Mark Catesby, a mid- 18th century English naturalist, described the black- 

 oak tree as one whose wood was "of little use but to burn" (1771, vol. 1, 

 p. 19). This erroneous judgment was corrected later in the same century 

 by a fellow Englishman, Dr. Edward Bancroft, who returned from a journey 

 to America with quite a different opinion. He had learned that black-oak 

 bark yielded an excellent yellow dyestuff (he named it quercitron) that he 

 believed could become a cheap substitute for weld. In 1785 the British 

 Parliament thought highly enough of Bancroft's idea to award him the 

 exclusive right to use and apply it to dyeing and calico printing for several 

 years. 



Black-oak bark "... was first sent to England before the Revolution 

 from Wilmington, Delaware, where an export trade in the article was 

 established soon after the Peace by one of the discoverers of its valuable 

 dyeing properties" (Bishop, 1866, vol. 1, p. 461). 



Even before Bancroft published his discovery, American home dyers 

 probably used the bark of this locally grown tree for dyeing bright yellow 

 woolens, cottons, linens, and silks. Only after it was introduced to Europe, 

 however, did this indigenous American dyestuff take its place among the 

 important vegetable dyes. It remained in commercial use until the second 

 quarter of the 20th century. 



In his complete description of the preparation of quercitron bark, 

 Bancroft stated that the greatest amount of coloring matter is found in 

 the inner bark or cellular coat of the tree trunk. This and the cortical 

 sections were ground by millstones to a fine powder. Apparently this 

 method was not entirely satisfactory for in 1810, 1812, and 1822 patents 

 were issued to Americans who had developed improved methods of pre- 

 paring quercitron and its extract. Numerous other patents were issued 

 during the 19th century to inventors of bark crushers, grinders, packers, 

 etc., indicating continuous efforts to improve quercitron and other dye- 

 wood processing. 



Usually the bark was mordanted with alum and cream of tartar and 

 dyed according to the individual dyer's recipe. A wide range of proportions 

 of bark to wool were used — from 1 % pounds of bark per 20 pounds of wool 

 to 6 to 8 ounces of bark per 1 pound of wool. 



Bronson, in 1817, stated that the quercitron bark priced in New Ycrk 

 for export was valued at $45 to $60 per ton (p. 192). Apothecaries and 

 druggists in the York, Pennsylvania, area sold it at 12)^ cents per pound. 

 Quercitron contained much tannin and was used by tanners as well as 

 dyers, thus home dyers whose apothecaries could not supply them were 

 able to purchase quercitron from tanners for as little as 1)^ cents per pound. 

 Although quercitron was sold for a wide range of prices, it was still in- 

 expensive compared to other purchased dyes (Lynde, 1831, p. 8). 



33 



285-390 — 68 4 



