surrounded them. The most frequently mentioned brown-coloring barks 

 were tannin-rich alder, hemlock, and maple. Use of these probably de- 

 pended to a great extent on availability. A New York State dyer said 

 that alder bark was not much used in America, except in the small domestic 

 dve; yet other dyers of the period mentioned it frequently enough to 

 suggest that it was generally known, either as a dye or as a substitute for 

 sumach or galls in black dyeing. 



William Partridge, the New York dye merchant, described the gathering 

 and use of alder bark in this way: 



. . . The sticks are cut in the month of April, or the beginning of the month of May, 

 when the sap runs; the bark is stripped off as soon as cut, (which is easily done by chil- 

 dren) and is dried in the shade, when it is fit for use. The poles make good bean sticks, 

 or excellent firewood. This bark, when the colouring matter is strong, produces a brownish 

 drab with aluna, and a light forest drab when only a small quantity is used. When 

 employed in the black dye, it increases the body of the colour even more than sumach, 

 and is equally durable (1847, pp. 38-39). 



According to various other dyers it imparted brownish and fawn colors, 

 yellow oranges or drabs to silk, wool, or cotton, depending on dyeing 

 procedures and mordants used. 



Dye potentials of the native alder tree were never fully exploited in 

 America. Alder bark (from Alnus glutinosa) was much used by European 

 dyers because of its high tannin content. According to William Tucker, 

 however, the dyeing quality of the alder grown in this country was equal 

 to the imported variety. It was noted by Bancroft after his late 18th- 

 century journey to America and was also mentioned by Asa Ellis in 1 798 

 as a good and durable dye, "useful in almost all dark colors." Although 

 professional dyers working in the second half of the 19th century may 

 have found other brown dyes more valuable, it was still mentioned by 

 O'Neill as late as 1869. Probably its principal users later in the century 

 were home dyers. 



*HEMLOCK ( Tsuga canadensis) 



Also called spruce pine or hemlock spruce; cigue (Fr.); die Hemlocktanne (Ger.) 



Hemlock bark provided settlers of Eastern United States with another 

 good source of reddish-brown dye. Peter Kalm and Joseph Bancroft both 

 applied the scientific name Pinus abies to this tree, known as Tsuga cana- 

 densis to today's botanists. This dye was applied to both wool and cotton 

 and employed in tanning leather in Nova Scotia. When combined with 

 an alum mordant it resulted in a durable bright reddish-brown hue on 

 wool and an impermanent nankeen (brownish yellow) on cotton. Cop- 

 peras mordant produced dark drab and slate colors. 



RED MAPLE {Acer mbriim) 



Also known as swamp or scarlet flowering maple 



O'Neill dismissed red maple in his Dictionary of dyeing and calico printing 

 as not having been mentioned in recent works on dyeing, and he stated 



42 



