90-18AP Southern Pine Naval Stores Art PrintThis scene shows gum being collected from old growth slash and Longleaf Pine in Georgia in the early 1900s. In the early days gum, pitch, and pine tar were used by the Navy for caulking the seams of wooden vessels and preserving the ship's rope and rigging. The term "naval stores" has been handed down through the centuries even though turpentine and resin have been of great importance in industries other than shipping.Naval stores, as referred to in this story, is oleoresin made from living slash and Longleaf Pine trees, and upon processing is converted into turpentine and resin. Oleoresin, also referred to as gum and dip, is a sticky, liquid substance that exudes from a pine tree when chipped with a hack. Turpentine and resin have hundreds of present day uses, from thinner for artists' oil paints to pharmaceutical purposes. The naval stores' gum industry is one of America's oldest, beginning in Nova Scotia around 1606, and in Virginia about 1608. In about 1665, North Carolina was the leading state in gum production. Florida led from 1900–1925. From 1925, Georgia has led the nation, producing up to 75% of the nation's supply, and about one-half of the world's supply during the 1950s. (Thanks to Mr. Grady Williams and Mr. Paul Butts, of the Georgia Forestry Commission, for their help with the background and story for this oil painting.) |
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