ASSORTMENTS OF BARK. 651 



according to quality; the forest-manager should go beyond 

 customary limits of assortment, and have at any rate two 

 classes of silver-bark, for these are the lots which determine 

 the value of the produce. This is both in the interest of the 

 forest-owner and of the purchaser, and will materially decide 

 the results of the sale. 



Dry bark is sold differently in different places. Usually 

 larger or smaller bales of it are prepared; or, as in Franconia, 

 it is made into round bundles. 



In the Rhine-valley, three sorts of bark are recognised : 

 silver-bark, seconds and coarse bark. Silver-bark (Glanzrimle, 

 Spicy druide} is the bark cut from shoots up to 8 centimeters 

 (3 in.) diameter, in Wurtemberg, 12 centimeters (4^ in.), when 

 measured unpeeled ; seconds (Kaitelrinde) is from stems 8 to 25 

 centimeters (3 to 10 in.) in diameter, in Wurtemberg (4j to 

 10 in.), also the smooth bark from the branches of these 

 stems ; coarse bark (Grolrindc) is from branches and stems 

 exceeding 25 centimeters (10 in.) in diameter. Silver-bark is 

 also subdivided into three classes, No. 1, that from the lower 

 part of the stem, No. 2, from its upper part and No. 3, from 

 branches. The third class is, however, the richest in tannin, 

 sometimes thrice as rich as the first class, although traders 

 value them in the inverse order. 



The bales of bark are of various dimensions, according to 

 locality. In some of the Bhineland districts large bales 

 weighing 30 to 35 kilos (say 70 to 80 Ibs.) are usual, which 

 hardly can be carried by a man. Tanners prefer the bales to be 

 about one meter long and of the same girth ; these dimensions 

 are obligatory in parts of South Germany, and each bale then 

 weighs about 15 kilos (34 Ibs.). 



As soon as the bark is dry, it is made into bales ; this is 

 done either by hand or in presses. The important points in 

 both cases are to give the bale its proper dimensions and fasten 

 it securely so that it may withstand the shocks of ordinary 

 transport without opening, or the loss of any bark. Whenever 

 the bark is dried on trestles (Fig. 356), the bale is tied as it 

 lies on the trestle. The presses used in the Odenwald are 

 made as follows : four stout peeled stakes are driven in pairs 

 into the ground at distances somewhat less apart than the 



