The Canadian Horticulturist. 89 



forests, but, being so used, they are improved, and often, after some time, 



gain in value, even for agricultural crops. To find out cheap methods 



for covermg such places with a tree-growth is, therefore, a task not to be 



neglected. Trees should be planted on rocky hillsides, sandy barrens, along 



the brooks and watercourses, around the springs and by the roadside. It 



costs little to try the experiment, and in the results, restoring vegetation to 



sandy, waste places, affording shelter to cattle and preserving the present, 



if not restoring the lost water supply to the farm, in all this, not to speak 



of the increased attractiveness that the trees would lend, the planter will be 



amply rewarded. 



R. W. PHIPPS, 



Toron to . Clerk of Forestry for Ontario. 



THE FIBRE OF THE FIRST YEAR'S SHOOTS OF SUMACH 

 AS A MATERIAL FOR PAPER PULP. 



A LLOW me to direct attention to the Staghorn Sumach (Rhus 

 (sr\ typhina), and the Smooth Sumach (R. Glabra), as pulp-producing 

 shrubs for the manufacture of paper. The Sumach Tree or Shrub 

 approaches to the Herbaceous tribes in the glandular construction of its 

 rind and in its pith, and the fibre of its shoots is whiter and lighter than 

 poplar. As it is readily propagated from shoots or sprouts, it may be 

 cultivated with profit on rugged and rocky grounds. The first year's shoots 

 should be cut for pulp-making before they begin to wither, when the leaves 

 are full of sap, and especially before frost. They should be stripped of their 

 leaves, which after being wilted in the sun are spread upon shelves or racks 

 to dry in a shaded, but airy place for a month, and in damp weather longer, 

 before going to market. Sumach sells, after grinding, at from $40 to ^50 

 per ton. The rind should be scraped off clean from the shoots, immediately 

 after stripping them of their leaves, and dried in a similar manner, and the 

 shoots should be dried and stored away to be sold to the pulp miller. The 

 leaves and the rind of the Sumach contain a tanning and dyeing material 

 having the same properties as galls, its chief consumption being in cotton 

 dyeing. The roots of both of these varieties of Sumach have hitherto been 

 considered troublesome in sending up suckers, and the prevalence of common 

 or smooth Sumach was evidence that the occupant was a poor and thriftless 

 farmer. The velvety crimson berries of the smooth Sumach are also used in 

 dyeing. They are astringent and of an agreeable acid taste, for which reason 

 they are sometimes used as a substitute for lemon juice, for various purposes 

 in domestic economy and medicine, and to turn cider into vinegar. The 

 acid is the bi-malate of lime. Prof. Wm. B. Rogers, in Silliman's Journal, 

 vol. 27, p. 295, recommends a process for obtaining it perfectly pure. — A. K. 

 i)i Toronto Globe. 



