273 



*' February is employed in selecting the trees for tapping, tlie 

 miuimum girth of permanent trees chosen for the purpose 

 being about 1-10 metres at an average height of a man's shoulder 



from the ground. The first incision is generally made in the 

 side facing east and at the foot of the tree. The first year the 

 tree is cut to a height of. about 60 centim., with a width of 

 0-9 metres and a depth of 0-01 metres. A piece of 

 zinc is placed at the foot of the cut to guide the resin 

 into a pot which is tied ut the foot of the tree. The second and 

 following years the ciit is made about 65 centim. high, but 

 diminished in width to 0-8 metres for the second year and 0-7 

 for the third year, 0*6 metres for the fourth and fifth yeare. 

 By the end of the fourth year the cut is about 8 feet high. The 

 tree is then allowed to rest for three years, when another incision 

 is made on the north-west side and the same procedure followed 

 as described above. When the trees are to be bled to death, 

 three or four cuts are made simultaneously on the trunk. Each 

 cut is said to produce 3-3 lbs. of resin per year. (The process 

 of bleeding the trees and collecting the resin is well illustrated 

 by specimens in Museum ^o. III. at Kew,) 



" Six crops are gathered each year in the months of April, 

 May, June, July, September, October and November. The last 

 crop is tlie most abundant, but its product is of inferior quality, 

 the gum only yielding 15-16 per cent, of turpentine as com- 

 pared to 21-24 per cent, obtained from the first crop. It is 

 calculated that in the Lnndes about 231,000,000 lbs. of resinous 

 products are obtained yearly, furnishing, after distillation, some 

 132,000 fiftv-gallon barrels of turpentine weighing 'J' lbs. to the 

 gallon, and^l85,000,000 lbs. of dry product, i.e., 340,000 barrels 

 of 480 lbs. of resin, the balance being composed of inferior stuff, 

 waste, &c. In 1912 about £1 7s. 6d. a cwt. was obtained for 

 turpentine, and about 15s. a cwt. for the best grades of resm. 

 France exports about 63,000 fifty-gallon casks of turpentine and 

 197,000 barrels of 480 lbs. each of resinous products, JJordeaux 

 and Bavonne being the principal ports of export. In JJi- t^^^ 

 United "^Kingdom took 1147 tons of turpentine and l.,b3b tons 



of resinous products." • „ ^■, , pj. 



In addition there is a big lumber industry. Small tiees after 

 being bled to death, are used as pit props and 363,130 tons at 

 prices ranging from 12s. 8d. to 18s. 3d. per ton were imported 

 into the United Kingdom, chiefly to Bristol Channel ports, in 

 1912 The averao-e free-on-board price at Bordeaux m 191^ was 

 16s. 'a ton. and The average freight from that port was 7s - 

 ton. In the Thnher Neics for March 20th, 19l0 Messrs. OsbecK 

 _ -, r. X.I _:x J ..L01.+C rnrrl ff. sav that the normal 



import 



1, 



amoimts to 



750,000 tons pe? annum, and th..t the war price has bee below ^ 

 20s. a ton ex-ship there. Some of this amount is from ScandinaMa^ 

 the rest is from France. By an m ercha.ge of ^o» «^f 

 props colliers are able to carry a full load each way ^^ly*^;^;^," '' 

 to lessen freight rates. Timber of this pine is also iL.ed foil ail- 

 way sleepers, paving blocks, and telegraph poles The price of 

 sleepers s about 2s."8d. each. Clean timber is also cut up into 



