6 BULLETIN 706, XT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
along old fence rows, and on cut-over and burned-over woodland. 
Reports have been received that in certain sections it grows thickly, 
unmixed with other growth, and in sufficient areas to permit cutting 
with a mowing machine. Several cases of clean stand have been 
reported, but they have not come directly to the attention of the 
Bureau of Chemistry. A report has been received from eastern 
Virginia of a tract of from 10 to 15 acres of burned-over and cut-over 
land from which 5 tons of dwarf sumac (leaves, leaf stems, and cur- 
rent year's stalk) were gathered. An estimate by the bureau, based 
on white sumac gathered from a plot 20 by 30 feet, gave a calculated 
yield per acre of 4,864 pounds (green weight). This would make 
about 1,600 pounds of cured sumac. 
QUANTITY A MAN CAN GATHER IN ONE DAY. 
Many factors may influence the quantity a man can gather. Some 
of these are the experience and alacrity of the gatherer, availability 
or lack of teams for hauling, growth of sumac — whether dense or 
scattering — species of sumac collected, and whether leaves, leaf stems, 
and stalks, or only leaves and leaf stems are gathered. The sumac 
collected by one man in one day may weigh from 150 to 600 pounds 
when dried, but averages between 200 and 300 pounds. From experi- 
ments conducted by the bureau, in which the sumac was collected 
by an experienced gatherer, it has been estimated that the following 
amounts of sumac (leaves, leaf stems, and stalk combined) can be 
gathered in one eight-hour day by an energetic man, provided the 
stand is good, so that little time is lost in going from one patch to 
another : 
Dwarf, 728 pounds green ; loss of water in curing, 54 per cent ; cured sumac, 
335 pounds. 1 
White, 1,744 pounds green ; loss of water in curing, 67 per cent ; cured sumac, 
576 pounds. 
Staghorn, 952 pounds green ; loss of water in curing, 58 per cent ; cured sumac, 
400 pounds. 
Where the stand is scattering or the gatherer is slow, the quantity 
gathered will be less, but in no case should an able-bodied man be 
satisfied with less than 200 pounds of cured sumac (leaves and stalks) 
from his day's work. 
In those sections where black, or dwarf, sumac grows plentifully, 
exceptionally high wages can be earned, particularly by women, 
children, and the older men, by gathering sumac. Spare time during 
July and August, which usually is a comparatively inactive period 
on the farm in the sumac-growing sections, can be profitably em- 
ployed in this way. By gathering and carefully curing sumac, at $1 
1 The dwarf sumac was more scattered than the other two varieties. This may account 
for the comparatively low figures for this species. 
