2222 ARBORETUM AND FKUTICETUM. 1'ART III. 



mentioned, with just as much ease as though he had a proper ladder leaning 

 against the tree. The resiniers always climb with naked feet, and they are so 

 expert, that it takes them only two or three minutes to mount a tree, enlarge 

 the wound, and descend ; the resinier then takes his pole on his shoulder and 

 runs to the next tree, which he also mounts with such expedition, that a good 

 workman will trim from 200 to 300 trees in a day. The season for cutting 

 the pines is from May to September ; and the resinous matter flows most 

 freely in warm weather ; it also flows much more freely from those trees 

 which are exposed to the sun, than from those which grow in the shade. 

 Besides the resin which flows from the wounds given to the tree, some drops 

 exude from cracks in the bark, which dry, and form grains, often employed 

 to adulterate the incense used in Catholic churches, by the persons who 

 sell that substance. These natural drops are only produce J when the tree is 

 become very old, and when nearly all the resin which it can be made to yield by 

 artificial means has been extracted from it. The resinous matter which exudes 

 from the pinaster is called by several names in France, even in its raw 

 state. That which incrusts on the sides of the wound is called barras. It 

 is nearly as white as wax, and is used to mix with that substance for 

 making tapers, to which it gives suppleness and elasticity. The barras is 

 collected only once in the year, at the end of the season ; and it is scraped 

 off with a kind of iron rake. The principal substance which flows from 

 the tree is called galipot, or rcsine molle. This substance, having been 

 collected in the hollow cut in the tree, or in the trough attached to it, 

 is put into large pits or reservoirs, capable of containing 150 or 200 bar- 

 rels each, which pits are dug in the earth, and lined with planks made of 

 the pine tree, fitted so close together as to prevent the liquid oozing 

 through. It is afterwards melted in large copper caldrons, set in brick- 

 work, to free it from the impurities mixed with it. It is necessary that 

 the caldrons used for this purpose should be set in brickwork, with a 

 proper chimney to convey away the smoke ; as, should the smoke be suffered 

 to come in contact with the resin, the whole would probably take fire. It 

 is also necessary to keep continually stirring the resin, to prevent it from 

 burning at the bottom of the caldron. When the resinous matter is to be 

 made into brown resin, some of the barras is mixed with it ; and, when the 

 mixture is thought to be sufficiently boiled, a little of it is poured on a piece 

 of wood; and if, when it becomes cold, it will crumble between the fingers, 

 the resin is ready. It is then poured through a filter made of straw laid 

 horizontally, and 4 in. or 5 in. thick, and run into barrels, where it is left to 

 harden. In this state it is brown and brittle, and is called by the French 

 brai sec, which is the brown resin of the shops. 



To make yellow resin, when the resinous matter is boiling, a quantity of 

 cold water is added, a few drops at a time : this makes the resin swell ; 

 and a trough having been previously fixed to one side of the caldron, 

 the resinous matter flows through it to a vessel placed to receive it. From 

 this the operator raises it by a ladleful at a time, and puts it back into the 

 caldron ; repeating the operation several times, till the resin becomes as 

 yellow and as clear as wax. It is then filtered through straw into moulds 

 hollowed in the sand, where it is formed into the cakes sold in the shops. 

 To make these moulds, a circle is first traced in the sand, with a forked 

 stick, which acts like a pair of compasses ; the sand is then hollowed out 

 with a knife, and the bottom and sides of the mould are well beaten with 

 wooden mallets to make them perfectly hard and smooth. The cakes of 

 resin generally weigh from 150lb. to 200 Ib. each. The straw through 

 which the resinous matter was filtered, the pieces of wood through which 

 it ran, and, in short, all the apparently waste materials used in preparing the 

 resin, are carefully preserved, and burnt in a close furnace, in order to make 

 lampblack ; or in a tar furnace, to extract from them a resinous matter, which 

 is sold cheap, and called in France ptix noir, or black pitch. 



Mode of pn paring I,atnpbl<ick. When the wood of the pine tree is burned 



