from the root of the tree, an incline
plane in the outer layers of the wood
but not reaching to the heart, and at
| the base a receptacle into which the
crude gum runs. Only man who has
been carefully taught can do this box
ing successfully, as the incline must be
| just right in order to have the sap run