40 BULLETIN 229, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



5. Only a slight increase in the commercial value of the turpentine and sometimes 

 of the rosin. 1 



However, when fuel and crude resin are plentiful, steam stills have 

 the following important advantages: 



1. Very pure turpentine, better than that obtained by direct heat. 



2. Rosin not superheated, and but slightly colored. 



3. Simple and easy control of the distillation. 



4. Decrease of fire risk. 



As a general rule, an experienced distiller will obtain as good resulta 

 with the ordinary American still as with a steam still. 



THE SUPPLY OF LONGLEAF PINE FOR TURPENTINE OPERATIONS. 



Up to the middle nineties the large supply of yellow pine stump- 

 age, the prejudice against lumber cut from turpentined trees, and 

 the lack of adequate transportation facilities in many regions 

 where turpentine operations were conducted, caused large bodies 

 of turpentined timber to be abandoned and left to be destroyed by 

 fire, wind, and decay. It is estimated that in each of the States of 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and 

 Mississippi the loss in boxed timber has amounted to from three to ten 

 billion board feet. 



At present the damage to standing timber due to turpentine opera- 

 tions has been considerably reduced. The cup systems lessen the 

 fire risk and the heavy demand for lumber, coupled with improved 

 transportation facilities, has shortened the period between the end of 

 turpentine operations and the beginning of lumbering. However, 

 as the supply of timber available for turpentining has grown smaller, 

 the practice of turpentining undersized trees has become common, 

 especially in second-growth stands that have come up after old lumber 

 operations. When a tree under 6 inches in diameter is boxed it 

 seldom makes further growth, and cupping has almost as bad an 

 effect. Not only is further growth prevented, but the tree becomes 

 a menace to the rest of the stand through windfall, fire, or decay. 

 The future production of naval stores in the Southeast is rendered 

 uncertain by the practice of turpentining small trees, and the future 

 supply of longleaf pine is endangered. Moreover, the returns derived 

 from turpentining small timber are, as a rule, hardly sufficient to 

 cover the expense of operation. 



The scarcity of longleaf pine suitable for turpentining has reached 

 an acute stage in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and is 

 the natural result of the exhaustion of the virgin pine forests. While 

 considerable u round" timber that is, timber which has never been 

 tapped remains in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, it is 



1 On Apr. 5, 1911, the quotation at Savannah on "B " rosin, the lowest grade, was $8.15 per barrel, while 

 "WW," or the highest grade, brought but $8.62 per barrel. The average price of "WW" rosin during 

 the naval stores year 1913-14, was $6.38, and of " B " rosin, $3.96 per barrel. 



