AMERICAN SUMAC. 9 



TABLE 4. Tannin content of samples of dwarf, white, and staghorn sumac. 



Dwarf sumac, it will be seen, contains somewhat more tannin than 

 staghorn or white sumac. This bears out in a general way the state- 

 ment of buyers in eastern Virginia, though this difference is of itself 

 not great enough to justify the refusal of the white. The sumac 

 samples analyzed were found to average 73.3 per cent leaves and 

 leaf stems and 26.7 per cent stalks. The variation, however, was 

 marked, extending, in the case of the leaves and leaf stems, from 

 54 to 89 per cent, and, for the stalks, from 11 to 46 per cent. The 

 large proportion of stalks indicated by the percentage last given 

 should never be permitted. Gatherers must break the stalk close 

 up to the lowest leaf stem, and must not gather the long stalk 

 bare of leaves. If the stalks are broken close to the leaf stems, the 

 sumac will usually meet the buyers' demands. Dealers and extract 

 makers should insist that the sumac delivered shall not have more 

 than 25 per cent of stalks. 



The portions of the plant usually considered of value for tanning 

 and dyeing purposes are the leaves and leaf stems, although, as 

 shown in Table 4, the stalks contain from 5 to 10 per cent tannin, an 

 amount entirely too large to discard after the trouble and expense 

 of collecting and hauling to market has been incurred. This tannin 

 should be recovered, as an extract could be made from the stalks 

 and off-colored leaves that would be satisfactory for tanning and 

 dyeing purposes when color is not the primary consideration. 



SUMAC EXTRACT. 



It has been the experience of sumac extract makers that sumac 

 from Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and western Ken- 

 tucky contains the most tannin and yields more extract than that 

 from the States farther north. For that reason, they prefer to buy 

 their sumac from those southern States. 



Formerly the users of domestic sumac bought the leaves or ground 

 sumac, which is the sumac leaf ground to a coarse powder, and made 

 their own liquors for tanning or dyeing from these materials. Re- 

 cently the grinding of sumac has decreased, and users have bought 

 sumac extract instead. The price of domestic sumac extract, which 



