486 ]iai;k. 



smell. From the researches of llurti^', thin twigs (wood and 

 bark) of youn<( and old oaks in winter, as also unlignifiod spring 

 shoots, contain as much tannin as the fine bark of oak-coppice.* 



Section II. — PnoDUCTiox of Yoixd Oak-Uvkk. 



Tans prepared from the bark of young oak-trees form the best 

 possible tanning materials. Extensive forest tracts stocked 

 with oak-coppice are required for its production, and both in 

 quantity and quality far outvie the yield of older oak-trees. For 

 that reason, a separate account is given here of the production of 

 tan from j'oung oak-trees, as compared with that produced l>y 

 old oaks and other species of trees. By young oaks are meant 

 both seedling and coppice growth up to a limit of 25 years. 



Before considering the mode of harvesting oak-bark, it will be 

 useful to give a short account of the various conditions which 

 affect its quality. 



1. Coitdltioiis afcetiufi the Qiialitij of Bar!:. 

 (a) Species. — Oak coppice-woods in Germany are partly stocked 

 with the sessile oak and partly with the pedunculate species. In 

 the best localities for oak-bark, the Odenwald, the Bavarian 

 Palatinate, the Hundsriick, Taunus, the valleys of the Neckar, 

 and hills of the Middle and Upper Rhine- Valley, it is, with very 

 few exceptions, the sessile oak ; only in the low^er lands, near the 

 water-courses, does the pedunculate oak take its part in these 

 woods. In the North German plain (as in Britain), on the con- 

 trary, the pedunculate oak prevails ; also in the neighbourhood 

 of the Harz and Siegen, in Silesia and in most oak-bark coppices 

 in Austria. Each of these species yields the largest quantity and 

 best quality of bark in the locality that is best adapted for it. 

 In South and Central Germanv, the bark of the sessile oak is 

 preferred ; in this region also it is much the easier of the 

 two oaks to peel. The Turkey-oak is used here and there in 

 Austria for the production of bark, but on account of its forming, 

 at an early age, a deeply-cracked rititidanic, or dead bark, and 



* 14 cwt. of oak-l)ark, coiitiiiiniif^ 1 iwt. of tannin, arc recjnired to cDnvert into 

 leather 2 cwt. of fresh skins. 2 tons (.f spruce-bark will iirodiice the same cMVct. 

 Boppe, oj). cit. ]). 109. 



Bark of Qurrciis Ilr.v contains more tannin tlmn that of Jeciilnous oaks. 

 Boppe, op. cit, p. 107. 



