112 THE SUPPLY OF RESIN. 
Some samples have been brought to me which I have had inspected 
by intelligent persons, and they report very favourably of their quality. 
Philipines. — Report by Vice-Consul Webb, Manila. — Resin is not 
produced in the Philippines, and at present there is not an ounce of that 
article in the market. I believe that nearly the entire quantity of resin 
in the world, except a small amount that is procured from Sweden, 
comes from the United States, and principally that of North Carolina. 
There is, however, abundantly produced in the Philippines an article 
known in commerce as almaciga, or mastic, and which is obtained like 
resin from a tree. It is exported to some extent, and is used in Great 
Britain and Europe in the manufacture of varnish. I think it may be 
substituted for resin should the scarcity of the latter continue. It is pro- 
duced in nearly all the provinces of the Philippines ; andif the importers 
of resin in England be desirous of giving it a trial, the cheapest and 
most expeditious way of obtaining it would be to order it through Her 
Majesty's Vice-Consuls at Sual and Iloilo. 
The price of almaciga, or gum mastic, here varies with the demand. 
It generally averages from 4 to 6 dollars the picul of 140 lbs., according 
to the quality. 
Sweden. — Report by Consul Engstrom, Gottenburg. — Of native 
Swedish resin the production is small, the quality very inferior, being 
quite black, opaque, and impure, and the price nearly equal to the 
foreign. 
It is brought down here from the north of Sweden in small parcels 
only according to the demand, and the present stock at this place is not 
more 2 or 3 cwt. 
"Were a good market open for the sale of Swedish resin, the produc- 
tion in the northern parts of the country might be greatly extended, 
and with a little more care in preparing it, the quality also improved. 
The present price of Swedish resin is about 30s. per cwt. English. 
Report by Consul Hunt, Stockholm. — Hitherto, resin has been an 
import, not an export ; notwithstanding that the vast forests of Sweden 
are composed almost entirely of resin-producing spruce and fir, and that 
the wood cut in them, for most of its present uses, would be improved 
by the abstraction of its juices. 
The high prices of the article, which have risen from about 10s. to 
30s. per cwt., have now induced some persons to embark in its produc- 
tion ; and there is a probability that this, once commenced, may lead to 
a regular trade of importance. There is at present no stock for expor- 
tation. 
Resin is obtained by stripping the growing tree of its bark in spring 
when the substance exudes, in greater or less quantity according to cir- 
cumstances, and yields about 1 lb. for every ten or fifteen square feet of 
bared wood, or between 7 and 10 lbs. of liquid resin per tree. 
As the cutting of the forests has been computed by Swedish statistical 
writers to be 10,000,000 of tons yearly, it follows in this case, that the 
