The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-12-09
The Cultivation OF tho snmac.

There are thousands Of people who wan.
der through the woods In autumn picking
the beautiful scarlet and yellow leaves OF
the sumac bush TO decorate their rooms,
without knowing that there Is any othei,
use for the plant. Yet the importation Of
the sumao into this country this year viii
amount to about II 900 tons, costing about
Fl. 100000. The leaves OF the sumac,
dried and ground, are largely used In tan.
ming and dyeing, and in Sicily and othe,
parts of Italy the plant is carefully Quilt.
waited and treated. In view of the fac,
that the American sumac contains from six
to eight per cent moro tannic acid than the
Italian. and remembering that the plan,
grows wild IN prOfusion throughout this
country, 1t seems reasonable to believe
that it might be made very profitable
crop. AT the present time the amount OF
native sumac brought into the 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 difference in the market value of the
foreign and domestic article is due to the
fact that the American sumac, as at present
prepared, Is not suitable for making the
finer white leathersso much used for gloves
and fancy shoes, owing to it's giving dis
agreeable yellow or dirty color. The
many attempts that have been made tc
avoid this difficulty by care in collecting
and grinding the leaves have not resulted
In success, and 1t has long been supposed
that this Objectionable quality was inher
ent In the American plant; but Mr.. VIM.
McMurtrie, in Il report to the United States
Commissioner OF Agriculture, shows tha,
this difficulty can be surnounted and the
American product made even superior to
the foreign. '' 't- .#a.a,
Mr. Mchurtrio made anutnber Of teststo
learn the relative amounts of tannic acid
found in the leaves at different periods OF
their development, ano while the arnoiin,
was found to be the greatest in the leave,
gathered In July, he found that those gath.
cred in full development In j une were even
then moro than equal to the best, foreign
leaves In this respect. But further, lie
found that the delGterIous coloring matter
(due to the presence of quercitrin and
qucrcetin) was not yet developed, antlthat
therefore the American leaves gathered ir
June were superior to tho Italian for all
purposes. The Importance of this discov.
cry may be seen by the fact that the cult
vation Of the plant may be carried OH most
profitably in this country as soon as manu-
facturers and dealers recognize the improve
ment thus obtained In the domestic article
and by classifying it according to Its per.
centagc of tannic acid and its relative free
dom from coloring; matter, advance the
price OF that which is early picked anl
carefully treated. r, ...,...., ,.
In Italy tho sumac Is planted in shoots IL
the spring In rows, and is cultivated In tht
==-''~ ".-J '.,>a w auouI llle eailo uAlunL u,
corn. 1t givcsa crop the second year afte
setting out, and regularly thereafter. Tn,
sumac gathered in this country is taken
mostly from wild plants growing on waste
land, but there is no reason why 1t should
not be utilized and cultivated on land no,
valuable for other crops.