

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



was largely in excess of the demand, leading to a great depreciation of this article. The conse- 

 quent reduction of the profits of the business caused the transfer of the still from the place of 

 shipment to the source of the raw material— the forest. From that time (1844) dates the great 

 progress made in the expansion of this industry to the virgin forests farther south, and the 

 turpentine stills increased rapidly in number in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and the eastern 

 Gulf States. 



During the war of secession, when the production in the South was stopped, the turpentine 

 industry of France received an impetus, and that country supplied as best she could the deficiency. 

 Prices went up to five or six times their former range, namely, $25 to $30 per 100 pounds for spirits, 

 and $9 to $10 for pale yellow grades of rosin, $4 to $5 for inferior grades. These prices instigated 

 improvement of methods, such as the Hugues system, described further on, and more careful 

 treatment of the crop. 



With the close of the war the industry revived in the United States, though the demand for 

 turpentine was not as great as formerly, petroleum products of various kinds having been found 

 to take the place of the produce of the pine for many purposes. With the general extension of 

 arts and manufactures, however, both in this country and abroad, and new application of the 

 products, there has been an increasing demand both for spirits of turpentine and resin, the 

 exports of these alone in the year 1891 being $8,135,339 in value. 



The following table of exports of naval stores has been compiled with great care by Charles 

 Mohr from the reports of the boards of trade, the press reports published in the several ports of 

 export, and partly from private information. The amounts given are not claimed to comprise the 

 total annual production, but will fairly represent the bulk of production in each year for the ten 

 or twelve years included. 



Table of exports of naval stores from the markets of principal centers of production during the period 1880 to 1890. 



Year. 



North Carolina 

 (Wilmington). 



Sonlli Carolina 

 (Charleston). 



Spirits 

 turpen- 

 tine. 



1879-80 

 1880-81 

 1881-82 

 1882-83 

 1883 84 

 1884-85 

 1885-86 

 1886-87 

 1887-88 

 1888-89 

 1889-90 



Oasis. 

 125, 585 

 90, 000 

 88, 376 

 87, 050 

 78, 978 

 71, 145 

 6 J, 580 

 71, 912 

 03, 473 

 61, 028 

 70, 289 



Besin 



Barrel? 

 663, 967 

 450, 000 

 425, 925 

 48i, 432 

 434, 307 

 310, 808 

 324, 942 

 381, 335 

 246, 516 

 351, 827 

 385, 523 



Spirits 

 turpen- 

 tine 



Gtt&l s. 

 60, 000 

 51, 386 

 69, 027 

 65, 914 

 64, 207 



44. 126 

 40, 375 

 52, 549 

 40, 253 



43. 127 

 49 232 



Resm. 



B a nets 

 259, 940 

 231,417 

 258, 446 

 285, 446 

 264, 049 

 218, 979 

 170, 066 

 171, 145 

 181, 886 

 149,348 

 217, 865 



G-eo 



(Sava 



rgia 

 onah). 



Alabama 

 Spirits 



(Mobile). 



Spirits 





turpen 



Itt^in 



turpen- 



Eesin. 



line. 



Barrels. 



tine. 

 Cat>l s. 





Catls 



Barrels 



46, 321 



221, 421 



25, 209 



158, 48<a 



54, 703 



282, 386 



25, 224 



170,616 



77, 059 



309, 834 



30, 937 



172,438 



116,127 



430, 548 



43, 870 



200, 125 



129, 835 



559, 625 



41, 804 



210, 512 



121,028 



401, 998 



41,713 



200, 688 



106, 925 



424, 490 



3S, 733 



175,817 



146 925 



56b 932 



40, 149 



182, 955 



168, 834 



654, 286 



28, 725 



132, 055 



159, 9 n 



577, 990 



23, 927 



106, 129 



181, 542 



716, 658 



21,029 



93, 906 



Exports of tar and crude turpentine from Wilmington, JS T . O. 



Year 



1881-82 

 1882-83 

 1883-84 

 1884-85 

 1885-86 





Crude ( 



Tar. 



turpen- 





tine. 



Ban els. 



Bm rels. 



56, 113 



2, 323 



75, 544 



3,188 



85, 230 



31, 966 



70, 530 



45, 966 



69 195 



35, 290 



Year. 



Crude 

 Tar. [ turpen- 

 tine. 



Barrels. 

 1886-87 68,143 



1887-88 1 63,163 



1888-89 68,856 



1889-90 71,949 



BarreU. 

 24, 662 

 21, 572 

 18, 171 

 19, 082 



Adding to the above records the production reported from Mississippi and Louisiana, which 

 is said to have averaged,' for the last two years, 75,000 barrels of resin and 13,000 casks of spirits, 

 being marketed in New Orleans, we may estimate the total production at present (1892) as round: 



340,000 casks spirits of turpentine, or 17,000,000 gallons, at 35 cents $6, 000, 000 



1,490,000 barrels (240 pounds net) 1 resin of grades W W to C, or 357,600,000 pounds, at $1.80 average price 



per barrel or per 280 pounds gross 2,682,000 



8, 682, 000 



1 Lately tlie weight per barrel has been greatly increased, so that it now varies from 350 to 450 pounds net. 



