O BULLETIN 706, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
PREPARATION FOR TRANSPORTATION. 
Sumac received by the dealers from the farmers usually comes in 
bags, or is handled loose in wagonloads like hay, and in many in- 
stances may have been hauled as far as 20 miles. Many farmers pre- 
fer to deliver the sumac in wagonloads, as they claim that too much 
time is consumed by putting it up in bags. Since the sumac becomes 
very brittle when dried and the leaflets are easily broken from the 
leaf stems, much loss occurs in handling it loose, and the gatherer can 
make more by bagging his sumac, packing each bag as full as possible. 
These bags cost the dealers 8 to 9 cents each, but are usually furnished 
without cost to the gatherers. Some gatherers, after drying the 
sumac, flail off the leaves and pack them in bags for shipment. 
Seventy-five pounds should be packed into a 4-bushel bag. 
From the small dealers to the extract manufacturers the sumac is 
usually handled in bags or bales. The cost of baling is about 10 
cents per hundredweight. 
PRICES PAID GATHERERS AND DEALERS. 
During 1930 and 1931, at various points in Virginia gatherers were 
paid from 80 cents to $1.25 per 100 pounds for cured sumac. Extract 
manufacturers in turn paid dealers and collectors from $1.25 to $1.40 
per hundred, f . o. b. cars. Since then prices have been much lower. 
For the last three seasons, 1932 through 1934, gatherers in Virginia 
have received from about 40 to. 75 cents per 100 pounds. The price 
paid for sumac varies with localities and seasons. Gatherers should 
get current prices from local dealers and collectors in their vicinity. 
TANNIN CONTENT. 
The leaves and leaf stems together of the three most important 
American sumacs — dwarf, white, and staghorn — when air-dried 
contain approximately the same quanity of tannin — that is, from 20 
to 35 per cent. 1 The leaves of fragrant sumac are said to contain 13 
per cent tannin, those of American smoke-tree 21 per cent, and those 
of coral sumac 8 per cent. Usually the quantity of tannin appears 
to be somewhat greater later in the season than in June and early 
July. The leaves contain the highest percentage of tannin after 
they are fully grown and before they begin to turn yellow or red. 
Analyses made in the Leather and Paper Laboratory of the Bureau 
of Chemistry of various samples of sumac gathered in Virginia, West 
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania gave the results shown in 
Table 4. 
1 These figures apply more particularly to Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and 
Pennsylvania sumacs. 
