NAVAL STORES BECOME CHEMICALS 



rounds chipping the trees and gathering the gum from 

 the cups. By the time the crude gum is collected it 

 has been diluted with rain water and contaminated 

 with bark, wood chips, and pine needles. Its quality 

 varies almost infinitely with the skill of the chipper and 

 the scruples of the operator. At best it is not an ideal 

 raw material for a delicate distilling operation. 



Hundreds of those little "fire-stills" process this gum 

 into turpentine and rosin. These primitive chemical 

 plants are operated without even a thermometer, liter- 

 ally by ear. The colored still-man judges the tempera- 

 ture by the sound of the bubbling in the worm and 

 shuts down when he reckons the batch is done. What 

 is left in the pot is strained off into barrels and hardens 

 into the rocklike rosin. The turpentine and rosin from 

 these many little operations are about as uniform as a 

 flock of barnyard chickens. 



All the tangible assets of the whole naval stores in- 

 dustry are not such as tempt a banker to lend money. 

 Yet the small farmer and little still owner cannot carry 

 themselves until their rosin and turpentine are finally 

 converted into cash by sale to the consumer. Here the 

 factor stepped in. He advanced money on the future 

 crop at eight per cent interest, on condition that the 

 rosin and turpentine will be turned over to him for 

 sale on a two and one-half per cent commission basis. 



The curve recording the prices of naval stores over 

 the years resembles nothing so much as a design for a 



117 



