544      The  Manufacture  of  Oil  of  Turpentine,  etc.  {^Z^T' 
"  hacking,"  the  hacks  being  made  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  L,  and  either 
closed  or  open  ;  from  this  the  crude  begins  to  flow  about  the  middle  of 
March,  runs  best  during  July  and  August  and  begins  to  slacken  again 
in  September  and  October.  After  the  "  boxes  "  are  filled  the  crude  is 
dipped  out  by  what  they  call  "  turpentine  dippers,"  a  peculiarly  con- 
structed spoon  or  ladle,  into  barrels  which  are  generally  made  of  pine 
and  of  a  rude  construction,  or  sometimes  old  lard  and  other  barrels 
are  used.  These  are  then  removed  to  the  still,  where  it  is  allowed  to 
thicken  sufficiently  to  distil  off  the  oil  or  spirits  as  it  is  usually  called. 
The  trees  require  scraping  every  8  or  10  days  so  as  to  expose  a  new 
surface,  the  flow  of  the  former  hacking  being  clogged  by  the  congela- 
tion of  resin  j  a  very  slight  scrape  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  set  the  crude 
flowing  again.  The  number  of  "  boxes  "  in  a  tree  depended  upon  its 
size.  The  trees  are  good  for  a  number  of  years,  though  they  are 
hardly  fit  for  use  after  four  or  five  years,  the  rosin  not  being  worth 
much,  and  its  yield  of  oil  of  turpentine  is  very  slight.  The  trees  are 
scraped  in  some  instances  for  such  a  number  of  years  that  ladders  are 
necessary  to  hack  the  tree  afresh  ;  therefore,  the  oleoresin  as  it  flows 
downwards  into  the  "  boxes,"  becomes  somewhat  congealed,  and  some 
of  the  oil  evaporates  so  that  it  must  be  scraped  off ;  it  is  then  put  into 
barrels  and  afterwards  distilled  \  it  takes  about  10  barrels  of  crude  to 
produce  2  barrels  of  spirits  and  6  of  rosin.  The  flow  of  the  first  year 
is  always  the  best  and  is  therefore  called  "  virgin  dip."  The  next 
process  is 
The  Distillation  of  the  Oil. — After  sufficient  crude  has  beenxollected 
the  barrels  are  emptied  into  the  still,  which  generally  holds  between  12 
and  20  barrels.  The  still  is  mostly,  or  perhaps  always,  made  of 
copper  ;  its  shape  that  of  the  common  copper  still,  an  illustration  of 
which  can  be  seen  in  Parrish's  "  Pharmacy,"  p.  760.  The  head  of  the 
still  is  connected  with  the  worm,  which  is  contained  in  a  large  tank 
surrounded  by  water,  by  a  long,  wide  piece  of  copper.  The  still  is  set 
in  a  brick  furnace,  and,  after  it  has  been  filled,  the  dirt,  scraps  of  wood 
and  other  impurities  are  skimmed  off,  after  which  the  head  is  adjusted 
and  luted  on,  then  heat  is  applied,  when  the  oil  runs  through  the  worm 
and  is  collected  in  a  barrel  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  tank  containing 
the  worm.  Water  is  condensed  with  the  oil,  but  as  it  flows  into  the 
barrel,  the  water  being  the  heaviest,  sinks  to  the  bottom,  and  the  oil  is 
dipped  out  and  emptied  into  regular  spirit  barrels  in  which  we  find  it  in 
