The Turpentine Process

The Turpentine Process. . , 'Chippers' began the turpentine process by slashing a "cat face" into the tree. Bleeding sap is directed by a tin strip to a box, or later a 'Herty' pot, hung below the scars., 'Dippers' visited the trees every 7 to 12 days (based on the season and tree's age). They scraped resin from the pots into dip buckets weighing 50 pounds when full. The buckets were carried to a mule-drawn wagon and emptied into barrels which were taken to the still., In late fall, a 'pulling squad' visited each tree and scraped crystallized resin from old scars., The overseer or woods rider, also referred to as "the man" or the "tallywhacker" kept count of the number of trees slashed and buckets collected. Pay was based on the tally., A woods rider oversaw 6 crops consisting of 10,000 trees each. A turpentiner's work day went from morning to night performing hard physical labor. Workers were treated ruthlessly. Both convicts and African-Americans labored in Florida forests under harsh conditions., Folklore tells of many deaths due to unforgiving conditions with the bodies buried throughout the forest., [photo captions] , . Setting Catface and Herty Pot , . 1961 was the Last Turpentine Collection , . Tallywacker or Overseer , . Turpentine Barrels and Camp , . Convict Labor