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



along old fence rows, and on cut-over and burned-over woodland. 

 Eeports have been received that in certain sections it grows thickly, 

 unmixed with other growth, and in sufficient areas to permit cutting 

 with a mowing machine. Several cases of clean stand have been 

 reported, but they have not come directly to the attention of the 

 Bureau of Chemistry. A report has been received from eastern 

 Virginia of a tract of from 10 to 15 acres of burned-over and cut-over 

 land from which 5 tons of dwarf sumac (leaves, leaf stems, and cur- 

 rent year's stalk) were gathered. An estimate by the bureau, based 

 on white sumac gathered from a plot 20 by 30 feet, gave a calculated 

 yield per acre of 4,864 pounds (green weight). This would make 

 about 1,600 pounds of cured sumac. 



QUANTITY A MAN CAN GATHER IN ONE DAY. 



Many factors may influence the quantity a man can gather. Some 

 of these are the experience and alacrity of the gatherer, availability 

 or lack of teams for hauling, growth of sumac whether dense or 

 scattering species of sumac collected, and whether leaves, leaf stems, 

 and stalks, or only leaves and leaf stems are gathered. The sumac 

 collected by one man in one day may weigh from 150 to 600 pounds 

 when dried, but averages between 200 and 300 pounds. From experi- 

 ments conducted by the bureau, in which the sumac was collected 

 by an experienced gatherer, it has been estimated that the following 

 amounts of sumac (leaves, leaf stems, and stalk combined) can be 

 gathered in one eight-hour day by an energetic man, provided the 

 stand is good, so that little time is lost in going from one patch to 

 another : 



Dwarf, 728 pounds green ; loss of water in curing, 54 per cent ; cured sumac, 

 335 pounds. 1 



White, 1,744 pounds green ; loss of water in curing, 67 per cent ; cured suinac, 

 576 pounds. 



Staghorn, 952 pounds green ; loss -of water in curing, 58 per cent ; cured sumac, 

 400 pounds. 



Where the stand is scattering or the gatherer is slow, the quantity 

 gathered will be less, but in no case should an able-bodied man be 

 satisfied with less than 200 pounds of cured sumac (leaves and stalks) 

 from his day's work. 



In those sections where black, or dwarf, sumac grows plentifully, 

 exceptionally high wages can be earned, particularly by women, 

 children, and the older men, by gathering sumac. Spare time during 

 July and August, which usually is a comparatively inactive period 

 on the farm in the sumac-growing sections, can be profitably em- 

 ployed in this way. By gathering and carefully curing sumac, at $1 



1 The dwarf sumac was more scattered than the other two varieties. This may account 

 for the comparatively low figures for this species. 



