Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-07-14
SOUTHERN PINE FORESTS

Washington Star: The dreams OF
the most avaricious miser never COM
passed anything so wonderful for
bringing a flow of gold as the yellow
pine forests OF a few southern states
aid DR.. Richards OF Savannah. Ca, to
a Star man at the Arlington yester-
day. The mill men had denuded mil
lions OF acres Of forests-and the
stumps and old lead limbs are worth
even more than was the lumber from
the great tree. Science has made pos
sible the utilization of every particle
of the pine tree to the benefit of man
kind. There are not many chemical
works where the different oils are ex-
tracted from fat pine by the retort
process, but those in the business are
simply coming tremendous fortunes.
and with a future that looks almost
into infinity. A cord of pine knots,
stumps, ETC., which Is the material used,
costs delivered at the works, $2.25; the
cost of manufacturing adds another 80
cents, making a total of $3.50 per cord.
After the sale Of all the products of
this wood the manufacturer has in his
safe, from each cord, the sum of $3.50.
This being the very low watermark,
when the market is at its worst.
There are several parties in this Sec
ton now securing lands on which the
timber has been cut but where the
stumps and old trees and rash lies
thickest. They intend putting in chemi-
cal works and extracting some of the
gold found in pine.
'The possibilities in this line are very
large, though the territory is limited to
a few southern states. where the pine
predominates. One thing that is detri-
mental to this industry, to the lumber
ing interests, and to the welfare of all
the people, it is claimed, is that men
are allowed to box the young growth
for turpentine. No tree, SO those assert
who ought to know, should be boxed
under twelve inches, while the truth is
that many are boxing trees but half
that size. This has a a tendency IN
every q and it stunts the growth To
a certain extent and thus makes poorer
timber. 1t is dangerous because of
fires destroying whole forests, and 1T Is
not necessary when there are millions
OF acres where the fat pine, stumps,
limbs, ETC., will furnish more and bet
ter turpentine still.
Estimates carefully worked out from
the actual daily experience in several
of the big chemical works of the coun-
try show that the average cord of
o will produce:
From first extraction, t~wenty-six
gallons of t~urpentine.
rIOIh SCCOIlu a1llOils N"VANN 6tA-
Ions Of oil.
From third extraction, Lightweight
gallons of oil.
From the two last extractions are
secured twenty byproducts, all of con-
siderable value and some of them very
necessary TO the commerce of the world,
as creosote, with which piling is made
imprevious to the ravages OF the teredo.
Then, too, the wool is valuable itself,
each cord making forty bushels of
charcoal, worth ~ cents a bushel. The
value of all the products of the fat pine,
as / a before, exceeds $33 a cord.
That makes a profit of nearly $50 a
cord.
Think Of the millions OF acres
throughout the yellow pine belt where
almost for miles one can see nothing
but stumps, and think of it in the light
that the stumps are the very best part
OF the tree for the production of tur-
pentine and the associated oilS-and
think again that all that is needed to
make these lands valuable is that they
be cleared. Here is a process whereby
the clearing Of the land will be made
highly profitable, and thus the very
worst land is the best from a financial
standpoint. This chemical process of
extracting the oils from the pine is
destined to revolutionize the south, and
TO make the barren spots bloom like
a garden. If the land was cleared you
know 1T would be valuable for agricul-
tural purposes, but under the old on
ditions when the pulling of a stump
meant a dead loss of both energy and
money, it was a hard proposition to
the settler. OF course, he could get the
land or plenty of time, but the grub
bling and clearing stood like a mountain
in the eyes of most. Now, though it
will be possible to have the land
cleared for the farmer without cost to
him, and it will not be long before
the chemical people will be willing to
pay him a good price for the old stumps
and limbs and other waste from the
trees.
THE extraction of the commercial
oils from the pine by chemical means
has been a secret until very recently.
There are very few factories in the
world. But it seems that now several
have the secret and a syndicate has
apparently been formed in Chicago for
exploiting the new invention, as there
are some Ave gentlemen IL this sec
ton looking into the proposition of this
character, and it is understood that
one of them has been placed and will
put up a big plant without delay"