CHAPTER III. 



THE NAVAL STORE INDUSTRY IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



In Colonial Times. — As early as 1700 the production of naval 

 stores was an industry of some importance in the Colony of Caro- 

 lina. At the same time the industry was carried on in the adja- 

 cent parts of A^irginia. In A'^irginia the products were largely 

 derived from the loblolly pine, while in North Carolina they came 

 chiefly from the long-leaf pine. The products exported from the 

 colony at that date were tar and pitch and some crude turpentine; 

 but the quantity of the latter shipped was small. Tar kilns were 

 made then as now and the process of burning was the same. 

 Indeed, the process is very much the same as that described by 

 Theophrastus as being used by the ancient Greeks. 



The tar manufactured in the Southern States was more com- 

 monly converted into j9i7c/i before being shipped, by the addition of 

 some crude turpentine and the mixture then being boiled down to 

 the right consistency. From north-eastern North Carolina it was 

 shipped by way of Norfolk, A^a., to England, the laws of England 

 at that date forbidding colonial products from being shipped to 

 other than English ports. Until about 1800 the making of tar 

 was not as largely confined to North Carolina as it is at present, 

 nor even to the Southern States. Besides being burnt in Virginia 

 from the loblolly and short-leaf pines, some was made in New York 

 and other Northern States from the pitch pine (Piniis rigida), but 

 more for home use than for export. Georgia and South Carolina 

 also produced considerable amounts in colonial days. The method 

 of cutting the boxes for collecting the crude turpentine was then 

 the same as now. The names of some of the parts connected with 

 the process have slightly changed in the meantime. Cornering was- 

 then called notching and the virgin dip was called pure dippings. 

 These names continued in general use until the early part of the 

 present century. 

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