s 



UNITED STAT 



T OF 



BULLETIN No. 706 



Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry 

 CARL L. ALSBERG, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



Issued July 26, 1918; Revised November 6, 1920. 



AMERICAN SUMAC: A VALUABLE TANNING 

 MATERIAL AND DYESTUFF. 



JBy F. P. VEITCH, Chemist in Charge, J. S. ROGERS and R. W. FREY, Assistant 

 1 1 Chemists, Leather and Paper Laboratory. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



tntroduction 1 



Species of American sumac 3 



iPresent methods of gathering and 



curing . 5 



innin content 8 



imac extract _. 9 



Page. 



Disposal of extracted material 10 



Causes of poor quality in sumac 11 



Cooperation for better sumac 11 



Directions for gathering and curing 12 



Buyers of sumac 12 



Summary 13 



INTRODUCTION, 



Sumac, known also as s " shumac " or " shoemake," is a wild plant 

 [rich in tannin, a product of value to the tanning and dyeing indus- 

 tries. Sumac grows on ^uncultivated lands in many parts of the 

 [United States and is particularly abundant and accessible east of 

 the Mississippi. Plentiful stands occur on cut-over land, in old 

 [fields and pastures, on mountain sides, in waste places, and on the 

 [edge of swamps in the Appalachian region. Immense quantities of 

 this valuable tanning and dyeing material, which cost nothing to 

 [raise, remain ungathered every year, and are allowed to go to waste, 

 the United States imports annually more than $5,000,000* worth 

 |of vegetable tanning materials. 



Although there would seem to be little excuse for such an un- 

 >nomic condition, a study of the situation reveals certain obstacles 

 [in the way of making use of this sumac for the purposes to which 

 it is adapted. It is hoped, however, that these difficulties may be 

 overcome by the manufacturers and gatherers if they have a fuller 

 1 realization of the possibilities of native sumac. The domestic 



[sumac industry is well worth organization ard development as a 



__ . _ 



1 Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States, 1916, U. S. Department of 

 >mmerce. 



3436 20 



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