The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-10-17
FORTUNES TAKEN
FROM PINE TREES
Money Made in the Working Of Turpen.
tine Orchards.
VALUE OF THESE NAVAL SUPPLIES
II Is Hard Work, Though, and the
Returns Are Not ALWAYS Fabulous.
Where Onr Resin, Fitch and Tur.
pcctiuc Come From.

One Of the principal industries at
many southern ports is the shipping OF
naval stores" that Is, resin, rosin'
spirits of turpentine, common pitch,
brew wers pitch, tar and oil or tar
These Southern products are valued at
sia,Dn0.600 a year. Resin. or crude tur-
pg,.tiue is the material obtained by
tapping or bleeding the trees. Spirits
ui turpentine is the liquid obtained by
distil!ng the crude resin. Rosin, or
culuphony, is the residue after the DIS
tilaLion of resin. Common pitch is the
residue from the dry distillation of ros-
in. Brewers pitch, which Is used Tor
coating the interior of beer kegs and
barrels, is obtained by stopping the
distillation of resin before all the oil
has been distilled. Tar is produced by
distilllng the wood itself, and oil of tar
is obtained by distilling the tar. Each
of these articles is separated CONNER
Ciaily into several different grades, and
every grade has its own name.
The suns Georgia correspondent thus
Describes the ''turpentne orchards" of
that section: a pedestrian might
start from Brunswick on the AtlaGtic
coast. and without going much out of
his way walk westward to the Missis-
sipni river without once leaving the
shade of the pine forest. except in
crossing the innumcrable rivers. The
forest is about 100 miles wide, begin
ning on the North Carolina coast and
sw-rving westward along the gulf, till
1t reaches Louisiana. Some Of the
wOr!men who help produce the naval
stores live as much in the shade as the
f"tcst-dwellirg tribes in Africa, and
do not emerge from the pine shadows
ten times in as many years.
Ct this tremendous extent of forest.
100000 acres are constantly kept at
work producing naval stores. and $780,
n,.ra nT N-tp
tapped annually to keep up the supply.
Tor trees can be worked prottably for
totr years only, and then must either
have long rest or he cut into lum-
her. 1t looks as if this industry ought
To give constant independent work to
every unemployed man in the south.
as II q man need only buy q few acres
OF pine land at 81 to SO an acre, or bet
ter yet rent tract for the purpose
or 'turpentining" ii, as II is called,
ara be sure of making good living for
The next four years by tapping the
trees all Oh his own account; in other
words. to be as independent as the
small farmer who raises his own crops.
This was so once, but it is not the case
now. Capital has been as busy with
turpentining as it has been with the
other industries, and it is practically
impossible for a small owner to get
even the price of his labor by turpen-
producers set the pace, and there is
no longer any chance for small opera
tors.
THE TURPENTINER.
The turpentiner is as we'll known an
institution in the pine belt as Is the
commission merchant in fruit and veg
ctahie sections. He is in a sense a COM
mission merchant. but besides that he
is manufacturers. Generally he does
not own an acre of land. but he must
have q capital of not less than $1,000
10 begin profitable business, and he
knows that in the four years of his
operations with a plant he must spend
$50.eJ0. Not only must he know all
about producing and manufacturing
naval stores, but he must have good
idea OF the country. In the whole pine
belt there are about forty Of these
large operators at work, and they pro-
duce the greater part OF the naval
stores Of the world.
The turpcntiner with his capital
ready must first select his location with
cs much care as a farmer selects his
land. He requires a solid tract of about
1000 acres Of forest that has not been
tapped, and on this space there must
lie not fewer than 100000 well-grown
pine trees. To find such tract, and
to be able to rent 1t. Is not always easy;
but this is only beginning. The tract
muei be near enough to a railroad or
to q navigable stream to give him good
shipping facilities, and there must be
an unfailing supply Of water for op-
Grating the still. Such tracts are found
generally far away from civilization.
aud usually they are in the hands Of
several owners and each owner OF
rourse must be negotis 'ad with. Some
owners of pine land object to having
their trees turpentined, believing that
il injuries the lumber. There Is no hag-
Cling about the price. for the price for
iurpentining Is as well understood as
the market price for resin. The SUBJ
sections into which a big turpentine
orchard is divided are called crops,
and an orchard must contain not fewer
than twenty crops to be profitable. A
crop is a sufficient number of trees to
give 10000 boxes; and as from two to
four boxes are cut In large trees, about
A.500 or 5000 trees are necessary to
comprise a crop, which should cover
about 200 acres. AS the trees will yield
profitably for four years, and no longer,
the renting of turpentne land is always
for periods of four years; and the
standard price is so for each crop of
10000 boxes for the four years. This
gives the lessee the privilege of tap
ping the trees. cutting away UNDER
brush. and operating his works on the
premises, but nothing more. He must
not cut down or otherwise destroy
trees: and it Is to his own interest to
protect the forest against fire. At this
rate he pays 12ls cents a year an acre
for land that is worth about 81 an acre
in the market, and he asserts that
when he leaves it the trees are as valu-
able as they were before. The general
opinion is that turpentining Injuries the
trees and lessons the value of the lum-
ber; but there are two sides to that.
DOWN TO BUSINESS.
With his 4,OOO-acre turpentine ORCH
ard secured, averaging about twenty
five good well-grown trees to the acre.
the turpentiner next selects the spot
for his works. If he can have his own
way about 1t he puts them close to
both rail and water. Where the rail-
road crosses small stream Is just the
spot. He need not bother about a sta
tion, for the railroad company will
gladly enough build a little siding to
to his still. knowing that great many
thousand barrels of freight will be
shipped within the next four years.
Only rough sheds are necessary and
these quickly go up. and then along
comes the still. The copper still gener-
ally used has capacity of about 800
gallons, or enough to carry a charge of
twenty to twenty-five barrels of crude
turpentine. The 1000 acres Of good
trees furnish just enough resin to
charge such a still twice in twenty
four hours during the working season.
And when the still is erected tender
foot passengers in the cars generally
think that they have discovered a
moonshner's lair, for the outside of the
stills are very much the same.
The labor question is the least of the
turpentiner's troubles; indeed, 1t is
hardly question at all. The first
steps are hardly taken toward estab-