154 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS IT. H. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



according to their circumference, receive from two to four "boxes; so that the 10,000 boxes can be said to be 

 distributed among 4,000 to 5,000 trees on an area of 200 acres. 



The boxes are cut (see PI. XXIX) from 8 to 12 inches above the base of the tree, 7 inches deep (7;-/) and slanting 

 irom the outside to the interior with an angle of about 35° ; they are 1 1 inches in greatest diameter (d-e) and 4 inches 

 in greatest width (b-c) at the top, of a capacity of about 3 pints; the cut above this reservoir forms a gash of the 

 same depth and 6 to 7 inches of gieatest height («-&). In the meantime the ground is laid bare around the tree for 

 a distance of 2{ or 3 feet, and all combustible material loose on the ground is laked in heaps to be burned in older 

 to protect the boxes against the danger of catching fire during the conflagrations which are so frequently started in 

 the pme forests b> design or carelessness. This work of raking around the trees is also done to give the chipper in 

 the performance of his task a firmei foothold on the ground than could be obtained when covered with the slippery 

 pine straw. The employment of fire for the protection of the turpentine orchard against the same destructive 

 agency necessarily involves the total destruction of the smaller tree growth, and, left to spread without control 

 beyond the proper limits, carries ruin to the adjoining forests, in many instances over areas many miles in extent. 

 The tools used are illustrated on PL XXIX, and are described as follows: Fig. 1, chipper; tig. 2, pusher; fig. 3, open 

 hacker; fig. i, closed backer; fig. 5, scraper; fig. 6, puller. 



With the first days of approaching spring the turpentine begins to flow and " chipping" is begun, as the work 

 of the scarification of the tree is termed, by which its surface above the box is laid bare just beyond the youngest 

 layers of the wood, scarcely to a depth of an inch from the outside of the bark. To effect this first a strip 2 inches 

 ■wide is removed, extending vertically from the corner of the box to the height of about 10 inches (" cornering 77 ), 

 and then the surface between these strips is laid open. The removal of the bark and outermost layers of the wood, 

 the "chipping' 7 or "hacking," is done with a peculiar tool, the "hacker" (PL n, figs. 3 and 4), a strong knife 

 with a curved edge, fastened to the end of an iron handle bearing on its lower end an iron ball about 4 pounds in 

 weight, in order to give increased momentum to the force of the stroke inflicted upon the tree, and thus to lighten 

 the labor of chipping. As soon as the scarified surface ("chip") ceases to discharge turpentine freely, fresh incisions 

 are made with the hacker. The hacking or chipping is repeated every week from March to October or middle of 

 November, extending generally over thirty-two weeks, and the height of the chip is increased about 1| to 2 inches 

 every month. The resm accumulated m the boxes is lemoved to a barrel for transfer to the still by a fiat, trowel- 

 shaped dipper ("dipping 7 '). In the first season, on the average, seven dippings are made (from six to eight). The 

 10,000 boxes yield at each dip about 40 barrels of dip or soft turpentine, or "soft gum, 77 as it is called in Alabama, 

 of 240 pounds net or 280 pounds gross weight. The flow is most copious during the hottest part of the season, 

 July and August, diminishes with the advent of cooler weather, and ceases in October or November. As soon as 

 the exudation is arrested and the crude resin begins to harden, it is carefully scraped from the chip and the boxes 

 with a narrow, keen-edged scrape attached to a wooden handle ("scraping 77 ). The product so obtained, called 

 " scrape, 7 ' or hard turpentine, or hard gum, is of a dingy white color, more or less mixed with woody particles and 

 dust, and contains only half of the quantity of volatile oil obtained from the dip or soft turpentine. 



In the first season the average yield of the dip amounts to 280 barrels and of the scrape to 70 barrels. The first 

 yields 6^ gallons of spirits of turpentine to the barrel of 240 pounds net, and the latter 3 gallons to the barrel, 

 resulting in the production of 2,000 to 2,100 gallons spirits of turpentine and 260 bariels of resin of higher and 

 highest grades. The dippings of the first season are called "virgin dip' 7 when almost without color, and white 

 virgin dip, from which the finest and most highly priced quality of resin is obtained perfectly white, transparent, 

 showing but the faintest tint of straw color, which enters the maiket under the grades of "water white 77 WW, and 

 "window glass 7 ' WG. The next grades of resin obtained by the distillation of the turpentine dipped during the 

 latter part of the same season, the "second virgin dip," are of a decided straw color and designated by the letters 

 N. M. K. (See Distillation.) 



In the second year from five to six dippings are made, the crop averaging 225 barrels of soft turpentine; the 

 scrape is increased to 120 barrels, making altogether about 2,000 gallons of spirits. The rosin, of which about 200 

 barrels are produced, is of a lighter or deeper amber color, and perfectly tiansparent, of medium quality, including 

 grades "I," "H," "G." In the third and fourth year the number of dippings is reduced to three. With the slow 

 flow over a more extended surface, the turpentine thickens under prolonged exposure to the air and loses some of its 

 volatile oil, partly by evaporation and partly by oxidation. To the same influence, no doubt, the deeper color of the 

 crude turpentine is to be ascribed. In the third season the dip amounts to 120 barrels, the scrape to about 100 bar- 

 rels, yielding about 1,100 gallons of spirits of turpentine and 100 barrels of rosin of a more or less dark-brown color, 

 less transparent, and graded as "F," "E," "D." 



In the fourth and last year three dippings of somewhat smaller quantity of dip than that obtained the season 

 before and 100 barrels of scrape or hard turpentine are obtained, with a yield scarcely reaching 800 gallons of spirits 

 and. 100 barrels of rosin of lowest quality from a deep-brown to almost black color, opaque, and heavier in weight, 

 classed as "C," "B," "A." After the fourth year the turpentine is generally abandoned. 



Owing to the reduction in the quantity and quality of the raw product, resulting in a smaller yield of spirits 

 and of lowest grades of rosin, it is not considered profitable by the larger operators to work the trees for a longer 

 time. In North Carolina the smaller landowners v> ork their tiees for eight to ten successive seasons and more, 

 protect the trees against fiie, and, after giving them rest for a series of years, apply new boxes on spaces left between 

 the old chips ("reboxing 77 ) with good results. 



Distillation. — The process of distillation requires experience and care in order to prevent loss in spirits of 

 turpentine, to obtain the largest quantities of rosin of higher grades, and to guard against overheating. After 

 heating the still somewhat beyond the melting point of crude turpentine, a minute stream of tepid water from the 

 top of the condensing tub is conducted into the still and allowed to run until the end of the process; this end is 



