Canadian Forcsfrij Journal, September, 1917 



1285 



The Waste of Hemlock Bark in B. C. 



By J. H. Hamilton, 



Editor of "Industrial Progress," Vancouver. 



There is one subject which is 

 worthy of much closer attention than 

 has been devoted to it up to the 

 present, the utiUzation of hemlock 

 bark as a tanning material. 



In 1916 the cut of hemlock in 

 British Columbia amounted to one 

 hundred and one million feet board 

 measure. Taking fifteen hundred 

 feet board to provide one cord of 

 bark, this is equivalent to sixty-seven 

 thousand cords of hemlock bark. 

 The value of hemlock bark f.o.b. 

 shipping point in eastern Canada and 

 eastern States is about $14 to $16 

 per cord. Taking the conservative 

 value of British Columbia hemlock 

 bark at only $10.00 per cord, the 

 1916 cut represents a value of $670,- 

 000. 



B.C. hemlock bark should be worth 

 more than Eastern Canadian bark, 

 because it contains, on an average, 



16 per cent, tannin against only 10 

 per cent, in the eastern bark. 



The Hide Situation 



Turning to the raw hide question, 

 there are approximately 25,000 cattle 

 killed annually in British Columbia. 

 The hides are shipped out of the coun- 

 try to the Western and Middle States 

 and leather manufactured at those 

 points is shipped into Canada. Con- 

 sumers of shoe and harness leather 

 in British Columbia have always had 

 to import their sole and harness lea- 

 ther from foreign countries or bring 

 it from Eastern Canada. Added to 

 this, enquiries are coming to hand 

 frequently from the Orient and from 

 Pacific countries for sole leather. As 

 an instance of the insistant demand, 

 it may be stated that in September 

 1916, Japan purchased the entire 

 available stocks of sole leather in the 



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Panoramic View of the farm of the Trappist Fathers at Oka, Quebec, showing some of the 

 Lombardy Poplars bordering the highway. 



