11 



Other Chemurgic Projects 



THE SCOURGING BLIGHT that has all but extermi- 

 nated the chestnut has cost us more than we can esti- 

 mate. It has destroyed one of our most stately, char- 

 acteristic trees and robbed us of our best native nut. 

 From a strictly dollars-and-cents point of view, because 

 the bark of chestnut was our most important source of 

 tanning extract, especially for heavy leathers, it has 

 created grave problems for the tanning industry and 

 made us more dependent upon imported tanstuffs. The 

 financial blow has fallen most heavily upon the South 

 in a section that can ill afford economic losses. 



The mountainous region from the Blue Ridge and 

 the Alleghenies in Virginia and West Virginia, through 

 the Great Smokies to where the mighty Appalachian 

 Range fades out in northern Georgia and Alabama, has 

 been the very citadel of the American tanning extract 

 industry. The chestnut blight has wiped out its most 

 valuable asset and threatens to drive away many tan- 

 neries which had been long established in association 

 with local supplies of tannins. These dislocations are 



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