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During the second half of the 19th century, the territory of Cutuli è Curtichjatu was subject to the exploitation of tree heather stumps (i tami scupini). The latter are made of a dense and hard wood that was easily used to make blanks. This activity gave rise to a small local industry. The workshop In the 1890s, a few pipe blank factories were set up in the Gravona valley and in Ajaccio. In Cutuli-Cutichjatu, the Melgrani family and Pierre Lacombe, a craftsman from the Pyrenees, decided to transform an old mill into a workshop for the manufacture of blanks. The production is then marketed in the Jura to be transformed into pipes. The building was converted into a workshop with two circular saw benches on the first floor. The driving force is produced by a turbine (horizontal wheel) located in the basement and set in motion by the water of the river. Further upstream from the building, a storage basin, controlled by a valve, allowed the supply and regulation of the water flow. The installations are completed by a boiler for boiling the blanks. The stumps were bought from the inhabitants. It is estimated that 24 grubbers (12 per saw) were needed to adequately feed the two saws. Extraction of the stumps Extraction was generally done at the end of winter, when the soil was soft, using a sort of pickaxe (u galioni). The stumps were pulled up and cleared of stems, placed in piles, covered with earth and watered to prevent them from splitting. While still fresh, they were transported and sold locally for processing. Many inhabitants earned additional income from this activity. A quintal was traded at a minimum price of 2.50 francs. The manufacture of blanks The blanks are made from the stump of the heather tree (a scopa). Their woody structure is special. A sort of "magnifying glass", sometimes with a "partridge's eye", sometimes "flamed", the colour of the wood could vary from pink to orange brown. Sorted, cleaned and roughened with circular saws, these stumps were cut into blanks. The blanks were graded according to four quality levels and then steamed in water for at least two days in order to expel the sap. This process made the wood more compact and gave it its "flamed" appearance. After drying, they were packaged and shipped via the port of Ajaccio.

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