32 
Journal of the Mitchell Society. 
[May 
lowing winter I was led to accept a commission in the Bureau 
for the purpose of carrying out on a commercial scale the 
experiments already begun. 
As introductory to the discussion of that work let me 
explain briefly the operations commonly in practice in the 
turpentine woods. During the winter the “boxes” are cut in 
the trees. In early spring the weekly scarification or “chip- 
ping” begins. It is necessary to renew this wound each week, 
as the flow of crude turpentine practically ceases after seven 
days. Chipping extends each year about eighteen inches up 
the tree, the depth of the cut being about one inch and the 
width, on an average tree, fourteen inches. When the boxes 
fill, usually every four or five weeks, the crude turpentine is 
removed to buckets, then to barrels and hauled to the still. 
During the year some of the product remains sticking to the 
exposed “face” of the tree. This is collected in the fall and 
distilled, although it has a much smaller percentage of spirits 
of turpentine than the “dip” from the boxes. Lastly a space 
around each tree is cleared of all combustible material as a 
protection against the annual ground fires. 
The basis of my work was the conviction that the pine is 
not so much a store-house but rather a factory for the pro- 
duction of crude turpentine, and that timber which is not 
boxed should produce more than timber whose vitality is di- 
minished by the cutting of the box. Comparative experiments 
were carried out in 1903 at Ocilla, Ga., on thirty thousand 
trees. In these experiments both the “box” and the “cup 
and gutter” systems were used under conditions as nearly 
identical as possible. The results showed an even greater 
difference in favor of the unboxed timber than was expected, 
while the qualitative results previously obtained by Ashe 
were confirmed. The immediate commercial introduction of 
the cup and gutter system was assured by the financial gain 
from the increased output, the improved quality of the rosin 
and the protection given to the trees against wind and fire. 
For the production of crude turpentine it is necessary to 
