The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-08
wINTERGREEN OUT OF BIRCH.
Description of the Distillery at Dayville
 in Chester.

Description of the Dlstillery at Dayville
 in Chester.
 l It may sound strange to think of
 making wintergreen out of anything
 but wintergreen, says the Westfield Valley Echo, but as a matter of fact
 not an ounce of wintergreen, of any
 sort is used in manufacturing the oil
 which is the basis of the extract Win
 tergreen is made from plain black
 birch brush, such as grows an the ordi-
 nary hill farm, and the dssillery at
 Dayville, in the town of Chester, is the subject of this sketch. It has just
 closed it's seasons work, for nothing in
 this line of the distilling business can | be done after warm weather sets in. The Dayville mill has been run steadily all winter, and has furnished employ ment to several men, besdes distribu-
 ting upward of four thousand dollars to the farmers in that section for birch
 brush.
 The distillery is located in pictur
 esque valley few miles above Hun tington, on the river road and stands
 close to a mountain stream of pure
 water exactly adapted to the purposes of the plant. The distillery has been in operation for two years, and is a sub stantial two story wooden building, and
 Is aid out with big vats occupying near ly the entire first floor Just outside is a huge cutting machine, consisting of a revolving drum of knives. The brush Is run through this, exactly as ensllage is run through cutter, chopping it into pieces not more than two inches long, which fall into an elevator of the grist- mill pattern, This conveys the clip pings to the upper floor of the building where they are dumped Into five piles of even quantity directly over the five vats underneath. The vats are emptied every twenty-four hours, and in that time the cutter and elevator will make ready an ample quantity to refill them.
 The process of distillation that goes on in the vat is by means of live steam, which is carried through the vat. with the birch clippings packed in around the coils of pipe. Tn the twenty-four hours a great steaming process takes place, and as the vat Is tightly sealed, this steam is entirely prevented from es- caping. It is then condensed by pass ing in pipes through cold running wa ter, and is then drawn off like sirup-- the pure oil of wintergreen. vat holds about ton and a half of brush, and from it from two to four pounds of the pure oil will be extracted. The lat ter, it should be understood, Is not the which we buy at the drug store; the latter is only the extract, and l to make it the oil is reduced fully thir- ty times. Great care must be taken in | sealing the vats, for the slightest air | hole would permit the valuable steam ! to escape, and thus all the labor be lost |
 When the twenty -four-hour process | Is ended, the oil is drawn off the birch | all shoveled out of the vat and every | thing Is in readiness to fill 1t up again The used clippings make excellent fuel | md are used entirely to run the plant .wenty- horse power being supplied, | hough not more than half that amount | & actually used The price paid for birch brush delivered in the dstillery | ard is three dollars per ton and during 1 he past winter upward of thirteen hum titu lDllo lldNG Dtti put tHrpuSn lut process, and come out pure all If wintergreen It is a common idea I hat something is put into it in che pro- ess, but this is not so-it is simply the oil from ordinary birch brush, hat is all. The process is simple, but and a delightful winter ,reen odor not only fills the distillery l md adheres to the clothing for days af- | erward but it permeates the whole and can be noticed long 'efore one comes in sight of the distii- cry.
 Birch brush as large as two inches in iameter and as small as the tiniest ips is used with equally good results nd about the only limitation is that heir use must be abandoned before the uds begin to start. Providing a mar ct for the brush has proved a great oon to the farmers of that section, Tho are thus able to turn into cash a | roduct that has heretofore been who'll Z wasted Some big loads have been l rawn in, the record breaker being a ed-load that weighed nine thousand