

Pile of Hemlock Bark. 

 Tons of the bark piled in the woods of garrett county, Maryland, ready for shipment to a tannery. 



THE STORY OF HEMLOCK 



By Hu Maxwell. 



NOT so long ago, when some of 

 us were grown men, and 

 others were only boys, the 

 well-known hemlock tree was 

 valued only for its bark, and after this 

 had been stripped oft the logs were left 

 to rot or to burn in the woods. Now 

 the logs are more valuable than the 

 bark. Also, due to the early reckless 

 cutting of the trees for their bark alone, 

 and to the fact that hemlock finds it 

 difficult to reproduce itself the supply 

 of the wood is rapidly diminishing, and 

 it will not be many years before hem- 

 lock will practically disappear from the 

 forest lands east of the Rockies. 



At present it serves many useful pur- 

 poses, quantities of it are used in paper 

 making, it makes an excellent railroad 

 cross-tie. it is fine for box making be- 

 cause of its clear whiteness, it is good 

 for staves, manv use it for siloes, and it 



is claimed to be equal to white pine for 

 building barns and fences, while it is in 

 demand for making caskets, furniture 

 and even musical instruments. 



Hemlock was one of the earliest tan- 

 ning materials in the country, and it is 

 still used to a greater extent than any 

 other, though the production is declin- 

 ing. The number of trees felled for 

 their bark alone in past years almost 

 surpasses belief. The fact is, hemlock 

 has been the victim of the worst forest 

 wastes of all the many that have oc- 

 curred in this country. The mistaken 

 notion of early times that the wood pos- 

 sessed little value was responsible for 

 part of the destruction. The bark was 

 l)Ought by tanneries, but there was no 

 bid for the wood ; consequently, no one 

 was disposed to protect it. 



Years before luml)ermen would look 

 at the tree, bark peelers were felling the 



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