THE EASTERN HEMLOCK. 
Table 5. — Consumption of tanning materials: 1900, 1905-1909. 
[Compiled from census reports for these years.] 
13 
Year. 
Consumption of bark. 
Proportion of total. 
Average price per 
cord. 
Total. 
Hemlock. 
Hemlock. 
Oak. 
Hemlock. 
Oak. 
1900 
Cords. 
1,616,065 
1,104,045 
1,371,342 
1,214,401 
1,127,400 
1,078,910 
Cords. 
1. 170, 131 
799, 755 
931, 152 
815,840 
810, 231 
698, 365 
Per cent. 
72 
73 
68 
67 
72 
65 
Per cent. 
28 
27 
30 
31 
27 
30 
$6.28 
6.32 
8.49 
8.60 
8.89 
9.21 
$7. 12 
1905.. 
10.44 
1906 
10 87 
1907 
10 51 
1908 
10 80 
1909 
10 90 
Year. 
Consumption of 
Extract. 
Proportion of total. 
Average price per barrel. 
Total. 
Hemlock. 
Hem- 
lock. 
Oak. 
Chest- 
nut. 
Hem- 
lock. 
Oak. 
Chest- 
nut. 
1900 
Barrels. 
67,043 
292, 399 
658, 777 
729,599 
784, 202 
773. 635 
Barrels. 
12,812 
52, 430 
68,811 
80, 267 
81,617 
21, 725 
Per ct. 
19 
18 
10 
11 
10 
3 
Per ct. 
81 
64 
9 
8 
6 
10 
Per ct. 
$11. 78 
$10. 14 
1905 
17 
39 
38 
37 
48 
1906 
12.31 
12.06 
12.78 
12.72 
9.91 
10.38 
10.60 
9.52 
$9.13 
1907 
9.51 
9.72 
1909 
9.80 
This table shows that there has been a gradual but steady decline 
in the quantity and an increase in the value per cord of hemlock bark 
used directly by the tanneries. By far the largest part of the hem- 
lock bark and extract used is produced in the States of Pennsylvania, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and West Virginia, ranking in 
importance in the order named. 
Sales of hemlock bark, though nominally by the cord, are actually 
by the ton, and in most cases the cord must weigh 2,240 pounds. The 
bark is peeled in the spring and piled in the woods. The peelers are 
paid by the bulk cord — 8 by 4 by 4 feet. Trees as small as 8 inches 
in diameter breast-high are sometimes peeled, but the bark of small 
trees is thin and light, and rolls up when dry, so that a cord (by 
weight) may be a pile 12 feet instead of 8 feet long. Wisconsin bark 
is thinner and lighter than bark from Michigan, and tanners will not 
pay as much for it. Lumbermen commonly assume that a half cord 
of bark can be obtained for each 1,000 board feet of lumber. This is 
about right for trees 20 inches in diameter. Smaller trees yield more 
bark per 1,000 board feet and larger trees less. Economy in bark 
peeling is rapidly increasing, and trees are now peeled to much 
smaller diameters in the top than formerly (PI. II, fig. 1). 
The volume of bark obtainable from trees of different sizes is shown 
in Tables 18, 19, and 20, Appendix. 
