Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1880-11-03
The CnItiralion OF ihc Snmac.

Iut NuillNd tlNu W AiiN "NhtNAs
There are thousands Of peopl,
who wander through the autumn
wood picking the beautiful scarlet
and yellow leaves of the sumac bush
to decorate their rooms, without
knowing that there is any other
use for the plant. Yet the i'm
portation of the sumac into this
country this year will amount
to about 1000 tons, costing
about sl,1O0,O00. Yet the i'm
portstion of the sumac, dried and
ground, are largely used in taniDs
and dyeing, and in Sicily and other
parts of Italy the plant is carefully
cultivated and treated. In view
of the fact that the American SUI
mac contains from 6 10 5 per cent.
more tannic acid than the Italian,
and remembering that the plant
grows wild in profusion throughout
this country, it seems reasonable
to believed that it might be made a
very profitable crop. At the pres
ent time the amount OF native su-
mac brought into market does not
exceed about 5000 tons yearly.
and its market price is only $50
per ton, just half the price Of the
Italian product. This large differ
ence in the market value of the
foreign and the domestic article is
due TO the fact that the American
sumsc, as at present prepared, is
not suitable for making the finer
white feathers so much used for
gloves and fancy shoes, owing 20 its
giving a disgreeable yellow or
dirty color. The many attempts
that have been made to avoid this
difficulty by care in collecting and
the leaves have not result
ed in success, and it has long been
that this Objectionable
quality was inherent in the Ameri-
can plant; but Mr.. VIM. McMur-
trie, in a report to the United
States Commissioner Of Agricul-
ture, shows that this difficulty can
be surmounted and the American
product made even superior to the
foreign.
Mr.. McMurtrie made a number
Of tests to learn the relative
amounts Of tannic acid found in
the leaves at different periods Of
development, and while he found it
to be greatest in the leaves gather
ed in July, he found that those
gathered in full development in
June were even more than equal
to the best foreign leaves in this
respect. But further, he found
that the deleterious coloring mat
ter due to the presence Of quercit-
rim and quercetin) was not yet
developed, and that therefore the
American leaves gathered in June
were superior to the Italian for all
purposes. The Importance Of this
discovery may be seen by the fact
that the cultivation of the plant
may be carried on most proftably
in thi. country as soon as manu-
features and dealers recognize the
improvement thus obtained in the
domestic article, and by classifying
it according to its percentage Of
tannic acid and its relative freedom
from coloring matter, advance the
price Of that which is early picked
and carefully treated.
In Italy the sumac is planted in
shoots in the spring in rows, aud
is cultivated in the same way and
TO about the same extent as corn.
it gives a crop the second year af-
ter setting out, and regularly there
after. The sumac gathered in this
country is taken mostly from wild
plants growing on waste land, but
there is no reason why it should
not be utilized and cultivated on
land not valuable for other crops.