498 OAK COPPICE. [Dec. 



branches. Severe beating with the mell should always be avoided, 

 as it injures the bark and lessens its value to a considerable extent, 

 causing it to contract mould, and making it more difficult to dry. 

 When the bark is stripped off it is laid on two pieces of wood on 

 the right-hand side of the peeler, and thus as it is taken off it is 

 built up nearly into a bundle, keeping tlio white side of each piece 

 undermost. The various pieces of bark composing a bundle vary 

 considerably in length ; but they shoukl be all stretched out to 

 their full length, and any very short pieces laid in the middle, 

 while attention is paid to keep one end of the bundle neat and 

 even. The bark that composes the bundle is not compressed 

 together, but all the pieces <ire laid in a careful manner, so that 

 they can be readily lifted in a rope and carried to the ranges, and 

 laid on these in a neat and even way, keeping the even ends of 

 the bundles all on one side of the range. This neat and careful 

 method of laying the bark in bundles as it is stripped off is easily 

 done, and saves a great deal of sorting and gathering, as the bark is 

 readily laid out on the ranges without the bundle being tossed and 

 ravelled ; indeed, it is an advantage to the handling of the bark all 

 through the time of drying and working. 



DkyinCt the Baek. — The ranges should be erected on tlie most 

 dry and airy situation that can be got in the wood. The best way 

 is to drive in two rows of forked sticks into the ground, about 4 feet 

 apart, opposite to each other, and about 30 inches between the rows, 

 and leave them about 3 feet high above the ground, laying on other 

 pieces of wood, and making the range in the form generally adopted. 

 The ranges are sometimes put up with a considerable hang, so that 

 the one side of the bark is higher than the other ; this practice 

 cannot be recommended, as it allows the water that falls on the high 

 side to run inwards and pass down througli among the bark to the 

 lower side. A very little hang on the range is all that is necessary 

 (at most not more than 2 inches), as when the bark is laid on to the 

 range, with the even ends of the bundles all to one side, it gives a 

 considerable amount of slope to the bark sufficient to carr}'- off the 

 water Avithout risk of it being admitted at the liigh ends of the bark. 



The erection of the ranges and laying out of the bark should be 

 entrusted to a careful and experienced man. A person should either 

 be kept regularly carrying the bark to the ranges, or each peeler 

 caused to carry his own bark every two-and-a-lialf hours ; when this 

 system of going to work is adopted, the superintendent should be 

 present at the ranges when the bark is brought in, to see the quantity 

 and quality that each peeler brings in, and at once check every 

 appearance of carelessness. 



AVhen laying the bark on to the ranges, the outside should always 



