TANNING MATERIALS 79 



sumach, namely, Rhus typhina and Rhus glabra. The principal source 

 of these species is in Virginia and the southeastern states. Both grow 

 farther north, but the tannin content of the sumach from the north is so 

 much lower that it is not commercially profitable to harvest it. In the 

 south the leaves are collected in the fall just before they turn red as the 

 tannin content is dissipated from the leaves as they turn color in the fall. 

 The leaves are then dried and ground into a powder in which form they 

 are shipped to the tannery. The price on native sumach varies from 

 $.90 to $1.40 per hundred pounds in carload lots at the shipping point. 



Palmetto extract is secured from the root of the cabbage palmetto 

 (Sabal palmetto). These roots contain about 10 per cent of tannin. 

 It has not been developed to any large extent commercially, but it has 

 possibilities for the future. Large quantities of palmetto are found 

 along the shores of the southeastern states. 



Canaigre is the common name of the species of Rumex which con- 

 tains around 30 per cent of tannin. It occurs extensively in the south- 

 west, but the cost of producing and hauling it to market is so excessive 

 that it can not enter into competition with the other native grown or 



imported tanning materials. 





 QUEBRACHO 



There are several trees which go by the name " Quebracho " but the 

 real quebracho (Quebrachia lorentzii) is now regarded as the most impor- 

 tant source of tanning materials in the world, and, according to the figures 

 of importation for the year ending June 30th, 1914, furnished 87 per cent 

 of the total value of tanning agents brought to this country, amounting 

 in all to $3,864,000. In 1909 it supplied 38 per cent of all the tanning 

 extract used in the United States. 



The native habitat of quebracho is along the water courses and plains 

 of Central South America, embracing Southern Brazil, Southeastern 

 Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is included 

 within a district of about 300,000 square miles. Its present commercial 

 exploitation is limited to northern Argentina and the province of Chaco 

 in Paraguay where the work is carried on largely by German-Argentine 

 companies and one American firm. The quebracho industry dates from 

 about the year 1888 when exports were first made from Argentine on 

 a large scale. The first wood came to this country in 1897. 



The name is derived from the Portuguese meaning " axe breaker." 

 The wood is one of the hardest and heaviest known, the specific gravity 

 being about 1.30 to 1.40. A cubic foot of wood weighs from 75 to 78 Ib. 



