51(3 



THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The following estimate, by counties, of the merchantable pine standing May 31, 1880, south of the Neusi: 

 river, the only part of the state where it is of commercial importance, was prepared by Mr. Edward Kidder, of 

 Wilmington. It is based upon actual surveys and tie reports of a large number of timber-land experts familiar 

 with the different counties still occupied by the forests of long-leaved pine: 



LONG-LEAVED PINE (Phuis patustris). 



Counties. 



Bladen 288, 000, 000 



Brunswick 141, 000, 000 



Chatham 448, 000, 000 



Columbus 288, 000, 000 



Cumberland 806, 000, 000 



Duplin 21, 000, 000 



Harnett 486, 000, 000 



Johnston 663, 000, 000 



Moore 504, 000, 000 



New Hanover 96, 000, 000 



Onslow 31, 000, 000 



Eobeson j 804,000,000 



Sampson ' 602, 000, 000 



Wake 48,000,000 



Wayne 40,000,000 



Feet, board 

 measure. 



Total 5, 229, 000, 000 



Cut for t he census year ending May 31, 1880, exclusive of 

 50, 190.000 feet cut in the counties adjacent to Alliemarle 

 and Pamlico sounds and along the Pamlico and Nense 

 rivers, which is largely loblolly pine (Finns Tceda). 



108,411,000 



NAVAL STORES. 



Small quantities of crude turpentine were produced upon the coast of North Carolina, between the Pamlico 

 and Cape Fear rivers, soon after the earliest settlement of the country. It was sent to Great Britain or converted 

 into spirits of turpentine and rosin for home consumption. The demand for ships' stores had greatly increased 

 the North Carolina production as early as 1818, although the field of operations was not extended south of the 

 Cape Fear river, nor more than 100 miles from the coast, until 1836. The large demand for spirits of turpentine 

 created during that year induced manufacturers to test the yield of trees on the west side of the Cape Fear river, 

 up to that time considered unproductive. The result was satisfactory, although overproduction and low prices 

 deferred until 1840 the development of this region. Since 1840 this industry has been gradually carried southward. 

 Naval stores were produced in South Carolina in 1840, and in Georgia two years later. Turpentine orchards were 

 established in Florida and Alabama in 1855, and more recently in Mississippi and eastern Louisiana. 



The naval stores manufactured in the United States are principally produced from the resinous exudations of 

 the lon^-leaved pine (Pinus palmtris), and in small quantities from the loblolly pine (Pinus Tceda), and the slash 

 pine (Pinus Cubensis) of the Florida coast. The trees selected for "boxing" are usually from 12 to 18 inches in 

 diameter, although trees with trunks only 8 inches through are now sometimes worked. A deep cut or "box" is 

 made in the trunk of the tree, by a cut slanting downward, some 7 inches in depth, and generally 12 inches above 

 the ground, and met by a second cut started 10 inches above the first and running down from the bark to meet it. 

 In this manner a segment is removed from the trunk and a triangular trough formed 4 inches deep and 4 inches 

 wide at the top. 



Two such boxes, or upon a large trunk sometimes four, are made on each tree. A "crop", the unit of production 

 among large operators, consists of 10,000 such boxes. The boxes are cut early in November with a narrow-bladed 

 ax specially manufactured for the purpose, and the trees are worked on an average during thirty-two weeks. As 

 soon as the upper surface of the box ceases to exude freely, it is "hacked" over and a fresh surface exposed, the 

 dried resin adhering to the cut having been first carefully removed with a sharp, narrow, steel scraper. The boxes, 

 especially after the first season, are often hacked as often as once a week, and are thus gradually extended 

 upward until upon trees which have been worked during a number of seasons the upper surface of the box is often 

 10 or 12 feet above the ground. For these long boxes the scraper is attached to a wooden handle, generally 

 loaded with iron at the lower end to facilitate the operation of drawing down the resin. Once in four weeks, or 

 often less frequently, the resin caught in the bottom of the box is removed into a bucket with a small, sharp, oval 

 steel spade attached to a short wooden handle. The product of these "dippings", as this operation is called, is 

 placed in barrels and transported to the distillery. The first season a turpentine orchard is worked boxes are 

 usually dipped eight times, yielding an average of 300 barrels of turpentine to the crop. The second year the 



