59 



Of course a great deal more was made in small quantities of which no 

 record was taken. 

 The exports of maple sugar as shewn by the Customs returns were : 



Professor Macoun states that sugar is made in the North- West from the 

 sap of the Birch and also from the Ash-leaved Mapla 



The inner bark of the Pinus contorta of British Columbia contains a 

 sugary substance which, although not manufactured in any way, is used 

 by the natives largely. They pull long strips of it off the trees and dry 

 them for future use, chewing it like tobacco. 



SUMACH. 



The Sumach, Rhus Typhina, is not a tree, but only a shrub, with wood 

 orange coloured, aromatic and brittle. It grows on dry, rocky and 

 gravelly knolls, and in barren spots where nothing else nourishes. 



The principal uses of Sumach are for colouring and tanning, the latter 

 more especially for light coloured leather; it is used also in dyeing -and 

 calico printing, as it yields with different mordants a great variety of 

 tints. The collection and preparation of the leaves has assumed large 

 proportions in Virginia and the middle States, especially since the close 

 of the civil war. So abundant is the Sumach that there is no need of its 

 cultivation. It is largely imported from Sicily, but there is no reason why 

 our own growth should not be used with the same results, the more so, 

 as the American Sumach contains fifteen to twenty per cent, more tannin 

 than Sicilian. 



The necessary buildings, machinery and appurtenances for preparing 

 annually 400 tons, would cost perhaps $10,000. The following directions 

 for gathering will be found to embrace all the essentials necessary : 

 Sumach should not be gathered before the leaf is properly matured, which 

 is generally about the middle of July, from which time it may be 

 gathered until the first frost. It may be wilted in the sun, but must be 

 cured under cover and not allowed to be burnt by the sun or to get wet 

 or to be placed in such large quantities as to heat in curing, either of 

 which destroys its strength and colour, and renders it worthless. It is 

 better to cure it upon an open floor, in order to let the air pass under it 

 It should be gathered four weeks before it is ready for market, as not 

 only the leaf must be perfectly dry, but the stem also. All the sap must 

 be dried out perfectly. Never deliver it in damp weather, as it naturally 

 draws the dampness of the atmosphere and cannot be repacked until tho- 

 roughly dried out. The leaves must be of the same bright green colour 

 when cured, as when taken from the bush must not be dark or smell 



