236 The Farm Woodlot 



lock, together with the wood of the chestnut, are valuable 

 products of the eastern forests and woodlots used for 

 tanning hides and skins in the manufacture of leather. 

 Sumac is used for tanning fine kid leathers. The leaves 

 generally are used. They are collected during the summer 

 and dried ready for market. 



Owing to the comparatively slow growth of the oaks and 

 the hemlock, about one good crop is as much as a lot will 

 yield in a life time, but a well-managed woodlot of con- 

 siderable size within reach of markets for tanning material 

 may yield in time considerable revenue from the bark of 

 these trees. Oak bark is peeled in the spring of the year 

 immediately after the trees are felled (from April to 

 June). Hemlock bark may be peeled any time during 

 the summer until August or September. The felled trees 

 are girdled every four feet, and the bark is removed with a 

 chisel-like tool called a "spud." The bark comes in 

 strips of variable width. These pieces of bark are leaned 

 against the tree trunk with the flesh side out where there 

 is free circulation of air for drying and seasoning. In 

 two or three days, if the weather is dry, the bark may be 

 collected and ranked into cords. Tan bark is sold by the 

 cord and brings from $6 to $12, according to the kind and 

 quality. 



Chestnut wood for tanning purposes finds a ready mar- 

 ket in many places in the eastern United States. Chest- 

 nut wood contains a higher percentage of tannin than does 

 the bark, differing in this respect from oak and hemlock, 

 the bark of which contains more tannin than the woods. 

 For this reason, chestnut wood is used extensively in the 

 manufacture of tannin extract. Practically every eastern 



