72 TIMBER PINES OF THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES. 



from the dippings under his system are taken iuto accouut. On the first point he says that fully 

 oneeifjhth of the crude turpentine brouglit to the still from the boxes consists of chips, sand, and 

 otlun- foi('i};n matter, contaminations fron) which the product of the cups is entirely free. On the 

 second point he refers to the high grades of rosin resulting from the distillation of the crude 

 turpentine from tiio cups, which almost entirely classes with the highest and higher grades. 



EKKECTS OI- THK I'KODUfTION Ol' NAVAL STORES UPON TUB TIMBEK, THE LIFE OF THE TREE, ANI> THE CoNniTIONS 



OF THE FOREST. 



In the present management of the turpentine orchards in the Southern pine forests a great 

 deal of crude turpentine is wasted, nnach of the valuable spirits of turpentine is lost by volatilization 

 in passing over the long chip face on its way to the box, and much of the resin is lowered in its 

 grade aiul value by oxidation consequent to exposure and by admixture of foreign substances — 

 bark, coal, dust, etc. 



Concerning the ellect of the tapping of the trees upon the timber, there exists no reason on 

 physiological or anatomical grounds for considering it injurious, and the opinion held by many, 

 that the (jualities of timlx'r are impaired by bleeding, finds no support when it is considered that 

 the heartwood remains unattected. The resinous contents of the heartwood being solidified and 

 the formation of the resin taking place only in the newly formed wood, the heartwood can not 

 l)articipate in the flow of the resin, the discharge being necessarily confined to the sapwood. 

 This fact has been fully substantiated by tlie work of the Division of Forestry, by which it has not 

 only been shown tliat the strength of the heartwood, the most important if not the only part of the 

 tree used for lumber, has in no wise been diminished, but also that the durability of the timber, as 

 far as it depends upon its resinous contents, can not be imjiaired by bleeding. It is only in that part 

 of the butt log aiDund <tlie chip that the ([uality of the timber becomes somewhat impaired — the 

 wood becoming highly charged with resin is rendered more brittle and harder to work, with a ten- 

 dency to gum up the tools. Indirectly, however, a considerable proportion of the boxed timber 

 becomes damaged if not utilized shortly after having been bled. It is often left standing for a 

 number of years, exposed to various destructive agencies, such as insects and tire, followed by 

 parasitic fungoid growth. Large capricoru beetles bore their way through rhc callus surrounding 

 the chip and through and beyond the sapwood. Through the innumerable tissurcs wliicli are 

 caused by fires, air and water charged with the spores of para.sitic fungi lind ( ntrance to the body 

 of the tree, causing disease and decay. The damage from these causes increases every year, so that 

 from them alone the tinilx-r from a turpentine orchard abandoned for a dozen years was found 

 danuiged to the extent of fully !.'(» per cent. Although the loss of its resin by bleeding residts 

 ])hysiologically in no direct injury to the tree, the wound inllicted by tap|)ing, like any other wound, 

 interferes with its healthy growth and, particularly in the case of trees of snuUler size, causes their 

 early decay. While the exuded resin (lovering the ex(;oriated surface of the tree acts as an efficient 

 antiseptic, atfording a firm protection against the access of the spores of fungi, it endangers the 

 life of the tiee, if exposed to fire, by its greater intlammability, the heat produced by its tlaine 

 being capable of killing the trees outright. I'lnler the crude and inconsiderate manner of cutting 

 the boxes, all of the trees of smaller size and many of the larger trees are blown down, and a 

 considerable number of those rennUTiing with theii' excoriated surfaces out of ]uoportion to the 

 recuperative i)ower of the trees are doomed lo ])erish sooner or later in coiLseiinenee of such 

 treatment. 



The.se injuries inflicted upon the individual trees, in connection with the fires started with the 

 opening of the season one year after another, cause such danmge to the forests as to ettect finally 

 their total desliiu'tion. I'^ire being allowed to sweep ov(M' large areas, its force increased in the 

 turi)entine orchards by the exposed resinous surfaces of the trees, aiul by trees blown down anil 

 the debris covering the ground, an innnense anu)unt of timber is destroyed. Ti-ees which have not 

 been killed outright by the tire, or have altogether escaped the danger, are doomed to speedy 

 destruction by bark beetles and piiu' borei's, which find a breeding ]>lace in the living trees 

 prostratefl by the winds during the summer, the broods of which rapidly infest the standing trees, 

 which invariably succund) to the pest the same season. In con.sequence, the forests invade<l by 

 turpentine orcharding iiresent, in live or six years after they have been abandoned, a i)icture of 

 ruin ami desolation ))ainful to behold, ami in view of the destruction of the seedlings and the 

 younger growth all hope of the restoration of these maginticeut forests is excluded. 



