A strip of bark is taken from
the pine, perhaps eight or ten inches long, and at the lower end
of the wound thus made, a deep notch is cut in the wood.
Into this the sap flows, and is scraped out as fast as the cavity
is filled. It is a labor in which all may join, and so plentiful
are the pine trees that if our people of Jamestown set about making
turpentine only, they might load four or five ships in a year.
From the making of tar much money can be earned, and it is a simple
process such as I believe I myself might compass, were it not that
I have sufficient of other work to occupy all my time.
The pine tree is cut into short pieces, even the roots being used,
for, if I mistake not, more tar may be had from the roots than from
the trunks of the tree. Our people here dig a hollow, much like
unto the shape of a funnel, on the side of a hill, or bank, fill
it in with the wood and the roots, and cover the whole closely with
turf.
An iron pot is placed at the bottom of this hollow in the earth,
and a fire is built at the top of the pile.
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