The turpentine gathered from the newly boxed or virgin tree is very valuable, on account of its producing a peculiarly clear and white rosin, which is used in the manufacture of the finer kinds of soap, and by ‘Rosin the Bow,’ and commands, ordinarily, nearly five times the price of the common article.  When barreled, the turpentine is frequently sent to market in its crude state, but more often is distilled on the plantation, the gatherers generally possessing means sufficient to own a still.

In the process of distilling, the crude turpentine is ‘dumped’ into the boiler through an opening in the top,—­the same as that on which we saw Junius composedly seated,—­water is then poured upon it, the aperture made tight by screwing down the cover and packing it with clay, a fire built underneath, and when the heat reaches several hundred degrees Fahrenheit, the process of manufacture begins.  The volatile and more valuable part of the turpentine, by the action of the heat, rises as vapor, then condensing flows off through a pipe in the top of the still, and comes out spirits of turpentine, while the heavier portion finds vent at a lower aperture, and comes out rosin.

No article of commerce is so liable to waste and leakage as turpentine.  The spirits can only be preserved in tin cans, or in thoroughly seasoned oak barrels, made tight by a coating of glue on the inner side.  Though the material for these barrels exists at the South in luxuriant abundance, they are all procured from the North, and the closing of the Southern ports has now entirely cut off the supply; for while the turpentine farmer may improvise coopers, he can by no process give the oak timber the seasoning which is needed to render the barrel spirit-tight.  Hence it is certain that a large portion of the last crop of turpentine must have gone to waste.  When it is remembered that the one State of North Carolina exports annually nearly twenty millions in value of this product, and employs fully three-fourths of its negroes in its production, it will be seen how dearly the South is paying for the mad freak of secession.  Putting out of view his actual loss of produce, how does the turpentine farmer feed and employ his negroes? and, pressed as these blacks inevitably are by both hunger and idleness, those prolific breeders of sedition, what will keep them quiet?

‘What effect would secession have on your business?’ I asked the Colonel, after a while.

’A favorable one.  I should ship my crop direct to Liverpool and London, instead of selling it to New York middlemen.’

’But is not the larger portion of the turpentine crop consumed at the North?’

’Oh, yes.  We should have to deal with the Yankees anyhow, but we should do as little with them as possible.’

’Suppose the Yankees object to your setting up by yourselves, and put your ports under lock and key?’

‘They won’t do that, and if they did England would break the blockade.’