5§o  Production  of  Oil  of  Birch.  {Am-l%Z'wi&rm' 
seded  by  that  of  the  former,  owing  to  the  difficulty  experienced  in 
procuring  pickers  of  the  wintergreen  leaf.  There  are,  within  an 
area  of  six  or  eight  miles,  not  less  than  five  or  six  distilleries  which 
produce  annually  between  three  and  five  thousand  pounds  of  the  oil. 
After  being  distilled,  it  is  either  brought  to  White  Haven,  the 
nearest  shipping  point,  and  sent  to  New  York  parties;  or  else 
it  is  sold  to  the  merchants  of  the  town  and  sent  by  them  to  New 
York. 
The  manufacture  is  quite  a  simple  one. 
The  wood  gathered  for  the  purpose  is  the  black  birch  saplings  ; 
another  variety,  the  white  birch,  not  being  used,  owing  to  its  very 
small  yield  of  the  oil.  The  saplings  are  gathered  principally  in  the 
summer  months,  the  yield  being  the  greatest  at  that  time  ;  but  they 
are  also  gathered  in  the  winter.  The  birch  is  cut  into  small  pieces, 
varying  from  two  to  four  or  five  inches  in  length,  by  a  very 
ingenious  device  of  home  manufacture,  which  consists  of  one  or 
more  knives  fastened  to  the  end  of  the  shaft,  while  the  other  end  is 
connected  with  a  large  wheel,  and  by  means  of  a  belt  fastened  to  a 
water  wheel.  The  birch  is  pushed  under  the  knives,  by  hand, 
through  a  box  or  trough  similar  to  that  of  a  hay  cutter,  and  when 
cut  it  is  ready  for  the  still. 
The  still  is  box-shaped,  about  eight  feet  long,  four  feet  wide  and 
four  feet  high,  with  a  copper  bottom,  and  stayed  with  bolts.  The 
head  of  the  still  is  made  of  copper  and  connects  with  a  circular 
worm  made  of  copper  or  sometimes  of  tin,  placed  in  a  barrel  which 
is  filled  with  water,  with  a  continuous  stream  of  water  flowing 
through  it  by  which  the  vapors  that  come  over  are  condensed. 
The  still  is  filled  with  the  birch  wood  to  within  about  twelve  inches 
of  the  top,  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water  is  then  added  to  cover 
the  wood.  This  is  allowed  to  macerate  from  eight  to  twelve  hours. 
The  fire  is  then  started  and  the  distillation  commences  and  continues 
for  about  eight  or  sometimes  ten  hours;  but  during  the  first  two 
hours  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  oil  has  passed  over. 
For  collecting  the  distillate  a  common  fruit  jar  is  generally  used, 
fitted  with  a  cork  having  two  holes  ;  a  small  funnel  is  put  into  one 
of  the  holes,  so  that  the  beak  of  the  funnel  is  about  two  inches 
below  the  bottom  of  the  cork,  and  connected  with  the  other  hole  is 
a  suitable  pipe  forming  an  outlet. 
The  distillate  passes  through  the  funnel  into  the  receiving  vessel, 
