324 THE CULTURE AND TRADE OF SUMACH. 



ready money to the innkeeper of as much as could be spared from the 

 scantily-filled travelling purse ; the bond for further expenses which 

 might be incurred by the sick man, and which the merchant should 

 repay when he returned with the monies which he expected to receive 1 

 And do not all nations since call that merchant the Good Samaritan ? 

 Yes ! and the parable was spoken by Him who, with His divine hands, 

 handled the carpenter's tools, and in thus honouring the humblest 

 handicraft, left, us, as in all else, an example that we should follow His 

 steps. 



THE CULTURE AND TRADE OF SUMACH. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



Sumach is an article of great importance to the Sicilians, as well as to 

 ourselves and other countries, for dyeing and tanning purposes, for in 

 many years our imports exceed 19,000 tons This article and sulphur 

 are the main staples of Sicily. 



There are two species of sumach grown in Europe. 



1. The currier's sumach (Rhus coi'iaria, Linn.), so named by the an- 

 cients from the bark and all the parts of the plant, owing to their astrin- 

 gent character, serving to tan skins. Pliny (Book xxiv. cap. 11) speaks 

 of the employment of this shrub for tanning, and it is also mentioned by 

 Dioscorides. This species is found growing spontaneously in dry and 

 stony ground in the south of France, Spain, Italy, the Levant, and 

 Barbary. 



2. Fustic sumach (Rhus cotinus, Linn.). The leaves of this species are 

 employed in manufactures for the same purposes as the former. The 

 shrub is found growing on hillocks and arid soils in Switzerland, Italy, 

 and the southern departments of France. 



In Algeria R. pentaphylla, an indigenous species, is used for tanning 

 and dyeing ; and the powder of it was shown at the last International 

 Exhibition. In North America several indigenous species are also used. 

 The bark of the Virginia sumach, R. typhina, is powdered for tanning in 

 the Northern States, and R. glabra in the Middle States. 



Professor Arnaudor (Technologist, vol. iii., p. 287), in an article on 

 the Tanning Materials, &c. of Italy, has given some information on the 

 trade in sumach, to which may be added with advantage the following 

 further particulars. 



In Sicily they set the roots or small plants from two to three feet 

 apart, not always in regular rows. They hoe it two or three times before 

 the rains finish in May, and gather it in July and August. The leaves 



