66 FOREST PRODUCTS 



minds of tanners and the trade that it produced the best class of leather 

 but tests in recent years show that the oak bark inherently gives no 

 superior quaUty to the leather apart from appearance. Government tests 

 show that harness leather made of hemlock is largely superior to oak. 



In igoo hemlock led in the production of bark, with 1,170,131 cords, 

 or 72 per cent of the total amount of bark produced in this country, and, 

 in 1909, it still led, producing 698,335 cords, or 65 per cent of the total 

 production of bark in the United States. 



The average price of hemlock bark per cord of 2240 Ib.^ in the United 

 States has risen from $6.28 in 1900 to $9.21 in 1909. Since the later 

 year, however, the price has dropped off until the cutting of hemlock 

 bark was almost abandoned except in the more accessible districts. On 

 a large contract of 250,000 tons in West Virginia $8.00 per ton was paid 

 in 191 2 for hemlock bark delivered at the tannery. With the outbreak 

 of the European War, however, the price rose rapidly. It is said that 

 in Wisconsin only about 20,000 cords had been cut in 191 5, whereas in 

 1916, over 100,000 cords were estimated to have been cut. In 191 7 

 prices of from $11.00 to $14.00 or more were paid per cord for hemlock 

 bark in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin. 



The reason for the small amount of bark produced in Wisconsin was 

 because of the small yield of leather per 100 lb. of hide in comparison 

 with Pennsylvania and Michigan bark. But it can be used advan- 

 tageously with foreign tarming materials, the yield of leather being 

 greatly increased by the blend so that it was profitable to use foreign 

 tanning materials and extracts such as quebracho, for example, which 

 cost more per unit of tannin than the Wisconsin bark did. 



The principal producing states were formerly Maine and Massachu- 

 setts, and still later New York and Pennsylvania. Important hemlock 

 regions like the Catskill Mountains of southern New York were largely 

 cut out for their bark alone. The principal present producing centers in 

 order of importance are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, 

 West Virginia, and Maine. These six states produce over 90 per cent of 

 the total hemlock bark production of the country. 



Harvesting Hemlock Bark. 



The proper season for harvesting bark is, of course, when the bark 

 will slip off most easily. The spring of the year when the sap is flowing 

 freely and the leaves are breaking out is the very best time for removing 



' In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the ton is generally considered to be 2000 lb.; 

 in the south it is generally 2240 lb. 



