Hints on Oak Barking in Ireland. 



By D. SYM SCOTT, Forester, Ballinacourte, Tiiterary. 



In this country small boup:li and copsewood bark will scarcely sell 

 at any price, and is therefore hardly worth the cost of stripping. 

 Tanners, however, are ever ready to give a fair price for well-saved 

 bark of good quality, taken from trees forty to sixty years of age. This 

 quality of bark has a reddish colour in the heart, and will give two 

 "waters " of ordinary strong tanning liquid. It realizes from £6 10s. 

 to £7 lOs. per ton, according to the distance from a railway station. 



Many foresters are in the habit of delaying the very important work 

 of peeling oak until about the middle of May. This is in my opinion 

 a mistake. I prefer to commence operations as early in the month of 

 April as the bark will rise, choosing of course such trees as are most 

 advanced to begin with. Before felling the tree I remoTe about four 

 feet of the bark from the butt to make way for the axe, men or fellers ; 

 taking the bark off as low down as possible, even going below the sur- 

 face of the ground after it when necessary. For this part of the work 

 I employ a boy or two at so much per day, but for peeling the rest of 

 the tree I allow fourpence per cwt. of bark. 



When the tree is felled the peelers, working in pairs, clean off the 

 moss and cut the bark into lengths before raising it with the barking 

 irons. Sometimes small mallets are used to " hammer " the bark with 

 to expedite its removal, but this discolours the inside, giving that black 

 appearance objected to by the tanner. Much pounding with the mallet 

 should be avoided. Every day's produce must be weighed and 

 secured in the evening of each day, the weighing to be under the 

 immediate superintendence of the forester, or, in his absence, the fore- 

 man. Weighing the bark every day may by some be considered tedious, 

 but a little practice will facilitate the work and secure great accuracy. 



The bark stands should be erected in open, airy situations, and 

 thoroughly exposed to sun and wind. A trustworthy man should 

 attend to the proper putting up of the bark. He should provide forked 

 stakes from two to three feet long, which are fixed firm in the ground, 

 and have long small poles stretched along their top, lying in the forks. 

 On these stands the bark is laid, taking care that the inner side 

 of the bark is in every instance downwards, with the huge whole 

 pieces nicely laid on the top, as thatch to ward off the rain. 



If the weather is at all favourable, I go over the stands at the end of 



