62 



FOREST PRODUCTS 



West and South. Pennsylvania became the great center of bark produc- 

 tion and many acres of virgin hemlock were cut down for their bark alone. 

 Until 1895 to 1900 foreign tanning materials, on account of cost 

 of transportation, could not be sold in this country in competition 

 with the domestic supply. But, owing to the increase in wages and 

 the decrease in the domestic supply and the fact that the forests are 



Photograph by U. S. Forest Service. 



FIG. 12. Peeling hemlock bark on the Cataloochee Tract, Haywood Co., North Carolina. 

 The bark is removed in 4-ft. sections and, after drying, is piled ready for hauling to 

 the railroad. This crew consisted of four men including the foreman. 



becoming more remote from the tanneries, entailing greater cost of 

 transportation, the price of hemlock and oak bark delivered at the 

 plants increased to such an extent that a great deal of foreign " leaf " 

 (meaning accrued and unextracted tanning materials) came into use. 

 These could be imported great distances because the tannin content 

 ranged from 2\ to 4 or more times the content of hemlock and oak bark. 

 The outbreak of the war in 1914, however, together with the scarcity 

 of ocean tonnage, made more imperative the demand upon the domestic 



