Tapping the Pines

<p>The extraction of raw turpentine and tar from the southern longleaf pine--along with the manufacture of derivative products such as spirits of turpentine and rosin--constitutes what was once the largest industry in North Carolina and one of the most important in the South: naval stores production. In a pathbreaking study that seamlessly weaves together business environmental labor and social history Robert B. Outland III offers the first complete account of this sizable though little-understood sector of the southern economy. Outland traces the South's naval stores industry from its colonial origins to the mid-twentieth century when it was supplanted by the rising chemicals industry. A horror for workers and a scourge to the Southeast's pine forests the methods and consequences of this expansive enterprise remained virtually unchanged for more than two centuries. <p/>With its exacting attention to detail and exhaustive research <i>Tapping the Pines</i> is an essential volume for anyone interested in the piney woods South.</p>