122 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA. 



much alike, and their style probably does not change 

 much from one decade to another. This industry seems 

 to be in the hands of a comparatively few men, who are 

 born to the business, as it were, and migrate from place 

 to place as one crop of trees after another becomes ex- 

 hausted. The method of taking the crude gum from the 

 trees has changed considerably in the last ten years, 

 however, largely owing to the genius and foresight of 

 Dr. Charles H. Herty. Up to 1902 the practice of cut- 

 ting a "box" at the base of each tree to catch the gum 

 that trickled down the scarified face was universal 

 throughout our coastal plain. About that time, though, 

 Dr. Herty substituted for the wasteful and debilitating 

 "box" an earthenware cup hung on a nail, and conducted 

 the gum into it by means of two inclined galvanized iron 

 gutters. 



This innovation was not received very enthusiastically 

 at first, but it now yields a handsome royalty to the in- 

 ventor, and the old method of "boxing" is almost aban- 

 doned. Besides Dr. Herty's method there are at least a 

 dozen modifications or imitations of it in use at the pres- 

 ent time. All of these methods tend not only to increase 

 the flow of gum and the quality of it, but also to pro- 

 long the life of the tree, especially by reducing the 

 chances of its being broken off at the base by the wind. 



A few plants for the distillation of turpentine and va- 

 rious other products from pine stumps have been erected 

 in this part of Alabama and the corresponding parts of 

 other states, but somehow they do not always prove suc- 

 cessful. 



The leading wood products of this region are lumber 

 (and its various derivatives such as flooring, laths, shin- 

 gles, doors, sash, blinds, crates, etc.), cross-ties and fuel, 

 nearly all from the long-leaf and slash pines. The use of 

 wood for locomotive fuel has already been mentioned un- 

 der the preceding region. (In both regions very little 

 coal is used outside of the larger cities.) Minor indus- 

 tries based on the same woods are the m.anufacture of 

 paving blocks, excelsior and furniture at Mobile. Cy- 

 press and juniper are worked up into poles, piles, and 



