SYRUP AND SAP 71 



For many of our large southern lumber com- 

 panies, the production of naval stores has been a 

 source of considerable revenue. Proper turpentin- 

 ing does not seriously affect the strength of the 

 wood or its usefulness as lumber, nor is the process 



The production of naval stores has played an important part in the 

 economic development of the South. 



necessarily harmful to the living trees. It is possi- 

 ble, of course, to milk a tree to death, and improper 

 methods have resulted in much killing of pine 

 timber — particularly small trees — but periodical 

 tapping with recuperative periods in between has 

 proved economically sound. The common practice 



