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The principal commercial value of suinneli has always been in 

 i^ leaves and twigs which are used for tanning leather. The 

 largest supply comes from the region botwoon Xew Jersey and 

 North Carolina, from the immediate coast westward to the moun- 

 tains. Two species contribute to the supply. 



Staghorn sumach (Ehus hirta) is so called because the small 

 limbs are covered with fuzz, like the young horns uf a deer. 

 I'warf or smooth sumach (Shxis copallina) has its names because 

 nt' the smoothness of its branches, and from the fact that the 



iiwth is generally small. However, the largest specimens of 



• th species are much the same in size. Trees attain a height of 

 . mm thirty to fifty feet and trunk diameters range from six to 

 twelve inches. It should not be supposed that these sizes are 

 usual. They are exceptions and are attained only under extremely 

 favorable conditions. 



The sumach is a short-lived tree. There seems to be no record 

 of any above fifty years of age. There is a section of a trunk of 

 dwarf sumach ten inches in diameter and forty-seven years old in 

 the collection of woods at the Texas Universitj' at Austin. It 

 L'lew in that state. The species is found from New England to 

 llorida and Texas, but the best development in size is west of the 

 Mississippi river. The range of staghorn sumach is somewhat more 

 restricted in the South and Southwest than that of the other, but 

 it ranges farther north. 



The annual output of dried sumach leaves and twigs for tanning 

 purposes in the United States is approximately 180 tons. It is not 

 a large quantity, but it is very rich in tannin of a valuable quality. 

 It is employed principally in preparing fine leathers for book 

 binders and glove makers. Genuine morocco skins are usually 

 tanned witli sumach. It gives a softness which i?. difficult to 

 attain with any other material. 



In Virginia the leaves are stripped from the small bushes by 

 women and children, with some help from the more lazy class of 

 the masculine population. It is not looked on as "a man's job,"' 

 and men prefer to stay aw'ay while the field work is being done. 

 The sumach thickets occur in old fields, and the bushes are seldom 

 so tall that a person standing on the ground can not strip the 

 leaves from every twig. 



The stands are produced wholly by natural means. Seeds are 

 ■1 attered by wind, water, quadrupeds, and birds, and the worn-out 

 fields, where the soil is so poor that corn will no longer grow, come 

 up thickly with seedling sumachs. There is so much bitter white 

 juice in the leaves and twigs that domestic animals refuse to eat 

 them; consequently, the young sumachs grow without molestation 

 in old pastures while half-starved horses and cattle roam in search 

 of forage. 



No particular age is necessary to fit the sumacli for the leaf- 

 gatherers. Whoever reaches the old fields first, garners in the 

 leaves. However, there is generally enough for all who care to 

 glean. There is not much profit in it for the gatherers. The 

 material sells for about $100 a ton, but it takes two or three acres 

 of sumach to produce a ton, and the picking is not all the cost of 

 preparing. The leaves must be dried, flagellated, and baled. 



The early makers of maple sugar used sumach steins an inch or 

 less in diameter for spiles. These were made hollow by punching 

 out the pith, and they were then inserted in auger holes bored in 

 the maples. The sap was thus led into the troughs or pails 

 jirovided for the purpose. 



The wood is suitable for a number of uses. Trunks four inches 

 or more in diameter contain wood fit for certain commodities. It 

 is peculiar in appearance. The annual rings are nuide U]i of wood 

 yellow and black, in concentric layers. The black is the summer 

 wood. When polished, a fine, rich luster is developed. The 

 sumach is diffuse-porous — that is, the pores are not arranged in 

 rows — but those in the summer wood are often filled with deposits 

 and are therefore not easily observed. 



The most artistic display of sumach is seen in turned work, 



such as newel posts, spindles, balusters, capitals, and other orna- 

 ments. Balls seven inches .or more in diameter are sometimes 

 turned, and are highly ornamental when used as parts of stairway 

 and grille work. The contrasts, due to differences in color, are 

 strongly brought out. Balls of smaller sizes show well also, but 

 the beauty of the wood increases with the size of tlie jiioces. 



One of the common uses of the wood of this tree is in turning 

 goblets, curtain rings, and small platters and trays. The high 

 polish which maj' be given such articles is surprising. Though the 

 wood is somewhat brittle, it is quite strong. The sapwood is very 

 thin, and practically the whole trunk can be used when it is of 

 sufficient size. 



Novelty stores sometimes sell sumach balls two and a half to 

 three inches in diameter, intended for use in darning stockings. 

 Next to the wood's beauty in colors and contrasts, its principal 

 value as darning balls is due to the smoothness with which it may 

 be polished. There are no rough places to catch threads. 



Poison sumach (Situs vcrnix) appears to be without value, so far 

 as its wood is concerned; but the juice which exudes from wounds 

 in the bark may be manufactured into a rich, black varnish. The 

 danger of handling the article stands in the way of any great 

 demand for it. 



There is a western sumach (Ehus integrifolia) which grows in 

 California and attains a trunk diameter of a foot, when at its best. 

 The wood is wholly different in appearance from that of the other 

 sumachs. It is of a rich red, without much figure. Annual rings 

 are indistinct. It bears some resemblance to both cherry and 

 mahogany, but differs enough from both to give it a distinct 

 character of its own. It is hard, strong, and takes a good polish. 

 It is not sufficiently abundant to give it much value as a resource; 

 but for the manufacture of small articles it deserves a prominent 

 place. 



Wider Field for Plain Oak Furniture 



Plain oak is coming back after years of neglect. Little of it has 

 been in evidence for a long time. Fashion dictated the use of other 

 woods, but fashion in that line has about run its course, and indica- 

 tions point to an early and general return of plain oak in the furniture 

 trade. Quartered oak, also, is due to wider employment in the manu- 

 facture of furniture. That is, the oak is extending its field of useful- 

 ness in most kinds of furniture. For some years this wood has been 

 confined largely to the office and the dining room. Desks and cabinets 

 of oak have been manufactured in large quantities and in numerous 

 styles, and dining tables, sideboards and other appurtenances of the 

 dining room have followed that fashion. In the making of other 

 classes of furniture this splendid wood was accorded scant courtesy. 

 Birch, gum, maple and other hardwoods had the center of the stage. 

 These are fine woods, but no finer than oak, and the superior place 

 accorded them was dictated by fashion, which is often as much a law 

 in trade as in the social affairs of men ,ind women. 



It, therefore, becomes a matter of quiet satisfaction to note a 

 tendency on the part of oak to come into the general furniture field 

 again. Plain and quartered oak alike have a place, and by right they 

 never ought to have lost any part of that place. Their substantial 

 qualities ought to place them among woods like gold among metals, 

 superior to vicissitudes of fortune, and beyond the fickle influences 

 of fashion. 



The tendency is indicated by the appearance of oak furniture in 

 show windows, .\lure it is more prominent than it had been in a long 

 time. This is tlio situation, not in a single city or manufacturing 

 district, but it is so general that the movement cannot be defined as 

 restricted or local. A popular form of library table has a quar- 

 tered veneer top. while the frame is made of solid plain oak. The 

 table is not elaborately finished. It is simply a substantial piece of 

 oak for the library. Many pieces on display are finished natural, and 

 they afford pleasing contrasts with some of the deep-stained woods. 



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