118 JouEisrAL OF THE MiTCHELL SociETY [^December 



AMERICAN METHOD OF COLLECTION. 



In North Carolina the method of collection was improved, 

 or thought to be improved, by cutting a large opening, the 

 " box," in the base of the tree. Into this box the crude turpen- 

 tine flowed and was collected at regular intervals. The con- 

 servative character of the men engaged in this industry led to 

 the continuance of this wasteful and destructive method of 

 " boxing " until the very recent past. 



Briefly, the method of operating so long in use in the United 

 States is as follows : In the winter the laborers are engaged in 

 cutting " boxes." Each box is then " cornered," a wide chip 

 being removed from each half of the box to provide a surface 

 suitable for directing the flow of crude turpentine to the box. 

 Meanwhile, other laborers are employed in clearing all com- 

 bustible material from around each tree, " raking." Ground 

 fires are then started to consume the dead wire grass, chips, 

 etc. With the opening of spring " chipping " begins. This 

 consists in scarifying each week the trunk of the tree above the 

 " cornered " surface by means of a " hack," a U shaped steel 

 tool set in a wooden handle. Attached to this handle is a heavy 

 iron weight to give momentum to the free arm swing used in 

 chipping. After four or five weeks the " boxes " average a good 

 filling and the crude turpentine, "dip," is then transferred to 

 buckets by flat, iron paddles, and from the buckets it is col- 

 lected in barrels conveniently placed in the woods. In the fall, 

 at the end of the chipping season, the hardened oleoresin, which 

 which has gradually collected during the chipping season on the 

 scarified surface of the tree, is removed by scraping, giving thus 

 the name " scrape " to this product, which is sold as " Gum 

 Thus," or distilled. In the following winter the trees are again 

 raked and the grass fired, and in the spring chipping is resumed 

 at the point on the trunk of each tree where it ceased the pre- 

 vious year. This cycle is usually continued from three to four 

 years, although in early days it was often continued ten or 

 twelve years, the scarified surface extending high on the trunks. 

 Necessarily the yield from such high chipping was largely de- 

 creased, owing to the increased distance of flow to the receptacle. 



