THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September 2, 1889. 
THE EOONOMIC USE OF BARKS. 
How few persons ever give a thought to the sources 
of supply and the various uses of the different vege- 
table substances which enter into commerce, or are 
utilised in different forms. Of the three kingdoms of 
Nature, the products of the vegetable kingdom are 
certainly the most important, inasmuch as man may 
be fed, clothed, sheltered, and kept in health by the 
materials it supplies him with. And what a wide range 
of useful products is furnished to commerce by every 
part of plants and trees — the roots, the steins, and 
stalks, barks, leaves, saps and other exudations; flowers, 
fruit, and seeds, all comprise extensive lists, the de- 
scriptions and details of which would be interesting 
and instructive. Let us consider but one of these — 
the different barks. How important are these, and 
what employment their collection and distribution afford, 
and how manifold are their economic uses! For general 
considerations they may be conveniently grouped into 
three classes: — 1, Those employed for their fibrous na- 
ture; 2, those used for colouring and tanning purposes; 
and, 3, those having medicinal uses. I shall confine 
myself here to the first class; but it may be well to 
state at the outset, what is the declared value of those 
we import, which are considered of sufficient importance 
to be enumerated in the Board of Trade returns. 
The value of our imports last year were : 
Cinchona barks £661,682 
Tanning barks 147,107 
Extracts for tanning and dyeing 394,774 
Cork 718,111 
Cinnamon 44,061 
£1,965,835 
To these we may add by estimate: — 
Oak bark, produced at home £1,200,000 
Larch bark „ „ 200,000 
£1,400,000 
£3,365,835 
This, be it remembered, is exclusive of many minor 
barks, and only comprises the British trade, irrespec- 
tive of the commerce carried on in other countries. 
It is impossible withiu reasonable limits to give more 
than a general brief glance at some of the uses of 
barks, by different peoples — for different economical 
and manufacturing purposes. 
The inner bark of the Lime, Ash, Elm, and Maple' 
as formerly used for writing on, wnence our word 
library, from the Latin — liber, a book. The strips of 
bark were rolled up to make them more portable and 
termed "volumen," a name afterwards retained for 
rolls of parchment and paper. It is doubtful whether 
the leaves of Palms and other trees were not used 
even before the fine layers of bark, for the Roman 
oracles were impressed on leaves. 
The bark of the grey Birch, as well as that of the 
white Birch, is much used in North America in the 
manufacture of canoes. These are used by the In- 
dians in navigating the rivers and shallow streams! 
They are long, narrow, light, and fragile in appearance, 
but when guided by a skilful hand, are capable of 
being propelled with great rapidity. Birch bark has 
been used to fumigate rooms. 
The inner bark of the white Birch was formerly 
used for writing tablets before the invention of paper. 
With the outer thick coarse layers, houses in Russia. 
Poland, an I other northern countries are often covered, 
instead of with slates or tiles. 
The Kamschatdales chop up the bark with the eggs 
of the sturgeon, and use it as their ordinary food. 
An empyreumatic oil is obtained from Birch bark, 
which gives the pei uliar odour to Russian leather. 
Allusions to the use of the inner bark of the Hima- 
layan Birch (Betula Bhojpattra) for writing on are 
met with in Indian works 2000 years old. The early 
Aryans, in their settlements in the Punjab and along 
the foot of the Himalayas, must have found this ma- 
terial ready at hand, and employed it for various 
purposes of domestic economy, as well as for writing. 
At present its use is limited to the lining of 
foots and shoes, and to writing amulets on, which a 
enclosed in gold, silver, or copper beads, and borne on 
the person as charms against evil influences. For this 
purpose the bark is held in high esteem, on account 
of its lasting quality, for thoui<h thin and fragile to 
look at, it lasts for centuries without decay. In one 
instance a piece of Ohurja bark about 2000 years old 
was found in the sanctuary of a Buddhist tope. 
Of the bark of the Paper Birch (Betula papyracea) 
canoes are constructed, and it is used in the manufacture 
of various utensils for domestic use, such as drinking 
cups, dishes, baskets, and chair bottoms. Touchwood 
of the best quality is made of it, and the Christian 
Indian tribes of North America use the bark for paper 
on which to engrave their syllabic literature, as well 
as for letter writing. 
The bark of the White Spruce (Picea alba), being 
skilfully removed in one piece by the Indians, receives 
the canoe shape by being skewered together, and 
stiffened by having a few Willows inserted. It is 
serviceable for a short period only, heat and cold being 
alike destructive to this species of craft, by ren- 
dering the bark dangerously brittle. Pieces of the bark 
are used for covering houses, aud also by the natives 
for roofing temporary sheds or cabins. 
The bark of the Lime (Tilia europaea) when steeped 
in water soon separates into thin layers, which are 
employed for making a coarse kind of rope, for a 
matted shoe, much worn by the Russian peasantry, 
and also for making the bast mats which are so largely 
imported from Russia, and which are so exten- 
sively used in this country for packing furniture, as 
well as for gardening purposes, &c. For every pair 
of shoes the barks of three or four Linden trees are 
requisite; and though these grow faster as they are 
cut, yet the consumption is enormous, and the des- 
truction of the trees is in consequence immense. One 
hundred million of these shoes are stated to be made 
yearly. When the bark is whole it is employed for 
roofing, for covering the river boats, as well as for 
making sledges, carts, boxes, &e. When the bark is 
in several pieces it is used for matting and bags. That 
of the young Lime tree is used for making cordage, 
sandals for the peasants, and all sorts of baskets, &c. 
More than 1,000,000 trees, it is said, are destroyed 
annually for the bark manufacture at Viatka alone, 
and the value of the articles produced exceeds £500,000. 
Substantial and useful rope is also made of the in- 
ner bark of the Lime tree. The best matting or bast is 
imported into England. After the Lime the Elm, 
among European trees, produces a fibrous hark, most 
tenacious and durable, which is employed to make 
mats and coarse ropes. The bark contains in its cells 
an abundant mucilaginous principle (20 per cent), and 
about 6 per cent, of tanning, but it is not used for 
this purpose. 
From the boiled inner bark of the Russian Larch, 
mixed with Rye-flour and afterwards buried a few 
hours in the snow, the hardy Siberian hunters prepare 
a sort of leaven, with which they supply the place 
of common leaven when the latter is destroyed, as 
it is frequently by the intense cold. The bark is 
nearly as valuable for tanning as Oak bark. From the 
inner bark the Russians manufacture fine white gloves, 
not inferior to those made of the most delicate chamois, 
while they are stronger, cooler, and more pleasant for 
wearing in the summer. 
In North America from the fibrous bark of the 
Willow a speoies of twine is made, which the natives 
manufacture into nets of great durability. The dead 
inner bark is mixed with oatmeal in Norway. In Russia 
and Sweden the bark is used for shoes, buckets, 
boxes, and for roofing. It is also employed as a tan- 
ning substance, and when separated into fibre is woven 
into cloth. 
The bark of the Sinaia or Locust tree, Hymenea 
Courbaril, of British Guiana, is used in the construc- 
tion of canoes— or wood-skins, as they are termed. 
The bark of the Purple Heart, Copaifera pubiflora, 
is also used for this purpose. Some of these canoes 
are large enough to carry from twenty to twenty-five 
persons with perfect 6afety in smooth water. 
The bark of several species of Bauhinia have economie 
uses in India; that of B. acuminata is considered a 
