NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY. 149 



From the same reports we quote the following data regarding the development of the industry 

 iu the different States (no regular returns from any district are obtainable regarding the annual 

 production of naval stores derived from the longleaf pine previous to 1870): 



GROWTH OF THE TURPENTINE INDUSTRY IN THE STATES. 



North Carolina. — This State, the oldest site of production, took the lead in this industry up to the census year 

 1880. In the census of 1850 the value of these products of that year is stated at $2,476,225, and in the census of 

 1860 at $996,902. The production in 1870 of 75,990 casks oi spirits of turpentine (equal to 37,995,000 gallons) and 

 456,131,388 barrels of resin valued at $2,337,300, increased in the business year ending 1880 to 125,585 casks of spirits 

 of turpentine and 663,967 barrels of resin of a value of $3,146,388, showing an increase of 65 per cent in spirits of 

 turpentine and of 45 per cent in resin. From that year to the present a gradual decline has taken place, which, in 

 the year 1888-89, amounted to 50 per cent in spirits and 48 per cent in the resin. The exports in that year reached a 

 value of only $1,170,932. This decline is clearly due to the exhaustion of the natural resources. During the period 

 of ten years, from 1879-80, 1889-90, $2,114,483 worth of spirits of turpentine and resin, on the average, were each 

 year exported. From the returns available it appears that nearly all the tar and crude turpentine shipped to 

 domestic and foreign ports is produced in North Carolina. The export of these stores irom Wilmington in 1889-90 

 amounted to 71,949 barrels of tar and 19,082 of crude turpentine, at a value of not less than $253,000. 



South Carolina.— By the census of 1850, the naval stores produced in that year were valued at $235,836, and in 

 the census of 1860 their value is stated at $205,249. L According to the returns made to the census in 1870, 31,647 

 casks of spirits of turpentine and 115,945 barrels of resin were produced at a value of $779,077, rising in 1880 to 

 60,000 casks of spirits and 259,940 barrels of resin, at a value of $1,491,853 — an increase of nearly 100 per cent in 

 spirits of turpentine and 124 per cent in resin. After a slight check in the succeeding year, the production shows 

 for the next four years an increase of 10 per cent on the average annually over the production in 1880. With the 

 year 1885 a decline took place ; the production between that year and the end of 1890 varied between 39,651 casks of 

 spirits of turpentine and 218,962 barrels of resin and 49,430 casks and 217,865 barrels. The value of the products in 

 1888-89 amounted to $968,761. The average price of resin reached in that year the lowest figure of $1 a barrel. The 

 production of the same year shows a decline of 28 per cent in spirits of turpentine and 40 per cent in resin compared 

 with the production of 1880. 



Georgia — In 1850 the naval stores produced reached a value of $55,086, and by the statements of the census of 

 1870, 3,208 casks of spirits of turpentine and 13,840 barrels of resin, valued at $95,970, had been produced in Georgia 

 during that year. In the course of the following ten years the naval store industry made great progress, resulting 

 in 1880 in the export from Savannah of 46,321 casks spirits of turpentine and 221,421 barrels resin, at a value of 

 $1,202,555, followed by a steady increase which, in 1884, exceeded the production of North Carolina during its 

 palmiest days, and has been constantly progressing to the present day. In the year closing 1889, the exports from 

 Savannah reached 159,931 casks spirits of turpentine and 577,990 barrels of resin, valued at $3,616,680— an increase 

 of 227 per cent in spirits turpentine and 161 per cent in resin over the production of 1880. To-day this port is the 

 greatest market for these stores in the world. 



Alabama. — According to the statements in the census of 1850, the naval stores produced in Alabama represented 

 a value of $17,800, which in 1860 declined to $13,575, and in 1870, by the production of 8,200 casks spirits of turpentine 

 and 53,175 barrels resin, reached a value of $280,203. In 1873 the receipts in the market of Mobile had increased fully 

 50 per cent over those of the previous year, amounting to from 15,000 to 20,000 casks spirits turpentine and from 

 75,000 to 100,000 barrels resin, besides 1,000 barrels tar and pitch, of a value estimated at $750,000. In 1875 the receipts 

 reached a value of $1,200,000, which in the year 1879-80 was reduced to $739,000. In the year 1883 the production 

 had increased again to 43,870 casks spirits turpentine and 200,125 barrels resin, with but slight fluctuations to the 

 end of 1887, indicating an increase of 59 per cent in spirits turpentine and 21 per cent in resin over the production 

 in 1880. 



With the beginning of 1888 a decline set in. During that year the receipts at Mobile were reduced to 28,725 

 casks and 132,055 barrels, valued at $635,643, and still further, in 1888-89, to 23,927 casks and 106,129 barrels, of a 

 value of $556,399. The receipts of spirits turpentine fell that year 47 per cent, and of resin nearly 49 per cent, below 

 those of 1883, the year of greatest production, and the returns of the following years show still greater reductions. 

 This decline is to be ascribed to the exhaustion of the forests along the lines of communication by water and by rail, 

 and the consequent reduction in profits caused by the increased expense of transportation of the products from the 

 still to the shipping points, ports, or inland markets. The receipts at Mobile include all of these stores produced in 

 eastern Mississippi. 



Other States. — In Mississippi and Louisiana this industry has not as yet reached large dimensions, while it is not 

 known that turpentine orcharding is carried on in the magnificent pineries of Texas. The production along the 

 New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad is reported to have averaged for the last two years 15,000 casks of spirits of 

 turpentine and 75,000 barrels of resin. 



PHYSIOLOGY OF RESINS. 



m 



All coniferous trees, with the exception of those of the genus Tarns, contain in their woody 

 structure passages or pockets, tilled with resin, known as resin ducts or resin vesicles. How and 



1 F, B. Hough's Report on Forestry to the Department of Agriculture, 187?, IXth, Vol. II, 333. 



