CHAPTER XXV 



TURPENTINE ORCHARDING 



The production of rtaval stores was an important industry 

 in some of the South Atlantic States, especially in the Carolinas 

 where the industry flourished for many years, but it has been 

 on the decHne since 1880, the year of maximum production. 



Florida is now the center of the industry, producing more 

 than one-half of all the turpentine and rosin output of this 

 country. Other States in which large quantities are produced 

 are Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South 

 CaroHna. 



The production in 191 1 was 638,000 casks of turpentine and 

 3,916,000 barrels^ of rosin.- The greater part of these products 

 find their market in Europe. 



Species Worked. — All coniferous trees contain resinous 

 materials in their wood, but resin ducts are best developed in the 

 hard pines of the South which furnish the raw material from which 

 naval stores are secured. 



The product obtained by ''bleeding" a pine tree is known as 

 gum, crude turpentine or resin. From this, turpentine, rosin 

 and pitch are secured by distillation. Pitch pine {Pinus rigida) 

 yields limited quantities of crude turpentine. It was worked 

 successfully in the East during the Revolutionary war but the 

 industry has ceased to exist because of the scarcity of timber 

 and the limited yield per tree. 



Shortleaf pine {P. echinata) does not yield resin readily and 

 the face of the tree dries rapidly. Although the yield per tree 

 is limited, the so-called "Rosemary" pine, a form of shortleaf, 

 is bled when found in the vicinity of other species that are being 

 worked. 



^ 280 pounds each. 



^ Naval Stores Review, Savannah, Georgia, June 27, 1912, p. 40. 

 441 



