140 LUTHER BURBANK 



In the United States the swamp pine and the so- 

 called loblolly trees that grow in the swamps of 

 North and South Carolina and Georgia, are 

 the chief source of the commercial turpentines, 

 although various other species are more or less 

 utilized. 



A gum of peculiar quality that is highly 

 prized for some industrial purposes is obtained 

 from the balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and is 

 known as Canada balsam. 



Hitherto, the producers of turpentine have 

 been found in the wild state, and no one, prob- 

 ably, has given a thought to the possibility of 

 developing races of pines that produce an ex- 

 ceptional quantity of the resin and turpentine- 

 forming juices. But with the modern tendency 

 to apply scientific methods to forestation in gen- 

 eral, doubtless the question will ultimately arise 

 as to whether the turpentine trees may not be 

 improved along with the timber producers. 



That trees of the same species differ quite 

 radically in the amount of the valuable juices is 

 certain, so there would appear to be no reason 

 why it may not be possible to develop varieties 

 of trees that will be conspicuous for this quality, 

 just as other trees have been improved as to their 

 powers of growth or their capacity to produce 

 abundant crops of fruit. 



