AMERICAN SUMAC. 9 
Table 4. — Tannin content of samples of dwarf, white, and staghom sumac. 
Species. 
Tannin in leaves and leaf 
stems. - 
Tannin in stalks. 
Average. 
Maxi- 
mum. 
Mini- 
mum. 
Average. 
Maxi- 
mum. 
Mini- 
mum. 
Dwarf 
White 
Per cent. 
28.95 
25-41 
27.66 
Per cent. 
35.03 
28.08 
30.59 
Per cent. 
19.46 
21.35 
21.53 
Per cent. 
7.77 
6.84 
7.07 
Per cent. 
9.94 
7.30 
8.09 
Per cent. 
5.09 
6.19 
Staghorn 
6.45 
Dwarf sumac, it will be seen, contains somewhat more tannin than 
staghorn or white sumac. This bears out in a general way the state- 
ment of buyers in eastern Virginia, though this difference is of itself 
not great enough to justify the refusal of the white. The sumac 
samples analyzed were found to average 73.3 per cent leaves and 
leaf stems and 26.7 per cent stalks. The variation, however, was 
marked, extending, in the case of the leaves and leaf stems, from 
54 to 89 per cent, and, for the stalks, from 11 to 46 per cent. The 
large proportion of stalks indicated by the percentage last given 
should never be permitted. Gatherers must break the stalk close 
up to the lowest leaf stem, and must not gather the long stalk 
bare of leaves. If the stalks are broken close to the leaf stems, the 
sumac will usually meet the buyers' demands. Dealers and extract 
makers should insist that the sumac delivered shall not have more 
than 25 per cent of stalks. 
The portions of the plant usually considered of value for tanning 
and dyeing purposes are the leaves and. leaf stems, although, as 
shown in Table 4, the stalks contain from 5 to 10 per cent tannin, an 
amount entirely too large to discard after the trouble and expense 
of collecting and hauling to market has been incurred. This tannin 
should be recovered, as an extract could be made from the stalks 
and off-colored leaves that would be satisfactory for tanning and 
dyeing purposes when color is not the primary consideration. 
SUMAC EXTRACT. 
It has been the experience of sumac extract makers that sumac 
from Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and western Ken- 
tucky contains the most tannin and yields more extract than that 
from the States farther north. For that reason, they prefer to buy 
their sumac from those southern States. 
Formerly the users of domestic sumac bought the leaves or ground 
sumac, which is the sumac leaf ground to a coarse powder, and made 
their own liquors for tanning or dyeing from these materials. Ee- 
cently the grinding of sumac has decreased, and users have bought 
sumac extract instead. The price per pound of 42° domestic sumac 
