32 BULLETIN 418, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTUEE. 



Recent experiments in turpentining western yellow pine in Arizona 

 and California ^ show that its yield of turpentine and rosin is very 

 similar to that of the southeastern pines, comparing very favorably 

 with that from longleaf pine (Pinus palustris). Although the season 

 of flow was foui" or five weeks shorter in Arizona than in Florida, the 

 yield of ''gum" was about four-fifths as large for equal periods. 



So far as is known, yellow pine has never been tapped for turpentine 

 on a commercial scale in Oregon. In the summers of 1912 and 1913 

 experiments were undertaken by the Forest Service in Grant County 

 to determine whether yellow pine in this locality would yield enough 

 crude gum by the usual methods of tapping and whether its gum 

 was of good enough quality to be of commercial value. The results 

 obtained were not encouraging.^ In 1912, 199 cups were hung on 

 108 trees and they yielded in a 21-week season 0.111 pound of gum 

 per cup per week. In 1913, 201 cups were hung on 101 trees and 

 they yielded in a 21-week season only 0.069 pound per cup per week. 

 On the basis of 31-week seasons this is only 39 and 28 per cent, 

 respectively, of the average Florida yield from longleaf pine. While 

 the resin flowed throughout the season and was of good quality, the 

 yield was so smaU as not to be commercially profitable under present 

 conditions. The indications are that the nights are too cold and the 

 warm season too short to allow of an abundant flow. It is the con- 

 clusion that under present economic conditions in the naval-stores 

 industry turpentining of yellow pines in Oregon on a commercial 

 scale is impracticable. With the exhaustion of the supply of more 

 easily tapped trees elsewhere turpentining of yeUow pine may become 

 profitable. If so, it would undoubtedly have a marked influence 

 upon the handling of timberlands and be an added source of revenue 

 to their owners. 



LOGGING AND MILLING. 



METHODS OF LOGGING. 



YeUow-pine logging is ordinarily done with horses, various methods 

 being used according to the density of the timber, the topography, 

 and the length of the haul. 



The timber is f eUed with the saw (PI. V), and bucked into from 12 to 

 20 foot, usually 16-foot, log lengths, sometimes the same crew doing 

 the felling and the bucking, and sometimes the latter operation being 

 done by special buckers working singly. The smooth, straight trees 

 are utiHzed to a top diameter inside the bark of 6 or 8 inches, occa- 

 sionally to an even lower limit; large trees with heavy branches or 

 a crooked main stem are often not usable below 16 inches. Yellow 



1 Forest Service Bulletin 116, "Posslbilitiesof Western PinesasaSourceofNavalStores, "by H.S.Betts. 



2 Manuscript reports of J. B. Knapp, assistant district forester, "Turpentining Western Yellow Pine in 

 Oregon," and of H. B. Oakleaf, forest examiner, "Turpentining Experiments on Western Yellow Pine 

 Conducted on the Whitman National Forest." 



