THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY. 19 



in use exceeds the number of boxes. During the past two or three 

 years, however, it is estimated that cups have been hung on 75 per 

 cent of the trees tapped. 



The need of replacing the box with a cup hung against the tree was 

 felt many years ago. 



Mr. A. Pudigon patented a substitute for the box in 1868, and the 

 device received a commercial test at Monks Corner, S. C, but was 

 soon abandoned for some unknown reason. From that time on 

 numerous substitutes have been invented, but none patented prior 

 to 1903 proved a commercial success. 



The first systematic attempt to improve the method of collecting 

 gum was made at Bladenboro, N. C, by W. W. Ashe in 1894. A 

 comparison on a limited scale was made between the French cup and 

 gutter system and the box system, and the results showed a gain for 

 the former of over 20 per cent in the value of the products collected. 



The preliminary experiments begun in 1901 by Dr. Charles H. 

 Herty, of the Forest Service, and continued in 1902, mark the turning 

 point in the method of collecting crude gum. Cups were first used on 

 an extensive scale in 1904, and since that time their use has become 

 more or less general. 



Classes of cup systems in use at present. — The cup systems may be 

 divided into four classes. 



Class 1. (Plates III and IV.) The gum flowing down the face is 

 guided into the cup by means of two galvanized-iron gutters inserted 

 in cuts in the tree. These gutters are 2 inches wide and from 6 to 12 

 inches long, depending on the size of the tree, and are bent into an 

 obtuse angle. Sufficient bark and sapwood are removed from the 

 tree to form a central vertical ridge with two flat faces on either side 

 of it. The gutters are inserted in inclined gashes made by a broadax 

 in the flat surfaces. It is necessary that these surfaces be flat, in 

 order that the straight edge of the gutter may enter the face along its 

 entire length, so that gum can not flow between the gutter and the 

 tree. The lower gutter is placed so as to project at least two inches 

 beyond the other at the center of the ridge, in order to guide the gum 

 into the cup, which is hung just below the lower gutter on a nail. 

 The cups are of galvanized iron or of clay, and vary in shape. Those 

 resembling an ordinary flowerpot are the most common. Their ca- 

 pacity is 1, H, or. 2 quarts. The blazes made for inserting the gutters 

 extend below the latter and produce a flow of resin which is not only 

 wasted but serves to coat the base of the tree, and thus makes the face 

 more susceptible to fire. The workman frequently makes the blaze 

 too large, as is shown in Plate III, figure 1, and there is a tendency 

 in placing the gutters to spread them too far apart, losing in many 

 cases as much as 20 inches of chipping surface. It is entirely possible 

 to place the cups and gutters on a normal tree so that the first streak 



