MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
45S 
^boricultural. 
SUMAC CULTURE AND USES. 
We frequently receive inquiries concern¬ 
ing the culture, mode of harvesting and pre¬ 
paring for market of sumac. \t e aim to 
give the readers of the Rural New-Yorkkk 
all available information on the praticol 
topics which interest them, and hence copy 
the following interesting article, found in the 
Shoe and Leather Reporter, and written by 
a practical tanner, lie says : 
“No doubt the superiority of Sicily sumac 
lies in the mode of cultivating it; all the 
leaves are the production of the young 
sprouts that spring up from the stump every 
year. lu Sicily they plant the roots from 
two to three feet apart, in rows about three 
feet, so .that the plow or harrow can save 
the hand labor of the hoe. They hoe it two 
or three times before the rains finish in May, 
and gather it In July and August. 1 he leaves 
are the only part used. The soil is prepared 
as for potatoes, with furrows, in which 
during November, December and January 
are placed the young suckers, two and three 
feet apart. In August of the first yeai the 
leaves on the lower part of the branches are 
drawn oil with the thumbs and leaving a 
tube on the top. in October the whole head 
is taken off, or sometimes broken and left 
hanging by the bark till dry. The second 
year, in June, the branches are stripped of 
ripe loaves, and in August, as soon as the 
whole plant is matured, it is cut with a 
sickle down to six inches. It is then spread 
out and thoroughly dried on each side till 
cured. The June gathering is omitted when 
the plants are not strong. Two thousand 
pounds of ground sumac to an acre is con¬ 
sidered a good crop. It is necessary to allow 
for difference of climate. The planting would 
therefore be done in the Spring, which would 
be the equivalent season. The other opera¬ 
tions would also necessarily be modified 
somewhat as to season. After the root or 
stump is cut off, five or six sprouts spring 
out of each root, and when at maturity, 
which is in July or August, they arc cut off 
at the stumps. 
This plant is more highly impregnated 
with tannin and coloring principle than any 
other known vegetable product. These pro¬ 
perties increase and decrease in the plant as 
it approaches to or recedes from the tropics, 
but to what extent I am unable to say. The 
different kinds of oak bark of Virginia yield 
from four to eight, per cent, of tannin 
principally, wliile the sumac plant of that 
and the G-uIf States yields from thirty to 
thirty-five per cent, of tannin. The hemlock 
of the Northern States yields from ten to 
thirteen par cent, of tannin properties, while 
the uncultivated sumac plant grown in the 
same latitudes produces trom twenty to 
twenty-five per cent, of tannin properties. 
The hemlock south of the thirty-eighth par¬ 
allel is almost worthless for tannin purposes, 
as is the oak growth north of the forty-third 
parallel. 
I have traveled ^through most of the 
States and some of the Territories, and know 
from personal observation that the tannin 
sumac—that bearing the red blossom, or red 
bob—is produced in all these States and 
Territories. I have seen it used bv tanners 
in Minnesota and in some of the British 
Provinces, and have myself used it. iu equal 
parts with hemlock in the manufacture of 
calf-skins to a considerable extent north of 
the forty-third parallel. I found it imparted 
greater strength to my skins, more firmness 
and flexibility, giving to them a tint or color 
more acceptable to the trade than those 
tanned with hemlock only. 
With these observations it occured to 
me that the tannin and coloring properties 
of the sumac plant, which are nob exclusive¬ 
ly found in the leaf, might be extracted, 
thoroughly filtered of all vegetable or fibrous 
or extraneous matter, and be reduced to 
an imperishable liquid extract that would 
prove more acceptable to dyers, tanners of 
goat skins, and other light and fancy stocks, 
as it would obviate the objection or difficulty 
dyers and tanners experience in the use of 
the ground or pulverized sumac, not only 
from its liability to fermentation, but in 
staining or giving to the fabrics to be 
tanned or colored an uneven color, especially 
to russets, &c. 
Iu order to demonstrate the feasibility or 
correctness of my impressions. I collected 
here in the Saginaw Valley, in the mouths 
of July, August and September, several tons 
of the sumac, by breaking off the limbs and 
sprouts below where the leaves shoot out. 
These I dried and cured in the sun, and cut 
them fine by running them through a 
lift 
common hay-cutter. I then extracted the 
tannin and coloring properties through a 
process of my own device, and after 
thoroughly filtering and cleansing the liquors 
uutil they were as clear as wine, I concen¬ 
trated them to the required consistency. I 
had the extract analyzed by Prof. S. Dana 
Hayes, State Assayer of Massachusetts, who 
reported that the sample of sumac extract 
received contained 49 8-10 per cent of tan¬ 
ning principle. I then placed samples of the I 
(djlortqultunal 
ABOUT ASTERS. 
The little star-shaped flowers which adorn 
the road-sides, the hill slopes, and the hedge¬ 
rows in such profusion in the fall of the year, 
are, most of them, members of the Aster 
family. They arc exceedingly numerous, 
duke OB’ EDINBURGH ASTER. 
extract in the hands of several goat-snin 
tanners of Lynn, Mass., requesting them to 
thoroughly test it, that I might ascertain 
from men who had no interest in misleading 
me, whether it was preferable, for their use, 
to the ground sumac. After a careful test 
they all concurred, in the statement that the 
liquid extract for their use was much prefer¬ 
able to the ground or pulverized sumac, and 
should use it exclusively could they procure 
it at the prices I gave them. 1 also placed 
samples of the extract in the hands of 
two prominent dyeing houses of Lowell. 
Mass., to be tested as a ^coloring agent in 
the place of pulverized sumac. They gave 
the liquid extract a decided preference, 
assuring me they should use it to the exclu¬ 
sion of the pulverized sumac could they pro¬ 
cure it in sufficient quantities to answer 
tliei r wants. Last year concentrated extract 
of sumac was imported from Europe for the 
first time, and is being used to some con¬ 
siderable extent, and with great favor, by 
the dyers who have been able to procure it. 
My experience demonstrates the fact 
beyond question that a ton of dried sumac 
boughs will yield at least 700 pounds of 
extract that will show fifty per cent, of pure 
tannin, and the reputation awarded it from 
thu outset, and iu view of the immensity of 
the trade for which its uses are particularly 
valuable, warrants the belief that the 
demand for it will be practically unlimited. 
That the properties of the sumac may be 
greatly improved by cultivation iu all the 
States there is no question. Neither is there 
any doubt that its cultivation may be made 
abundantly profitable in any of the Northern 
or Eastern States as well as in the States of 
the South. The value and importance of this 
plant to tanners and dyers, and the rapidity 
with which it is coming into use,are not appre¬ 
ciated by those much interested iu its use. 
Its superiority over all the known crude 
vegetable tannin ageuts used in the manu¬ 
facture of leather, is indicated by its market 
value in this country and in Europe, as com¬ 
pared with all the other tanuin agents in 
use, as the following quotations exhibit: 
Hemlock bark in our Eastern markets is 
quoted from 815 to $16 per cord or ton ; 
oak bark, $18 to $20 per cord or ton ; 
quercitron, black-oak ground bark, from $30 
to $32 per ton. Mimosa bark, which is pro¬ 
cured in Australia and in South Africa, 
is quoted in the English markets at 840 per 
ton ; while the ground sumac is quoted in 
ail these markets as selling for from $70 to 
$180 per ton, os per quality or grade. By 
extracting the tannin from almost the entire 
uncultivated plant for concentration, nearly 
double the quantity of tannin can be ob¬ 
tained, to what the leaves taken from the 
same quantity of stalks of the cultivated 
plant would yield. The manufacture of the 
extract being less difficult and not so ex¬ 
pensive, will pay a much better profit than 
the grouud articles will insure to the manu¬ 
facturer. I can, therefore, see no reason 
why our farmers iu all the Slates, by club¬ 
bing together in districts where sumac 
is grown, and constructing small factories 
for the manufacture of the extract from the 
cultivated or uncultivated plant, may not 
realize a much handsomer profit than the 
same labor and expense employed in the 
production of any of the other vegetable 
elements of their soil would yield them. 
the genus comprising considerably over a 
hundred described species, fully two-thirds 
of which number are natives of North 
America ; the balance are scattered oyer the 
space of the globe, and are found at the Cape 
of Good Hope, New South Wales, Van Die¬ 
men’s Laud, Great Britain, and various other 
parts of Europe—in fact almost every coun¬ 
try lias it* representatives of the Aster 
group; they are mostly perennial plants, 
which remain at rest iu the ground during 
winter and are scarcely ever noticed until 
their numerous, star-shaped flowers make 
their appearance in the fall of the year, at 
which time and until the severe frosts of 
early winter cut them off they assist materi¬ 
ally in beautifying the landscape and giving 
to many a desolate spot a somewhat cheer¬ 
ful aspect. Mauy of the species of Asters 
are quite pretty and are considered worth 
cultivating in England, where, in the more 
temperate climate, they flower until mid¬ 
winter, on which account they arc called 
Christmas Daisies. These vary much in 
color, embracing every shade, from pure 
white to deep, rich purple, and some of the 
very small flowering kinds are delicately 
tipped with pink or purple. 
But perhaps the kind of Asters with which 
the readers of the Rural New-Yorker are 
most familiar are the garden varieties of 
Aster CMnemia . These, during the last few 
years, have become quite numerous, and 
have beeu very much improved. The writer 
enu remember when a double Aster was a 
great rarity, and when a majority of the 
seeds sown would produce nothing but flow 
ers having but one row of petals surround¬ 
ing a large, yellow, button-iike center, and 
the rivalry that existed among us brothers 
as to who should be the fortunate to produce 
the best and most double Aster in the little 
four-by-six gardens at home, and the pride 
with which outsiders were invited to behold 
a flower with a few extra petals or some¬ 
thing like a quilled center, and how carefully 
such flower was tied to a stake and guarded 
by another row of sticks, and the many ap¬ 
plications for the seed, are still quite fresh to 
the memory. 
How very different now are the magnifi¬ 
cent double-quilled forms we have only to 
turn over the pages of most any seed cata¬ 
logue to see, and most every teu-eent packet 
of seed will produce a majority of beautiful 
double flowers ! The English, French, Ger¬ 
man and Prussian florists have been most en¬ 
ergetic in bringing the Aster to its present 
state of perfection. Perhaps the worst fea¬ 
ture of the improvement is the confusion 
which is likely to arrive from the classifica¬ 
tion of these flowers, as no two seedsmen or 
raisers of these flowers classify them exactly 
alike. But perhaps it is sufficient that we 
have the Quilled, ihe Peony-flowered, Pyra¬ 
midal, Chrysanthemum-flowered, the Bou¬ 
quet, New Dwarf. Crown, Shakspeare, and 
Victoria Asters, all of which are very good, 
and probably embrace all the distinctive 
points of the Aster as now cultivated. But 
there are many more classes of these Asters, 
the peculiarities of which are more readily 
detected by the enthusiastic raiser than by 
the ordinary cultivator. 
Mr. Betteridok, an English gentleman, 
has devoted much time and care for several 
years past to the improvement of the Ger¬ 
man Globe, or Quilled, Aster, in which he 
haa attained extraordinary success. The 
illustration represents the Duke of Edin¬ 
burgh Aster, which is one of Mr. Bet- 
teridge’ s later improvements. Those who 
have in mind the outline of the old-fashioned 
Quilled Aster will readily notice the superb 
make-up of the new kinds, the chief peculiar¬ 
ities of which are a well-defined row of 
guard petals surrounding a raised pin-cush¬ 
ion-like center consisting of a mass of deli¬ 
cately-quilled petals which terminate in 
innumerable little stars on the surface of the 
flower. This particular variety—the Duke 
of Edinburgh—has a pure white raised cen¬ 
ter surrounded by a row of crimson guard- 
petals, and is exceedingly beautiful. 
The Shakspeare Aster is very dwarf, hav¬ 
ing small, beautifully-quilled flowers, in 
addition to which there is the true Lilliputian 
Aster. These, when in flower, are exquis¬ 
itely beautiful, forming close to the ground 
a miniature pyramidal bouquet of perfect 
double, daisy-like flowers, 
I think a judiciously-assorted collection of 
the annual Asters, if nicely grown and prop¬ 
erly arranged, are among the choicest of our 
floral treasures, and worthy of considerable 
effort to attain. Asters do best when grown 
quickly—that is they should not receive a 
check when once started. They may be 
raised from seeds sown in various ways ; 
perhaps the best is to sow the seeds in an 
old hot-bed frame about the fimt of April, 
where, if they are sown thinly, and proper 
attention paid to ventilation and watering, 
they will make sufficient growth to be ready 
to plant in the open bed early in May. The 
strong-growiDg kinds should be planted a 
foot apart each way in beds of rich, well- 
drained soil: the small-growing kinds may 
bo planted closer together. Good drainage 
is very important to this class of flowers, if 
} >erfeet success in their culture be aimed at. 
leavv, loamy soil, if well drained and en¬ 
riched, is admirable for Asters ; in such soil 
1 have known some magnificent flowers to 
have been produced. If seeds are saved, it 
should be done from the most perfect flow¬ 
ers : and if It is desirable that the varieties 
be kept distinct, they must be grown separ¬ 
ately, as the different varieties readily inter¬ 
mix when grown together. H. E. Chitty. 
Paterson, N. J. 
§tnndtrgintl 
JAPANESE vs. AMERICAN PERSIMMONS. 
9 Notice has been made that Gen. Capron 
lias sent to California seeds of the Japanese 
Persimmon. It may be there is in it some¬ 
thing more reliable than belongs to the na¬ 
tives of our own country, but we doubt it. 
The Persimmon in this country is as varied 
in its seedlings as is the apple, and it may be, 
and has been, improved and increased in 
early period of r ipening, sweetness and deli¬ 
cacy, so that no astriagency is found in it. 
The period of ripening is according to the 
climatic temperature, and the size and sweet¬ 
ness of the fruit is characteristic thereof. If 
an 3 r one doubts this point let them travel 
through Southern Illinois, Missouri, etc., and 
examine the wiidiings ; or, if they question 
tiie fact that improvements can be made 
upon its seedlings, let them write to Prof. J. 
P. Kirtland of Cleveland, O., who has given 
this subject many years of{ study and grown 
and fruited many trees of sweet and succu¬ 
lent fruit. 
One more word touching the Persimmon. 
There are, as in the Elm, Maple, etc., two 
sexes, and for production of the best fruit, 
one male plant to five or more of females, 
should be associated, either by planting in 
rows, every fifth Lree a male, or in groups, one 
male to ten of female. Frank Amon. 
-- 
VALUE OF ORCHARD FRUIT CULTURE. 
There are no definite statements giving 
the actual values of fruit products yet pub¬ 
lished. Michigan is the only State that has 
given an approximate estimate, and from her 
statement, with the barren records of the 
Agricultural Department, we have to make 
up an approximate estimate. Say of the 
N. K. Stines.SMJ.0WI.tlW> New Turk....*7.WJO,00lJ 
New Jersey..anoo.uou Delaware. LaOfi.Oou 
Maryland. l.ieO.lKJO Pennsylvania.o.uOU.OOO 
Ohio.C000.WO Indiana.. 3.00U.OWJ 
Illinois .4,t#XMXO Muihlgan.S.UOWXKJ 
Wisconsin. 200,0(0; to wa. .,LO.OOO 
Kansas. 30,0(0 Missouri. LaOO.OOU 
Virginia .!,2t)0.u00 North Carolina... 100,000 
South Curolioa. .. 20,000 Alabama . 25,000 
Kh'i ida . 26,000 Mississippi. 20.000 
Arkansas... 10,OtO Louisiana. 73.000 
Texas. 30,000 Kentucky. 00.000 
Nebraska. tO.UWJ Minnesota. 10,000 
Oregon. 250,000 California...... . 0,000,000 
Figuring this up at a loose estimate, with 
the best of knowledge we can gather, we 
have to-day nearly forty-seven millions dol¬ 
lars of value in the fruit crop, aside from that 
which is used by the orchard or farming 
fruit growers, and the amateur or private 
orchards of suburbanists, who never give 
auv record or acknowledgment of the num¬ 
ber of trees or bushels of fruit that they 
grow, consume, or give away. 
1 F. R. Elliott. 
