THE BESIN INDUSTRY IN KUMAUN. 39 



where it solidifies iiito a clear yellow or red brown ' brittle solid. 10 

 In 1894 some experiments were started by the officers in charge 

 of the Dehra Dun Forest School (Messrs. Gamble and Smythies) 

 in tapping J -he clii>- pine forests of Chakrata, and a small still for 

 distilling the gum obtained was put up at Kalsi. In 1896 the United 

 Provinces Government sanctioned Rs. 1,000 for starting a similar 

 experiment in the hill forests near Naini Tal and Eanikhet and 

 a small distillery, was started at Bhowali on the Ranikhet cart- 

 road. After a precarious start, the little industry was pladed on 

 a profitable basis by 1900 and the zone of tapping operations 

 and the scope of the industry were gradually extended by includ- 

 ing in the tapping schemes, additional areas of pine forests in 

 19J3 and 1906. With the gradual reservation of the Kumaun 

 district forests, a rapid expansion resulted yearly from 1911 to 

 1919. Simultaneously with the increase in output of crude resin, 

 great improvements were made in the distillation of the manu- 

 factured products, turpentine and rosin. A long series of experi- 

 ments, originally instituted by Mr. Clutterbuck in 1908, and 

 carried through for 5 years by the local officers in co-operation 

 with the officers of the Research Institute, Dehra Dun, satisfac- 

 torily solved the difficult problem of obtaining first class quality 

 turpentine from chir pine resin. By 1917 the French plant 

 installed at Jallo in the Punjab had proved the method of obtaining 

 equally good rosin, and when after 23 years of useful work the 

 Bhowali distillery, which had become too small for the ever 

 increasing output, was given up, and a new and greatly enlarged 

 distillery was erected at Clutterbuckgunj near Bareilly, the impro- 

 vements evolved at Bhowali, and Jallo were incorporated in the 

 new plant, and a guaranteed standard of high quality of products 

 was assured. 



lj For a detailed description of the method of tapping and collection of crude resin and some details ot 

 the methods of distillation and packing of manufactured products, see Smythies' The Resin Industry In 

 Kumaun, Forest Bulletin No. 26 of 1914. Since this was published however the methods of distillation 

 have undergone certain modifications, although the basic principles remain the same. See also Chapter XV 

 of this book. 



