FARMERS' REGISTER 



250 



been obperved if seen. It is indeed as remarkable 

 for lis singular and beautiful ibrni wlicn very 

 younn; as lor iis noble size and form when old. 

 One of three seasons' growth (ibr example) 

 was only a little more than two feet high, 

 and retained at once all the leaves of the three 

 seasions, though in very di?iinct states. The leaves 

 of the first year, dead and dry, but still firmly set 

 and strong, covered the [)lant tiiickly for about a 

 foot above the ground ; then the green and viiror- 

 ous leaves o! the last years growth, Ibr about 

 the same extent ; and lastly, the new upright and 

 compact shoots of this spring, one or two and 

 sometimes three, from which the leaves, though 

 formed, had not yet unfolded, and which shoots 

 are each about the size of, and not very unlike in 

 general appearance, a large shoot of asparagus, 

 as it first rises out of the ground. The older leaves 

 are about a loot long, and as thickly set on the 

 single and upright trunk as can be imagined ; and 

 the Whole plant, of this or of less sjze, is much like 

 •an artificial military plume ofenormousdin;ensions. 



The turpentine and tar business. 



The making of turpentine and tar is the almost 

 <=o!e business of ihe thinly seitled population of 

 the pine lands. They are Generally poor and in- 

 dolent ; yet this business affords good profits even 

 at the present low prices, and enormous profits 

 were made when naval stores were more than 

 <louble their present prices. Tur[)enline now sells 

 St J^l.SO the barrel at Wilmington, and it has sold 

 for upwards of 84. Mr. Lazarus told me that he 

 had paid to a poor white man, who worked singly 

 and unassisted in making turpimtine. ^1000 lor 

 the fruits of his labor of one year. It is under- 

 jstood that a good hand can attend to 9000 trees, 

 and can secure 200 barrels of turpentine in a year. 



in commencing the operation on trees before 

 untouched, a receptacle (or '• box") is cut by the 

 axe on one side of the tree, and about six inches 

 above the ground, which is large enough to hold 

 a quart of the fluid turpentine which exudes from 

 the cut sap-wood, and which flows into this hol- 

 low from the upper part and sides. The flowing 

 of the sap begins of course in the spring. At the 

 end of a i'aw days, (accordintr to the time and 

 stale of the season,) the laborer visits all his trees, 

 dips out the collected turpentine and puts it in bar- 

 rels. He then cuts from each side of the tree a 

 shallow groove, inclining downward to the box, 

 through the bark and a little into the wood. Into 

 these new cuts the turpentine exudes, and flows 

 down diem into the box. The tool by which this 

 operation is performed is called a "shave." It is 

 a circular piece of iron like the eye of a weeding 

 lice, wiih the lower edge sharp, and which is at- 

 tached to a shaft or handle, so as to cut its groove 

 like a gouge, but by being pulled to, instead of be- 

 ing pushed from, the operator. Every time the 

 box is emptied of its turpentine, tlie "shaving" is 

 extended upward, and thus gradually making the 

 tree bare of bark and of the outer surface of the 

 sap-wood as high as can be conveniently reached, 

 or 15 leet and upwards. This shaving rises about 

 two feet in a year, and thus it takes about seven 

 years to finish one side of a tree. The side edges 

 ol' the bared surface are carefully kept perpendi- 

 cular and straight, and not quite to embrace the 

 half of the trunk of the tree. Next, the opposite 



side is "boxed," and treated in the same way, taking 

 care to leave a strip of an inch or two of bark on 

 each side between the old and the newer work. 

 Without other cause of decay or destruciion, the 

 trees will live and yield well until the sides can be 

 shaved no higher. But the spreading of acci- 

 dental fires seldom fails to kill the tree earlier. For 

 the entire face of the cutting being encrusted with 

 turpentine, and the wood below being converted 

 to solid lightwood, no trees can be more inflam- 

 mable ; and tlie fire burns so deeply in, as to kill 

 the strips of living bark liy heat, or to weaken the 

 trunk so much that it yields to, and is prostrated 

 by, the next storm. TIir trees, or parts that es- 

 cape being l)urnt, are finally cut up into billets, 

 and the tar extracted fiom them, by burning them 

 slowly in a close kiln, made by covering the light- 

 wood with earth in the mode well known in every 

 pine country. 



It is only the turpentine that retains its fluidity, 

 and is collected in the box, that is considered first- 

 rate. The part that sticks to and hardens above 

 has lost its most valuable part, (the oil or spirits of 

 turpentine,) by evaporation, and when scrajjedofl', 

 v.'hich is the last part of the process, is sold at 

 half the price of the fluid turpentine. Of course 

 the expense of land-carnage is a sufficient bar to 

 the production of so heavy and low-priced pro- 

 ducts, where the distance is considerable. 



The turpentine getters are careful every spring 

 to rake away the leaves from the foot of every 

 tree, and to burn the collected trash when it can 

 tie done slowly and safely. But they cannot al- 

 ways command the progress of the fires; and 

 from that, or other less carefully made fires, great 

 havock is ofien made among the boxed trees. 



Where vicinity to market, or cheapness of car- 

 riage, permits this business to be in full opera- 

 tion, it cannot last long, as the long leaf |)ine3 

 will be destroyed and vvill not be renewed. The 

 other kinds of pines are not worth working for 

 this purpose. 



On the morning of the 20ih, I joined the rail- 

 way train at Rocky Point depot, and belbre 2 P. 

 M. reached Goldsborouirh, (distance 65 miles,) 

 near Waynesborugh, in Wayne county, and the 

 necessary place of departure lor Newbern. Her^ 

 I had to wait until 1 A. M., the next day, when, 

 by a stage coach drawn by two horses, but loaded 

 for four, 1 reached Newbern afierdark. Distance 

 70 miles. 



This day's journey was along the general 

 course of the Neuse river, though no where in 

 sight of it, except at Kinston, in Lenoir county. 

 By another mode of travelling, this might have 

 been founa a very interesting route; for the cal- 

 careous formations, to examine which had been 

 the first object of my intended visit to Newbern, 

 are scattered all along this river. But I could 

 hire no mode of conveyance, other than tli;rt of 

 the public statre coach; and even if it iiad been 

 otherwise, I could not have profited by the change, 

 having no well inlbrn)ed companion to guide and 

 instruct me as to localiiips. I could therelbre ck) 

 no better than go on to Newbern, trusting to the 

 chapter of accidents for my subsequent procedure. 



Judge Gaston's reclaimed Pocoson. 



On the morning of April 22d, the day after my 

 arrival at Newbern, I accompanied Judge Gastoa 



