Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1896. 
North  American  Conifer ce. 
243 
Geological  Survey,1  and  in  part  from  the  Report  of  B.  E.  Fernow, 
Chief  of  United  States  Forestry  Department,  for  1892  : 
"As  early  as  1700  the  production  of  naval  stores  was  an  industry  of  some 
importance  in  the  Colony  of  Carolina.  At  the  same  time  the  industry  was 
carried  on  in  the  adjacent  parts  of  Virginia.  In  Virginia  the  products  were 
largely  derived  from  the  loblolly  pine,  while  in  North  Carolina  they  came  from 
the  long-leaf  pine.  The  products  exported  from  the  Colony  at  that  time 
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  burn- 
ing was  the  same.  Indeed,  the  process  is  very  much  the  same  as  that  described 
by  Theophrastus  as  being  used  by  the  ancient  Greeks. 
"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  (Pinus  rigida),  but  more 
for  home  use  than  for  export. 
"  In  the  three  years — 1768  to  1770 — 88,111  barrels  of  crude  turpentine,  20,646 
barrels  of  pitch  and  88,366  barrels  of  tar  were  on  the  average  annually  exported 
to  the  mother  country,  representing  a  value  of  $215,000  in  our  present  currency. 
In  its  infancy  the  manufacture  of  naval  stores  was  confined  to  the  district 
between  Tar  and  Cape  Fear  Rivers,  with  Wilmington  and  Newberne  for  ship- 
ping ports.  Most  of  the  crude  resin  was  shipped  to  England.  Later,  the  dis- 
tillation of  spirits  of  turpentine  was  carried  on  to  a  small  extent  in  Northern 
cities  as  well  as  in  North  Carolina.  Up  to  the  year  1844,  fully  one-half  of  the 
crude  product  was  subjected  to  distillation  in  the  latter  State,  the  process  being 
effected  in  clumsy  iron  retorts  ;  the  introduction  of  the  copper  still  in  1834  led 
to  a  largely  increased  yield  of  volatile  oil,  and  this  industry  received  a  strong 
impetus.  The  number  of  stills  at  the  ports  was  increased,  and  the  production 
grew  yet  further  shortly  afterward,  caused  by  the  new  demand  for  spirits  of 
turpentine  in  the  manufacture  of  india-rubber  goods,  and  turpentine  orcharding 
was  rapidly  extended  to  the  south  and  west  of  its  original  limit.  As  early  as 
1832  rectified  spirits  of  turpentine  was  used  for  an  illuminator,  and  for  that  pur- 
pose came  into  general  use  in  1842,  either  alone  in  the  rectified  state,  or  mixed 
with  a  certain  quantity  of  strong  alcohol,  under  the  names  of  camphene  and 
burning  fluid,  furnishing  the  cheapest  light  until  replaced  by  the  products  of 
petroleum.  The  large  consumption  of  spirits  of  turpentine  in  this  way  caused 
such  an  increase  in  its  production  that  the  residuary  product,  rosin,  was  largely 
in  excess  of  the  demand,  leading  to  a  great  depreciation  of  this  article.  The 
consequent  reduction  of  the  profits  of  the  business  caused  the  transfer  of  the 
still  from  the  place  of  shipment  to  the  source  of  the  raw  material — the  forest. 
From  that  time  (1844)  dates  the  great  progress  made  in  the  expansion  of  this 
industry  to  the  virgin  forests  farther  south,  and  the  turpentine  stills  increased 
rapidly  in  number  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida  and  the  Eastern  Gulf 
States. 
"  During  the  war  of  secession,  when  the  production  in  the  South  was  stopped, 
1  The  Forests,  Forest  Lands  and  Forest  Products  of  Eastern  North  Carolina, 
by  W.  W.  Ashe,  in  charge  of  forest  investigation,  Raleigh,  1894. 
