TURPENTINE FROM BRITISH FIRS. 34^ 



the trees, which he most readily complied with. I bare Extraction of 



therefore taken about six feet from one of them, (thev!"'?-"^'"*^ 



, , . . , Ti . "^ from the Scotch 



were all nearly the same size) ; what 1 have sent is the part fir in this coim- 



from the ground to the top of the place that has been cut*"^' 

 away for the turpentine to run into the hollow, whence it 

 was to be collected; the hollow was cut in this consider- 

 ably higher than is usual in America, as this tree stood in a 

 hedge, and could not well be hollowed lower; I hare 

 matted up this part of the tree, and secured it with straw 

 and a double mat, to prevent the bark being rubbed off, 

 that it may be seen in the same state as it stood when the 

 turpentine was taken from it. The turpentine is in (ho 

 cask in which it was deposited when brought from the trees ; 

 and I have this day shipped both on board the sloop Betsey, 

 Captain Trent, bound to Downe's wharf, London, di- 

 rected to you, freight paid here by me; which vessel I 

 expect will sail in a day or two, and I hope you will re- 

 ceive them safe, which, when you do, you will much 

 oblige me by requesting, that both may be examined, in the 

 hope that this small trial may meet with the approbation of 

 the very highly respectable and truly useful Society of 

 Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce; and if considered 

 likely to prove useful, that they may induce some person, 

 who has the means and opportunity of doing it, to make a 

 trial on a larger scale, so as fairly to ascertain whether 

 turpentine can be obtained in this country from the very 

 Jarge and numerous plantations of Scotch firs, now in the 

 United Kingdom, previous to the trees being cut down, 

 either to thin plantations, or where ground is designed to 

 be cleared, as taking the turpentine from the trees previous 

 to their being cut does not at all injure the wood, and by 

 making the hollow in the trunk of the tree about six inches 

 from the ground, it would waste but a very small quantity 

 of timber. I have taken the liberty of annexing a copy of 

 memorandums I made when in North Carolina, respecting 

 the modes of collecting turpentine, and making tar and 

 pitch, in hopes they may afford the society some little in- 

 formation, as they are not, I apprehend, very generally 

 known. They are copied from memorandums which I 

 actually made on the spot. I would have sent the memo. 



randura 



