8 BULLETIN 706, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



PREPARATION FOR TRANSPORTATION. 



Sumac received by the dealers from the farmers usually comes in 

 bags, or is handled loose in wagonloads like hay, and in many in- 

 stances may have been hauled as far as 20 miles. Many farmers pre- 

 fer to deliver the sumac in wagonloads, as they claim that too much 

 time is consumed by putting it up in bags. Since the sumac becomes 

 very brittle when dried and the leaflets are easily broken from the 

 leaf stems, much loss occurs in handling it loose, and the gatherer can 

 make more by bagging his sumac, packing each bag as full as possible. 

 These bags cost the dealers 8 to 9 cents each, but are usually furnished 

 without cost to the gatherers. Some gatherers, after drying the 

 sumac, flail off the leaves and pack them in bags for shipment. 

 Seventy-five pounds should be packed into a 4-bushel bag. 



From the small dealers to the extract manufacturers the sumac is 

 usually handled in bags or bales. The cost of baling is about 10 

 cents per hundredweight. 



PRICES PAID GATHERERS AND DEALERS. 



During the seasons of 1918 and 1919 in eastern Virginia the 

 gatherers received from $1.25 to $1.50 per 100 pounds in trade from 

 the dealers. The extract manufacturers furnished bags for use in 

 hauling and shipping the cured sumac. The extract makers paid 

 $1.65 per 100 pounds for the bagged material, which in this region 

 includes some new-groAvth stalks as well as the leaves and leaf stems. 

 In 1919 in northern West Virginia and western Maryland the 

 gatherers received $1.50 per hundred pounds in trade from the 

 dealers. In 1920, the price rose to $2.00 per hundred pounds at the 

 shipping point. 



TANNIN CONTENT. 



The leaves and leaf stems together of the three most important 

 American sumacs dwarf, white, and staghorn when air-dried 

 contain approximately the same quanity of tannin that is, from 20 

 to 35 per cent. 1 The leaves of fragrant sumac are said to contain 13 

 per cent tannin, those of American smoke-tree 21 per cent, and those 

 of coral sumac 8 per cent. Usually the quantity of tannin appears 

 to be somewhat greater later in the season than in June and early 

 July. The leaves contain the highest percentage of tannin after 

 they are fully grown and before they begin to turn yellow or red. 



Analyses made in the Leather and Paper Laboratory of the Bureau 

 of Chemistry of various samples of sumac gathered in Virginia, West 

 Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania gave the results shown in 

 Table 4. 



1 These figures apply more particularly to Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and 

 Pennsylvania sumacs. 



