THE SCENT OF AMBAR. [+ info]

THE SCENT OF AMBAR.

On the La Jarosa route. The silver forest, sign number 4 of 6.

Resin extraction was the main production activity in the countryside in this area until the late 1940s, when the practice was abandoned. Pines used for resin can commonly be seen throughout the area, and particularly the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), although some specimens of the European black pine were also used for extraction (Pinus nigra). With typical grooves in their trunk for the extraction of resin, these tree stands are of particular interest due to their connection with the history of this area and with the town of Guadarrama.

Resin and its derivatives have been used for thousands of years; there are even references to these products in the Bible. Bitumen, tar and pitch are obtained from resin, and are commonly used for waterproofing. Until the decline of this industry, the town of Guadarrama had a resin factory located in what is today the Miranieves residential development. At one time Spain produced almost 60,000 tonnes of resin a year at the height of its production, and the country's first resin distillery was set up in Hontoria del Pinar (Burgos) in 1848.

Every year each resin collector or "turpentiner" was allotted a batch of pines to tend, whose resin he then sold by weight to an agent. The campaign lasted from March to early November, and the first task was to remove the bark in the area of the incision or notch. A metal funnel was then hammered into the trunk to extract the resin directly from the tree, and this was then collected in an earthenware pot which would be raised as the notch was lengthened. This method –known as “live” extraction, as it preserved the life of the tree– became widespread in 1862, and was also known as the Hugues method.

The resin collector usually lived rough in the forest during the campaigns, as every day he was required to travel long distances to monitor each pot, to widen the grooves and to collect the resin. He could be assigned as many as 4,000 trees, and the collection took place at intervals of 15 days. The summer heat and the cold in the winter in this mountain area made this profession even more gruelling, and these conditions were exacerbated by the loneliness and the need to work from dawn to dusk. Each resin collector was perfectly familiar with the technique, and was able to obtain the maximum possible quantity of resin without damaging the tree. This required the use of special tools, such as a small axe, hammer, hacker, catch pan, lid, prong and scraper.

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