MARCH] THE NURSERY. 291 



or fifteen years old, for without this it will never be good. After 

 eight or ten years the bark will be fit to take off again ; but the second 

 peeling is of little use. At the third peeling it will be in perfection, 

 and continue so for upwards of one hundred and fifty years for the 

 best cork is taken from old trees. The time for stripping is in July, 

 or early in August, or when the second sap flows plentifully : the ope- 

 ration is performed by slitting it down on one side, raising the edges, 

 and then it will peel off readily. 



Having procured the acorns in good condition, they are to be 

 treated in every respect as directed for other kinds of oak, on page 

 282 j but if they are planted at once where intended to remain for 

 full growth, it will be much the best way ; in which case, particular 

 care must be taken to keep them free from weeds during their infant 

 state, and to protect them from the annoyance of cattle till grown 

 out of their reach. The sooner the acorns are planted after having 

 been procured the better, for when long kept in a dry state they lose 

 their vegetating power, like every other kind of oak. 



Curse them ! exclaims the peevish planter ; I shall never live to 

 cork a bottle with them. Have patience, good sir; you have no 

 objection to throw by a few dollars in an iron chest for posterity, 

 never to come in contact with the light of the sun during your exist- 

 ence, and which will always be depreciating in value as the circula- 

 tion of paper currency increases, and from several other circumstances, 

 a few of which, if laid out on planting cork-trees, would be rapidly 

 accumulating wealth for your children, and rendering a real service 

 to your country, besides, every day you walked out, you would have 

 the pleasure of beholding your little family of trees prospering in 

 health and beauty, humbling their boughs before you, and in their 

 silent language returning you grateful thanks for your fostering care, 

 and promising to reward your offspring for the friendly protection 

 which you afforded them in their minor days. 



TANNER'S SUMACH. 



The Rhus coriaria,) or elm-leaved sumach, is a plant which should 

 be introduced and cultivated, particularly in the southern States, 

 where it will prosper in great perfection. It grows naturally in 

 Italy, Spain, the south of France, the Levant, about Aleppo, Kama, 

 and near Algiers, in Africa. The branches are used, instead of oak- 

 bark, for tanning leather ; but the great and particular necessity of 

 its introduction into the United States is, that without it our tanners, 

 who are both numerous and industrious, cannot manufacture what is 

 called Turkey or Morocco leather in good perfection ; for it is with 

 this plant exclusively that that valuable article is tanned in the 

 eastern world ; and a substitute for it has not yet been discovered in 

 America. 



It has a strong woody stem, divided into many irregular branches, 

 and rises to the height of eight or ten feet or more ; the bark is hairy, 

 and of an herbaceous brown color when young. The leaves are com- 

 posed of seven or eight pair of leaflets, terminated by an odd one; 

 these leaflets are about two inches long, and half an inch wide in the 



