THE CULTURE AND TRADE OF SUMACH. 325 



are the only parts made use of. After being separated from the twigs by 

 threshing or by treading oil with oxen or horses, the leaves are then 

 ground to the state of fineness in which we see it in commerce, being 

 passed first through sieves or bolting cloths, and afterwards put into 

 bags of 160lbs. each. 



The proper season for planting the roots or plants is in November, 

 December, and January. When the season is rainy the plants take root 

 better. The root or stump is cut off from four to six inches above ground. 

 The scions or sprouts spring up four to six out of each root ; and when 

 at maturity, which in Sicily is July or August, they are all cut off at the 

 stump and laid in small handfuls (not spread out much, as the sun will 

 turn the leaves yellow) to dry — say for a day or two — great care being 

 taken that no rain falls on them. 



Ihe leaves are ground in mills mostly by horse power, but water or 

 steam power would be much cheaper and better. The perpendicular 

 running stones weigh nearly 3,000 pounds ; they run double or single 

 round an upright shaft. The nether or foundation stone is heavier and 

 one-third larger in diameter than the running stones. The grinding sur- 

 face of these latter is slightly rough, being occasionally touched with the 

 pick or cold chisel. Hard granite stones answer ; in Sicily they use a 

 volcanic stone which is as hard as marble. There follows round the run- 

 ning stones a little piece of wood that keeps the leaves always under the 

 stones. When ground fine enough it is sifted or bolted in a large air- 

 tight room, with a door to enter and fill the bags. In Sicily the article 

 is more or less adulterated with spurious stuff, such as other kinds of 

 leaves, and an article called brucca, which resembles the juniper bush of 

 North America, and has no value in itself. 



I believe the first year they do not cut off the sprouts. In the second 

 and following years a curious freak of nature produces a single plant a 

 foot or so distant from the original root, and this little sucker it is, which 

 they usually make use of to transplant. 



The soil of Sicily generally is a limestone formation or a reddish soil. 

 Sumach is cultivated in the valleys or level grounds, or on the sides of 

 the mountains ; it requires no rain for two months before harvesting it. 

 The soil is so fertile that the ground is not manured at all for sumach. 

 The superiority of Sicilian sumach over that of other countries arises ap- 

 parently from the mode of cultivation. All the leaves are the produc- 

 tion of the sprouts that spring up from the stump every year. Being 

 so young, the leaves are full of life when cut, and have not decayed like 

 those of old trees. This with a dry climate in the latter part of the 

 season, and the soil suiting the plant, gives it the high reputation it has 

 all over Europe and America. 



In some parts of Naples, and in Sardinia, as well as Sicily, a great 

 trade is carried on in sumach, and there are few arid hills in the latter 

 island where this small shrub is not cultivated. At Palermo, especially, 



