The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-02-02
SAVING IN TURPEN-
TINE INDUSTRY.
Further Economy Effected in Exper-
ments Made by the Forest Service
Which introduced tn Cup and
Gutter System.

Washington, ID. C. Jan. %, 1906
The recent experiments of the Forest
Service, designed to conserve the life
of turpentine trees. gives promise of
remarkable success. 1t is believed
that the improvements tested in -hese
experiments viii, in addition to pro-
longing the life of the trees, greatly
increase their total Weld of turpen-
tine.
When the cup md gutter system of
turpentining was introduced by tn
Forest Service some three years ago.
the economy which it secured led to
it's adoption on a large scale by
southern turpentine producers. What
lends this system it's great val
ue is the fact that it does away with
the old practice of boxing" which
consists in cutting a deep cavity or
box at the base of the tree for the
purpose of catching and holding the
resin which flows from the Clipped
face of the tree trunk above. In
place of the "box" an earthenware cuI
of the same capacity, is fastened to
the tree. To this the flowing resin is
directed by the mans of metal cutters.
fold gain-first a saving of the deep,
fatal wound in the base of the tree,
and consequently a conversation of
it's vitality; and second, much less
waste in the gathering of the pro-
duct, with a greater yield of turpen-
tine and better grades of resin.
While this decided improvement
spared the tree very considerably, the
method of chipping faces" 20 slim
ulate resin flows remain unchanged.
This in itself necessitates a deep
wound. which. it is believed, exhhausts
necessary. Exhaustion is eviden'
from thhe fact that after the first
year the yield quickly falls off, and the
total productive period is also limit
ed. A further step in advance, to
supplement the gains already secured
by the cup and gutter system, was
therefore suoght in the new plan. This
aimed t oreduce the size and numbe-
of faces" Clipped, and also the depth
Of the chipping, without diminishing
the flow of resin.
In experiments carried out during
the past season the first object was to
show that at least an equal flow
resin can be secured from shallowe1
and shorter faces" The success o.
the experiments has tentatively es-
tablishehd the practibility of this plan.
A great saving naturally results, for
by reducing the depth and the SUPER
fetal extent Of the wound, the drair
on the vitality o. the tree is reduced,
and at least an equal yield is secured
without discounting the product of
former years. Under the old system
the annual yield gradually falls off.
largely in consequence of the forma-
toin of dry face" which is a kind of
local death, effecting the wood Of the
tree.
1t is highly probable that with this
diminution in the severity Of tie oper-
alton the ordinary term of thee OF
four years during which a forest is
now worked can be greatly increased.
this means only a larger total
return and consequently larger pro-
fits, but also that the investment per-
iod for turpentining capital is length
ened, fact which especially appeals
to the investor.
The experiments are being conduct
ed in cooperation with the HiIlman-
Sutherland Land Company, which
last year placed four crops of trees.
of about 5000 trees each az
the disposal Of the season of 1906 has
consented to supply still more tim
Der to further the study.