The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-03
THE CITY OF SAVANNAH
By Frederic J. Haskina.

ie J. Haskin.
 1al4H0a0G9Amy1n1a 1aDaullMnug1Aok, 1 hand. Is all one grade and the price quotation is much simpler matter. But as there is idangr of adulteratton by the use wood turpentine," that is. a turpentine distilled from wood blocks and as the terpentine af- fects the pure spirits materially 1t is necessary to keep close watch upon the stock and the market. The State of Georgia provides security. against fraud and adulteration by stringent regulations. enforced under the direc- ton of State Supervising Inspector Of Naval Stores. @ Turpentine Is used in a vast num- Der of the liberal arts and is an in- creasingly important article of com merce. Originally. turpentine was ob- tained from the turpentine, or terebinth tree which grows in southern Europe. This Is of a very fine quality and is still produced in small quantities in France and Spain. Other turpentine spirits are produced in small quanti- ties from Canada balsam fir, but prac- , tically the whole trade looks to, the long-leaf pine forests of the southern United States for it's supply. s The supply has not been equal te the demand and the forests have yielded
 
 in one state after another, until now Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Missis- sippi re the greates producers, the Caroifnas having more nearly exhaust ed.
 The turpentine business is not aito- gether bed of roses for the operator. Of late years he has come in for much criticism from various sources, some of 1t perhaps deserved, much of 1t who'll v ran wfA AA h the pine, forests of Florida and see how the turpentine farmers are taking the life blood of trees too small to serve for telephone poles without being forced to the conclusion that this is a kind of reckless forest destruction which should be checked. Lumber men say that it does not hurt timber to be turpentined, in fact that 1t often improves the lum- Der product. But 1t does kill pine trees when the turpentine farmer cuts and bleeds them. If thestree Is large enough to be used for lumber there is no injury and permanent gain. In the case of very small trees there Is a permanent injury fora temporary gain. In addition to this, forest fires thrive in turpentine farms The scared trunks of the deserted trees. no longer under the watchful eye of the fire guards. are as so much finder and millions of dol- lars of value Is destroyed every year in this manner
 Many of the charges of peonage made against the turpentine farmers are doubtless grossly exaggerated. A tur- pentfne camp. in the nature of things. cannot be as pleasant a place to work as a florists shop. Tt is rough work for which rough men are employed. But it is not slavery and many of the so-called ''peons" for whom so many tears have been shed are merrify continuing their life of drifting from camp to camp in the great turpentine fields.
 Even with modern methods. and with the exhaustion of even the smallest trees. the turpentine crop already shows signs of, permanent decrease. There Is no such thing as systematic re-forestation. There is no such thing as a concerted action of the State and the trade for the preservation of the raw resources of the business Thus 1t appears that living men will live ito see the day when this great naval stores industry will be numbered with the indigo business and other lost arts of the South Atlantic coast.
 The processes employed by the tur- but they have an interest for the lay man which is not at all abated by vis- 1t to the piney woods where the air is laden with perfume of bleeding trees. Boxes" are cut into the sides of the tree. about a foot. above the base of the trunk, having a capacity of about three pfnts. A gssh seven or eight inches long is cut in the tree above the reservoir, in a peculiar fashion so that the bark cut away leaves a white letter M" outlined against the dark bark. The center point of the "M' directs the boxing sap to- ward the reservoir. zN
 After the first year great preca utions are taken to guard against fire in the farm which may be the result of either accident or design but which is power full for destruction. In the spring, when the sap begins to flow, the work of scarihcation is begun. that Is. the tree Is laid bare above the box to the depth of an inch from the inside of the bark, cutting away the younger layers of the wood. Fresh incisions are made almost every week from March until October or November. The resin is dipped from the tree boxes and placed in abarrels to be taken to the still. Tn the first season each tree will yield from six to eight drippiugs, and 10,- 900 boxes will give forty barrels of "dip" or soft gum at~seach dipping. When winter comes and the sap flow ceases. the hardened resin is scraped from the scared trees and utilized Ten thousand boxes will yied 2,10O gallons of turpentine and 260 barrels of Fosin of the high "water white" and twin dow glass; grades in the first year.
 In the second year the yield Is much smaller, and the quality of the rosin produced Is of a darker and inferior grade. When the fourth year is reached there will be but three dips from each box and the 10000 trees will yield but 300 gallons to turpentine and loo bar. rels of Bob" rosin, the lowest and b1ackest quality. Then the turpen4iae farm is abandoned. If the trees are large and conditions are favorable the the lumber man comes and takes away the trees to be cut into lumber If not. the fire generally comes anI the dying. bloodless trees are destroyed and with them the little pines that might be making a naval stores market in Savannah in the days of our grand. sons if they were given any protect. lon.
 Whatever the future may hold. !t is none the less a fact that 1t Is a great