Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Aug.,  1890.  J 
Turpentine. 
393 
TURPENTINE.1 
By  Emmett  Leroy  Murray,  Ph.G. 
To  obtain  turpentine  the  tree  is  "  boxed  "  or  incised  about  a  foot 
above  ground  to  the  extent  of  7  in.  deep,  3  in.  wide  and  13  in.  across 
face.  The  best  season  for  boxing  is  from  Nov.  15th  to  March  1st, 
as  the  sap  does  not  run  during  this  time.  The  next  step  is  that  of 
*  chipping  "  the  tree  with  an  instrument  known  as  the  "  hack," 
which  consists  of  a  curved  blade  made  of  best  steel,  2  in.  wide  and 
23^  in.  long,  fixed  into  a  handle  from  1  y2  to  2  ft.  long,  weighted 
at  the  opposite  end,  the  whole  weighing  about  20  pounds. 
The  turpentine  farm  is  divided  into  "  crops  "  of  10,500  boxes  each, 
worked  by  one  man,  who  is  required  to  go  over  his  crop  once  a 
week  and  chip  off  y  in.  of  sap  wood  and  bark,  so  as  to  expose  fresh 
surfaces,  for  at  end  of  that  time  the  turpentine  almost  ceases  to 
exude.  Trees  are  "  chipped  "  only  in  summer  season,  from  March 
15  th  to  Oct.  1st,  as  the  turpentine  flows  only  during  warm  weather. 
Once  every  four  weeks  the  crop  is  to  be  gone  over  by  a  second 
man,  whose  business  it  is  to  transfer  the  turpentine  collected  in  the 
boxes  to  barrels.  This  "  dipping  "  is  done  with  a  flat  heart-shaped 
steel  attached  to  a  four-foot  handle.  In  September  the  turpentine 
adhering  to  the  face  of  the  trees,  and  which  has  not  run  into  the 
boxes  is  removed.  This  product  is  distinguished  as  "  Opaque," 
and  amounts  to  about  25,000  lbs.  to  each  crop  yearly.  The  col- 
lected turpentine  is  transferred  to  stills  made  of  copper  T^  to  y 
in.  thick,  and  holding  from  10  to  16  barrels  of  crude.  In  Willcox 
County  the  still  is  bricked  in  over  a  large  furnace,  which  is  level 
with  the  ground.  To  the  cap  (or  neck)  of  the  still  is  attached  a 
condensing  worm  100  ft.  in  length,  making  six  curls  in  a  large  tank 
of  cold  water,  at  bottom  of  which  is  an  exit  for  the  distillate.  The 
barrels  of  crude  are  taken,  by  means  of  skids,  to  the  second  story, 
and  when  the  still  cap  is  removed,  the  head  fastenings  of  a  number 
of  barrels  are  loosened  and  contents  emptied  into  the  still.  To  pre- 
vent unnecessary  wastage,  these  barrels  are  then  inverted  over  a 
trough  to  drain.  If  the  still  contains  "  virgin  turpentine  "  (or  that 
collected  from  first  year's  chipping),  less  heat  is  required  to  com- 
plete the  operation,  but  when  "yearling  turpentine  "  (or  that  col- 
1  Mr.  Murray's  inaugural  essay,  of  which  an  abstract  is  here  given,  supple- 
ments, to  some  extent,  the  information  given  by  Mr.  Dunwody  (see  June 
number,  p.  284). — Editor. 
