I'.'l- BARK. 



shoots has been felled, iVeed Ironi tops and side-hranches, 

 and the parts to be barked set aside, the operation of peeliuj,' is 

 commenced. This is done dift'erently in different countries. In 

 the Odenwald, the Palatinate, Wiirttemberg, itc, the coppice- 

 shoots and all other wood fit to be peeled are cut into round 

 billets of the length customary in the district; the workman then 

 takes each billet and removes the bark, as far as possible, with- 

 out tearing it. In order to do this, he lays each billet on a stone 

 or log, beats it with the back of a small hatchet along a certain 

 line, so that the bark opens-out and separates from the wood 

 along this line. In case the shoots are to be used in their full 

 length, as stakes, for hurdle-wood, &c., they are supported at 

 one end on a trestle made of forked sticks. In either case, the 

 bark is stripped-off, either in meter-lengths or of the length of 

 the billets. Only when the shoots are smooth and the bark easily 

 removable can beating be dispensed with ; the workman then 

 severs the bark in a line along the piece of wood and piels the 

 latter with his hands and with the peeling-iron. 



In Franconia, felled wood is barked different!}', being cut into 

 lengths as billets, after being peeled. The shoots having been 

 topped are arranged horizontally on trestles, to facilitate the 

 peeling, and the bark is peeled with an ordinary knife in longi- 

 tudinal pieces, the full length of the shoots, without being first 

 beaten. These strips of bark are then rolled together into 

 bundles (>() centimeters (2 feet) long and 30 centimeters in 

 girth, and dried. 



In the lower Main-valley, the shoots are also peeled before 

 being cut into billets, the bark being removed in pieces of the 

 length of a billet, with the peeling-iron. All shoots over 8 

 centimeters (8 inches) thick are then sawn into billets, whilst 

 smaller pieces are cut into lengths with a hatchet and their bark 

 beaten with the back of the hatchet. The use of a saw, instead 

 of the hatchet, saves much bark. 



The instruments used in peeling bark vary greatly in dill'ertut 

 districts, Imt they are of an extremely simple character. The 

 most important instrument is the peeling-scalpel (tig. 26G), a 

 piece of wood, or bone, shaped like a chisel at one end, and 

 about 20 — 30 centimeters (H inches to 1 foot) long. [In France 

 this is made from the tibia of an ass or horse, with a sharp 



