228 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



scribe to you the process by which they are 

 obtained." 



" Oh do, if you please, Uncle Philip ; that 

 must be very curious." 



" Well, then ; turpentine is simply the sap 

 of the tree in its natural state, and is obtained 

 by boring, just the same as the maple sap ; 

 as it runs from the tree, it is about as thick as 

 honey, but gets thicker and more sticky after 

 a little while ; it begins to run in March, and 

 continues until October; after five or six 

 years, the tree is abandoned, as no more sap 

 will run from it. It is calculated that in 

 general, forty trees will give a barrel of pure 

 turpentine every year, and about a third 

 of a barrel of inferior quality, called scrapings. 

 Turpentine, you know, is used for making 

 soap, and the spirits of turpentine, made by 

 distilling the sap, is used by painters, and 

 also in medical preparations. Resin, or rosin 

 as some call it, is what remains after distilling 

 the turpentine and obtaining the spirits. Tai- 

 ls made from the limbs of the long-leaved 

 pine, and from the dead trunks of such as fall 

 through age, or are blown down by storms. 

 To procure it, a kiln is formed in some part 

 of the forest where there are a great many 



