Jogeephus
Well-known member
Gateopener, here is some info and pics you requested about turpentining. Hope you don't have dial-up.
Before the fence law, cowboys aka Georgia Crackers ran cattle freerange all through the woods here. The cattle got fat on wiregrass and palmetto. The cowboys got their knickname from the bullwhips they would "crack" to drive the cattle where they wanted. If you farmed, you best fence the cattle "out" of your fields. Between the free range cattle and the frequent lightning fires, the woods stayed fairly clean.
In these woods worked your turpentiners. They would collect the sap from longleaf and slash pines in the following manner. The turp would walk to a tree and cut/hack what is called a face into the tree. From a distance, these looked like a cat's face hence they became known as cat-faces or simply faces.
The tools of the trade were fairly straightforward. Here is a moon axe, some hacks and scrapes. (Hacks have a big counterweight on them and you always pulled toward the side of your torso. No one had to tell you how to do this but once.
)
Once hacked and scraped, you would lay tin on the tree. This was called a gutter. The moon axe would be placed against the tin and hit with a sledge hammer to seal the gutter.
Here is a picture of a gutter and cup installed.
Once installed, the face would be scraped down and treated with a 50/50 solution of sulfuric acid and water. This kept the sap running so it would fill the cups.
Dippers would go out and collect the sap from the cups. They would scrape it in buckets then dump the buckets into barrels. It would take between 275-300 cups to fill a 50 gal. drum. (This job was normally done by women and children.) The men would then collect the barrels and load them on wagons to be carried to the still.
Old turpentine/tobacco wagon. Been parked for years and if it could talk...
Once collected, they would carry the wagon to a turpentine still. These were scattered all through the countryside but I am only aware of two remaining in my area. (Side note, the last big fire in the Okefenokee Swamp in 1954-55 was called the Mule Tail Fire. It was caused when the mule pulling the wagon inadvertantly got his tail in a bucket of burning gum the guys were using as a heater. The mule took off through the woods and set the woods on fire. It burned for over a year. 1/2 million acres I believe.)
The barrels were then off-loaded and rolled up the ramp at the still.
The barrel is then poured (using the word liberally) into the copper kettle and then cooked off.
View of the distillation tube. The typical yield was 6-8 gallons of turpentine per barrel of gum. (approximately 50 trees per gallon)
If the coils conjure thoughts of cool refreshing blueberry medley - rightfully so - the stills were sometimes used for that as well. Prefereably when they were new but not always - times were hard.
View of the firebox.
View from the opposite side of firebox
Being ever thrifty, this operation also cooked stumps to extract tar and pitch. This was used to make creosote and to treat lumber and posts. While we have plenty of termites, I think you'll agree the posts made at this facillity are far superior than any you can buy today. To my knowledge, these are the original timbers and posts put down the day the still was built. It's over 70 years old.
Picture of the hooper hut and the office. (Note, the split rail fence. This is what was placed around most fields to keep the cows out.)
Hope you found this interesting. Gotta run.
Before the fence law, cowboys aka Georgia Crackers ran cattle freerange all through the woods here. The cattle got fat on wiregrass and palmetto. The cowboys got their knickname from the bullwhips they would "crack" to drive the cattle where they wanted. If you farmed, you best fence the cattle "out" of your fields. Between the free range cattle and the frequent lightning fires, the woods stayed fairly clean.
In these woods worked your turpentiners. They would collect the sap from longleaf and slash pines in the following manner. The turp would walk to a tree and cut/hack what is called a face into the tree. From a distance, these looked like a cat's face hence they became known as cat-faces or simply faces.
The tools of the trade were fairly straightforward. Here is a moon axe, some hacks and scrapes. (Hacks have a big counterweight on them and you always pulled toward the side of your torso. No one had to tell you how to do this but once.
)
Once hacked and scraped, you would lay tin on the tree. This was called a gutter. The moon axe would be placed against the tin and hit with a sledge hammer to seal the gutter.
Here is a picture of a gutter and cup installed.
Once installed, the face would be scraped down and treated with a 50/50 solution of sulfuric acid and water. This kept the sap running so it would fill the cups.
Dippers would go out and collect the sap from the cups. They would scrape it in buckets then dump the buckets into barrels. It would take between 275-300 cups to fill a 50 gal. drum. (This job was normally done by women and children.) The men would then collect the barrels and load them on wagons to be carried to the still.
Old turpentine/tobacco wagon. Been parked for years and if it could talk...
Once collected, they would carry the wagon to a turpentine still. These were scattered all through the countryside but I am only aware of two remaining in my area. (Side note, the last big fire in the Okefenokee Swamp in 1954-55 was called the Mule Tail Fire. It was caused when the mule pulling the wagon inadvertantly got his tail in a bucket of burning gum the guys were using as a heater. The mule took off through the woods and set the woods on fire. It burned for over a year. 1/2 million acres I believe.)
The barrels were then off-loaded and rolled up the ramp at the still.
The barrel is then poured (using the word liberally) into the copper kettle and then cooked off.
View of the distillation tube. The typical yield was 6-8 gallons of turpentine per barrel of gum. (approximately 50 trees per gallon)
If the coils conjure thoughts of cool refreshing blueberry medley - rightfully so - the stills were sometimes used for that as well. Prefereably when they were new but not always - times were hard.
View of the firebox.
View from the opposite side of firebox
Being ever thrifty, this operation also cooked stumps to extract tar and pitch. This was used to make creosote and to treat lumber and posts. While we have plenty of termites, I think you'll agree the posts made at this facillity are far superior than any you can buy today. To my knowledge, these are the original timbers and posts put down the day the still was built. It's over 70 years old.
Picture of the hooper hut and the office. (Note, the split rail fence. This is what was placed around most fields to keep the cows out.)
Hope you found this interesting. Gotta run.
