The Balsam Fir

Origin

The Native people, who knew all the secrets of the boreal forest, taught the French settlers of Canada the virtues of balsam fir gum, as it was of great use to them against influenza, scurvy, cuts, and burns. Even the holes in their bark canoes were filled with this precious gum. The history of New France tells us that under the rule of Intendant Talon, trappers or coureurs des bois (woodsmen) harvested balsam fir gum and earned seasonal income from it. It was used to make shoes and build boats. Jean-Jacques Fortin, a passionate lover of the Baie St-Paul forests, learned from his father, a coureur des bois, how to tap the gum during the summer. He became its ultimate propagator.

Ancestral medicinal use

A basic treatise on medicinal materia medica by the Sisters of Charity of Providence, published in 1869 and reissued in 1890 by the Providence printing house (Montreal), mentions balsam fir gum, which, mixed with egg yolk to simplify dosing, was used as a dewormer and to combat colic or persistent constipation. It seems that at that time, balsam fir gum was almost an official medicine. One thing is certain: Quebecers, aided by their native peoples, would not have waited for the gum to become commercially available, as evidenced by the numerous testimonies of our great-grandparents. Isolated in their corner of the country, far from urban centers, they had to rely on remedies close to nature, whose reputation had been passed down by word of mouth. Balsam fir gum, or "Canadian turpentine," was found to be an extraordinary flu-buster. They swore by it, or almost...

Now: Gum Harvesting

You don't become a gum tapper overnight. The task requires a great deal of skill, patience, and an unconditional love of balsam firs, the only variety of its species to produce this incomparable gum. In good weather, the tapper climbs the tree using a homemade ladder and pierces the bark vesicles with a "picoué," a type of small steel vessel whose serrated beak exerts pressure on the pouch, allowing a liquid (the gum) to flow into the container. The experienced tapper knows to pierce only the large vesicles so as not to exhaust its host, the fir. When the steel vessel is full, he pours this yellowish treasure into a large container. Over the course of the warmer days, the picker will have collected several liters of this kind.

Balsam Fir Gum

Balsam fir gum and oil are used for various purposes today. Indeed, balsam fir is still recognized as a natural tool with countless qualities.

It's all natural!

After being filtered, purified, and analyzed, the balsam fir gum is encapsulated. It must be heated and maintained at a constant temperature to preserve all its properties. This superior-quality balsam fir gum is produced in laboratories certified and approved by Health Canada.