1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



339 



ter is frozen in them. During the win- 

 ter, therefore, when the cups are not 

 in use, they should be removed from 

 the nails and inverted at the base of 

 the trees, so that water can not collect 

 in them. 



FIXING LOOSE GUTTERS. 



In case a gutter is displaced during 

 the chipping season, the accident can 

 be easily repaired by reinserting it in 



Fig. 4. Cup and gutters properly placed 



the old incision and driving two nails 

 into the tree flush with the bottom of 

 the gutter one nail near the center of 

 the face and the other near the upper 

 end of the gutter. Supported by these 

 two nails a gutter will stand the scrap- 

 ing of the dip knife without slipping. 

 The gutter and both nails can readily 

 be drawn from the tree at the end of 

 the season. 



The rapid introduction of the cup and 

 gutter system by turpentine operators 

 proves beyond a doubt that the experi- 

 mental stage has been passed. No 

 stronger confirmation of the value of 

 the results obtained at Ocilla, Ga., 

 could be given than the fact that by 

 far the greater portion of the cups 

 placed during the past winter were on 

 farms where the cup had been tested 

 on a small scale during the preceding 

 season. Not all operators are yet con- 



vinced; there are still doubters and 

 scoffers, but their number is rapidly 

 diminishing. 



In the hands of a few the system 

 has been abused. The fact that un- 

 der it the trees are not weakened and 

 made subject to overthrow by wind- 

 storms, as boxed trees are, 'has in- 

 duced some operators to largely in- 

 crease the number of cups per tree as 

 compared with the average of boxes. 

 The returns from such trees prove that 

 there is a distinct limit to the sap sur- 

 face which can be removed without 

 weakening the vitality of the tree and 

 lessening the flow of resin. The prac- 

 tice of overcupping results, therefore, 

 in a financial loss. 



In addition to the increased returns 

 from the use of cups, the naval stores 

 industry has been benefited in two 

 other lines by the development of the 

 cup system. In many cases timber 

 owners have made decided concessions 

 in their leases to operators, on condi- 

 tion that the cups be used and no boxes 

 cut. In other instances large tracts of 

 timber have been brought under tur- 

 pentine operation by the cup system, 

 though their owners have persistently 

 refused to lease them for box cutting. 



The rapid rise in the value of tur- 

 pentine timber within the past few 



Fig. 5. Position of gutters on the face 

 A, correct ; B, incorrect 



years has contributed largely to its 

 more conservative treatment. A thing 

 of little value in the past, it has re- 

 ceived only a small amount of care. 

 Its rapid enhancement in value, and 

 the strong probability of a still further 



