3 885.] OAK COPPICE. 499 



be kept uppermost, and the bark laid not more than 1 8 inches deep, 

 and the whole covered over with the Largest and most flat pieces of 

 bark, laid on in a way that will carry off the water from tlie range ; 

 in fact, the iQOst particular attention should at all times be paid to 

 prevent it from being even slightly saturated from water. " In tlie 

 presence of moisture, tannic acid exposed to atmospheric agency 

 absorbs oxygen, and is converted into gallic aid, a compound which 

 is of no value to the tanner ; " neither should tlie inner side be 

 exposed to the influence of tlie sun, as it evaporates the juices that 

 are most useful to the tanner. When the bark has been on the 

 ranges for three or four days, it should be turned, or rather shifted, 

 so as to keep it in an open state ; this permits the air to circulate 

 freely among it, and prevents it from becoming mouldy. Properly- 

 cured bark breaks freely, and has a light cream colour, but when it 

 has been damaged by exposure to the weather it is brown-coloured. 

 This at once indicates that part of the astringent matter has been 

 extracted by exposure to unfavourable influences during the drying 

 process. It generally takes from two to three weeks to dry oak 

 bark, but with favourable w^eather we have had it properly cured in 

 eight days. As soon as it is considered to be sufficiently dried, it 

 should be carted into a shed or built into an oblong staclc, where it 

 is chopped into pieces about 2 inches square, and put into bags 

 ready for removal to the tanner. When it is built into a stack, it 

 should be thatched, and a large tarpauling erected to keep off rain, 

 during the time it is being chojjped and bagged. 



Eanges are very often carelessly put up. We have seen instances 

 where the one end of the range rested on the ground, and the other 

 not more than 2 feet high. It is obvious that bark laid on in this 

 careless way cannot dry so fast as it does when on properly-erected 

 ranges ; and besides, when the ranges are put up in this sloping 

 fashion, the water naturally inclines to run dow^n among the bark, 

 thus causing a considerable waste of tannic acid. The bark being 

 laid so near the surface of the ground, the drying winds do not 

 circulate so freely through among it ; consequently, in the best of 

 seasons it takes longer to dry, and the quality is very often much 

 inferior. Surely, if it is worth while to strip the bark, it ought to 

 be carefully and properly cured. Where there is annually a 

 considerable quantity of oak bark to be dried, it would pay to keep 

 portable sheds with shelves in them for drying the bark. With 

 these, an improved quality of bark would doubtless be produced. 



When the bark on the shoots is partially covered with a growth 

 of mosses, it should be scraped off with an iron scraper previously to 

 the bark being taken from the tree, as when this is not done it 

 deteriorates the quality of the bark considerably. 



