209 

 TURPENTINE AND ROSIN. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



The trade in turpentine, and its resulting products, for which we have 

 hitherto been indebted chiefly to the Southern States of America, is a very 

 important one ; and it seems highly desirable in the present disturbed posi- 

 tion of the States, that attention should be prominently directed to it, with 

 the view of stimulating residents in those of our Colonial Possessions which 

 contain forests of resinous pines, to address themselves to the collection of 

 this important staple of commerce. In the latest year (1860), for which we 

 have the full official returns, we find that our imports of turpentine were 

 to the extent of 185,474 cwts., of the gross value of 86,020?. The average 

 price being 91, 3s. per cwt. Of rosin, the imports were 612,705 cwt., valued 

 at 182,328Z. The average price being taken at bl. lis. per cwt. Here we 

 have an important article of commerce, amounting in value to upwards of a 

 quarter of a million sterling, for which we are almost exclusively depen dent 

 on the North American States. Our imports last year were 50 per cent, 

 below those of 1860, and 100 per cent, less than those of 1859. The collec- 

 tion of turpentine centres chiefly in North Carolina, although of late years, 

 some attention has been given to the production in South Carolina, Virginia, 

 and Georgia. 



Statistical information, in regard to the product and commerce of this 

 article, is exceedingly difficult to obtain, consequently all attempts at ari 

 authentic estimate must be defective. Turpentine, however, we know, 

 forms an important item in the labour and wealth of both the States of 

 Carolina. Few persons unconnected with the commercial transactions carried 

 on in this article, can form an idea of the quantity made in the narrow 

 limits of Carolina, the amount of labour employed in its manufacture, the 

 extent of capital invested, the large numbers supported by it, and the 

 various uses to which it is appropriated. Nor are we prepared to enlighten 

 them fully upon the subject, because of the necessarily limited information 

 which even dealers in the article possess in reference to it. 



In conversation and correspondence with intelligent brokers, merchants, 

 and others engaged in the business, we have been enabled to gather some 

 particulars, however, which may be interesting. 



Ten years ago, the extracted commercial products of the pine shipped 

 from the Southern States, exceeded in value a quarter of a million sterling, 

 but this was only the export, not the whole production. About 800,000 

 barrels of turpentine were then annually made in the single State of North 

 Carolina. The estimated value to the makers was about 400,000?. From 

 4,000 to 5,000 labourers were engaged in obtaining it, and, perhaps, three 

 times as many more persons supported mainly by the proceeds of its first 

 sale. The local distillation of turpentine is carried on very extensively in 

 America, and this has greatly reduced the shipments of crude turpentine. • 



The natural wood of this region is the swamp, or long-leaved pitch-- 



VOL, II. Q 



