AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 253 



years' use, will be reduced to a box capable of containing a full quart only, -which, from ex- 

 perience, your committee believe to be the most profitable size. Taking a tree capable of 

 sustaining two boxes, they would recommend that the boxes be cut side by side, with a life- 

 streak of bark of four inches intervening between them, in preference to cutting them oppo- 

 site to each other, and that one-third or more of the bark should be left for the support of 

 the tree, the boxes to be cut., just at the bulge of the tree near the root of the same. The 

 corners of the boxes should be cut out with the inclination of the face of the box, and to ex- 

 tend in a line perpendicular to the outer corners of the same, so as to show a line horizontal 

 with the top of the box, the object of chipping being to expose a new surface of the pores for 

 the exudation of the turpentine. The cut of the hacker should extend a half inch in depth 

 into the tree, and one-fourth in altitude, and the chipping should be renewed once a week. 

 The best instrument for the purpose is the hacker with a small bowl, to be kept exceedingly 

 sharp, and the best instrument for sharpening the same is the stone known as the Siam 

 hone or slip. 



Your committee have nothing new to suggest or recommend as to the best mode of dipping, 

 or the best instrument for that purpose ; but in reference to the scrape or hard turpentine, 

 they would advise the use of cloths instead of the old-fashioned box for receiving the same. 

 The committee would recommend the light iron axle two-horse wagon as the most expedi- 

 tious and economical for hauling turpentine. The frame for the barrels should be made of 

 four-by-six-inch scantling, with segments of circles cut therein, one-half across the upper 

 face of the same, to receive the ends of the barrels, with two interior parallel rails, so that 

 when either end of a barrel is removed from the concave which it occupies, it can be rolled 

 from the wagon on a smooth surface. The committee would recommend that when the dis- 

 tiller can avail himself of a hill-side, the simplest plan to elevate turpentine to the still is to 

 extend a railway from the top of the hill to the platform ; if upon a level plain, the use of 

 the machine employed by flour mills to elevate their sacks and barrels to the upper stories 

 of the mill, the said machine being a platform, with four upright posts, with a roller at the 

 end of each, two ropes from the roof of the still-house, passing beneath said rollers, (one on 

 each side,) thence through sheave-blocks and around a cylinder turned by a crank from be- 

 low. In regard to preparing the turpentine for distillation, we refer you to the explanation 

 made by a member of the committee as to the style best adapted to making the best article 

 of rosin. 



The experience of your committee would lead them to decide in favor of a small size still, 

 or with a flat and greatly extended surface. The committee would recommend that in dis- 

 tilling, the still should be charged to only two-thirds its capacity, to allow for the expansion 

 of the material during ebullition. The amount of water to be supplied should be equivalent 

 to the amount condensed in the still-worm, and kept in the same ratio as long as the spirit 

 comes over ; and should the still have a tendency to boil over, an increased amount of fuel is 

 to be supplied until the excessive ebullition ceases ; the heat is then to be diminished, and 

 the still run regularly as before. Your committee deem it unnecessary to enlarge on this 

 point, as they presume that in all cases of new beginners a practical distiller will be 

 employed. 



Your committee recommend, in addition to the usual mode of glueing the spirit casks, 

 that the casks, being partially drained after each glueing, be placed upon a horizontal plane, 

 each head alternately placed upon each plane ; and would further recommend the use of the 

 Scotch glue in all cases in which the distiller is unable to manufacture his own glue from 

 good sound hides. The committee would recommend that in making bai*rels and casks, the 

 staves and heading should be fully dressed, ready for the truss-hoop, and be permitted to re- 

 main some time previous to being made into barrels, for the purpose of allowing the staves, 

 &c. to shrink. By adopting this course the barrels are less liable to leakage. The staves 

 for turpentine barrels should be thirty-two inches in length, the head to be worked in a 

 twenty-inch truss-hoop. The spirit cask should contain forty-five gallons, and in case oak 

 heading cannot be obtained, we would recommend the substitution of poplar instead. 



