Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 48.djvu/512

470 a surface perhaps fourteen by twenty-four inches is laid bare, and in the fourth and last year the chip has reached a height of six or eight feet.

When the crude turpentine, or resin, begins to harden, it is scraped from the chip and the boxes with a special tool, called the "scraper." The product thus obtained is "scrape," or "hard turpentine"

It is of inferior quality, containing only about one half of the volatile oil obtained from "dip," or soft turpentine. In the first year the tree yields four times as much dip as scrape, but in the fourth year the amounts are about equal.

The flow of turpentine is influenced by the state of the weather, especially the temperature. A long spell of heat or a long spell of cold decreases the yield. The flow is greatest during the hot summer months, July and August; after that it becomes less and less till October or November, when it ceases. Last year (1895) the turpentine crop was a poor one, on account of the cold spring.

The resin which accumulates in the boxes is removed by a trowel-shaped dipper. The operation is known as "dipping." In the first year from six to eight dippings are made. The dip is put in barrels and taken to the "still," where it is transformed into spirits of turpentine, resin or rosin, and pitch. Tar is made by burning the dead wood or limbs in kilns.

The crude turpentine in its natural state as it flows from the tree during the first year is distinguished by its fine white color. During the latter part of the season it shows a faint straw tint. The product dipped in the first part of the season is "virgin dip,"