PRACTICAL CANA1GRE CULTIVATION. 



BY C. B. ALLAIRE. 



IN the September number of THE IRRIGATION AGE 

 appears an article on the cultivation of canaigre. 

 The author seems to have taken his text from 

 Consul Monaghan's report and to have drawn some 

 very queer conclusions therefrom. 



In the first place, Mr. Monaghan's report is taken 

 almost entirely from Bulletin No. 7, issued by the 

 Arizona University, and so far is correct, but his con- 

 clusions are very faulty and show entire ignorance of 

 the subject. 



Your contributor does equally well as to his quota- 

 tions, but bis conclusions will hardly stand the test 

 of hard business practice. 



As to the " world-wide demand, 1 ' any one who has 

 had experience in the introduction of a new article of 

 commerce probably knows that there is no such 

 thing as a " world-wide demand '' or a " long-felt 

 want." There may be a possibility of a large market 

 to be created, but it does not exist ready made. 



There is no doubt that canaigre is a valuable tan- 

 ning agent and that it is susceptible of domestication 

 as a farm crop, and there are already many who 

 would gladly engage in its cultivation if assured of a 

 market. How is that market to be created? This is 

 a far more serious question at present than the sup- 

 ply. The author of your article proposes that the 

 natural growth on government lands should not be 

 disturbed and he proposes and even insists that this 

 growth shall be preserved as forests are preserved 

 by congressional legislation. It would be just about 

 as wise to prohibit the use of the grass on the plains 

 tor the reason that some future generation may want 

 to feed a horse or two. It would be well to consider 

 before taking such action that a canaigre plant is not 

 a tree, and if there is ever to be found a use for it, 

 somebody has got to use it, and that the experimental 

 stage of the article comes before the era of consump- 

 tion. 



If your contributor had any real knowledge of his 

 subject he would know that there is annually rotting 

 in the ground of the public domain a thousand times 

 more canaigre than is now or ever has been consumed 

 for any and all purposes, in any one year. Canaigre 

 is indigenous to all elevated land between Central 

 Texas and the Pacific, and between Southern Utah 

 and Colorado and Central Mexico. It does not cover 

 the land entirely, but grows in mountain gulches, 

 sandy river beds and sandy hills and plains, on the 

 tops of mountains, or wherever a loose, sandy soil is 

 found. No one has ever made an earnest effort to 

 secure seed roots for experiment, who was willing to 

 pay for the labor of digging and for the freight, with- 

 out getting all he wanted. 



During the last year the writer has made ship- 

 ments for this purpose to California, Arizona, Colo- 

 rado, Kansas, Texas, Florida, Central America, Aus- 

 tralia, and the Hawaiian Islands. The plant can't be 

 eradicated by any ordinary means, as in digging 

 enough small roots are unavoidably left in the 

 ground to produce a new crop in a few years. 



The shipments of the dried roots that have hereto- 

 fore been made for export have been obtained from 

 points adjacent to railroads. The goods are now 

 selling at about $40 per ton dry for Hamburg or 

 Liverpool delivery. The foreigners will not pay 

 more, and at this price it is impossible to obtain sup- 



226 



plies very remote from transportation lines, while the 

 great bulk of the growth lies in such localities as 

 railroads avoid in building, and is therefore perfectly 

 safe for the use of future generations without any 

 legislative enactment. 



It is not true, though often asserted, that the sup- 

 ply of oak, hemlock, and other bark sources of tan- 

 nin are becoming scarce. In Mexico, Oregon, 

 Washington and Alaska enough bark is standing 

 to-day to supply the probable requirements of the 

 tanning industry for a hundred years, to say nothing 

 of the supplies in Canada and the lake region. The 

 adoption of canaigre, therefore, must be based on 

 other causes than the probable failure of the supply 

 of other materials. Canaigre differs from all other 

 tanning materials in the class of leather it makes, as 

 other materials or sources of tannin differ from each 

 other. It has enough good qualities that other ma- 

 terials do not possess to justify strong hopes for its 

 liberal use as an agent in the manufacture of certain 

 grades of leather, but it will take years to bring these 

 points to the notice of tanners and to induce them to 

 use it liberally, or to such an extent as will make it 

 an industry of importance. 



While it is true that considerable gambier, cutch 

 and terra japonica are imported, it is not because 

 they are cheaper than oak or hemlock barks, for they 

 are not; a pound of gambier tannin costs about 13c., 

 while a pound of the bark tannin costs less than 6c., 

 but it is because gambier gives certain desirable re- 

 sults that are not obtainable from the barks. 



Canaigre makes an excellent substitute for gam- 

 bier, having all the desirable qualities that gambier 

 has and others that gambier does not supply, and it 

 is a substitute for gambier and as a modifier of the 

 bark tannages that will justify a liberal demand for 

 canaigre when its merits are more fully understood. 



As a crop on irrigated lands canaigre has advan- 

 tages that make it very valuable in the economy of 

 agriculture, not so much on account of any enormous 

 profits that it will yield, as from the fact that with a lim- 

 ited water and labor supply the tillable acreage can be 

 nearly doubled. It makes its growth in New Mexico 

 during the fall and winter months. It should be 

 planted early in the fall and winter months, and wa- 

 tered until the following March probably six inches 

 of water will make a full crop, though we are not 

 aware that this point has been fully determined at 

 any rate, there is evidently more danger from too 

 much than from too little water. 



Weed seeds do not germinate in winter, and there- 

 fore only enough cultivation to keep the soil mellow 

 would be necessary. 



The harvesting can be done at any time during 

 the year, though the roots are doubtless richest in 

 tannin just before the new growth begins. The roots 

 can be selected and prepared of uniform size, so as 

 to be planted by horsepower, and the harvesting can 

 be done also by power. Manufacturers are prepar- 

 ing to meet the demand for this class of machines. 

 The crop is not subject to any serious insect pests so 

 far as known, and if it cannot, be conveniently har- 

 vested at the end of the first season's growth it can 

 be left in the ground for one or two years more and 

 will increase in weight and value faster than money 

 loaned at fifty per cent interest. 



