THE XAVAL STORE INDUSTRY IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



75 



and pitch were less esteemed in England, where they were said to 

 burn the cordage more than the products made in the Baltic 

 provinces. This was said to be due to dead wood being used in 

 North Carolina for making tar and the burning being carried on 

 so rapidly and at so high a temperature that ^ wood acids w^ere 

 formed in large quantities along with the tar. American products 

 were also objected to because they were earthy, the receptacle being 

 carelessly made, and were packed in insecure, leaky barrels. These 

 last objections are sometimes made against them now, though the 

 use of cases for shipping has tended to remedy the evil. 



In Bothnia and Sweden, on the other hand, only living wood 

 of the fir and usually from, the lower part of the trunk and roots 

 were used and burning was carried on more slowdy. In 1831 

 there were imported into England 10,900 lasts of tar, of 14 barrels 

 each. Of these 8,700 came from Russian provinces on the gulf 

 of Bothnia, 1,200 from Sweden and only 1,000 from the United 

 States. The amount imported from the United States has remained 

 at very near these figures ever since. 



The total value of the resinous products shipped from the United 

 States, however, increased from about $200,000 in 1800 to |567,000 

 in 1834, and to $700,000 in 1838. Most of the products shipped up 

 to this time w^ere from North Carolina, as previous to 1838 trees 

 were not tapped for turpentine south of the Cape Fear river, it 

 being a generally held opinion that south of that river the pines 

 would not yield. This error was soon discovered by experiment- 

 ing with the trees in that section and orchards there soon became 

 as valuable as those farther north. 



In 1836 copper distilleries were introduced in this country and 

 at the same time there was an increased demand for spirits turpen- 

 tine as a solvent of India rubber, this being the cheapest solvent 

 of that article obtainable, and was thus used in the manufacture 

 of rubber goods. It was also used for illuminating purposes, 

 though the different forms of petroleum oils and the general use 

 in towns of illuminating gas, made from coal, soon supplanted it. 

 Stimulated by this increased demand the production of turpen- 

 tine extended rapidly southward beyond the Cape Fear river into 

 South Carolina, and up the Cape Fear to Cumberland and Har- 



