The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-12
HEMLocK BARK ron TANNERIEs.
How the BARK Feeling Industry Il
Conducted in the Pennsylvania
Woods.

From the Northwestern Lumberman.
In Northwestern Pennsylvania the bark
peeling OF the hemlocR trees begins early
ia May and continues through the sum
mer until the middle OF August and dur
ing that time thousands of trees are de-
stroyed and miles of rich woodland de-
Guded There is no more destructive pro-
cess TO the wooded sections OF the country
than that of bark peeling. and unless
something is done soon the fine forests of
hemlock in Jefferson. Clearheld. Elk. Nc
Kean, Warren, Forest, Cameron and Pot
ter counties VIII be destroyed from the
face of the earth. In recent years the DIS
covery and cultivation of canaigre in the
southwest have promised some abate-
ment of the injury to forests but 10 will
be a long time before the hcmlock will
cease to be the most profitable source
of fannie acid.
Several large tanneries have been erect
ed In the northern tiers of counties and
since 1872 the industry has been a large
and thriving one here Several of them
consume the hemlOck bark that grows on
"A thousand acres OF woodland every year.
When the first tanneries We're erected the
trees We're stripped Of their bark while
standing, and left 10 die and decay In
this condition. There may be seen miles
and miles of these skeleton trees to-day.
but such a wasteful process Is no longer
pursued. When the pine timber of Penn
sylvania became exhausted. a new value
was gone to the hemlock trees. since the
owner of the saw-mill viii not only sell
the lumber, but supply the tanneries with
bark. In some cases the tannerles erect
Their own saW-mills.
An early spring starts the sap in May
and loosens the bark so that 1t can be
peeled off easily. Then the men 80 into the
woods by the hundred The bark peelins
a. oil
tractor engages his men and makes an en-
gagement with the tannerles TO supply 20
many cords OF bark The contractor has
to cut roads through the woods that Will
admit of sleighs in winter and carts in
summer, and the products Of his men 3
labor must be piled close TO these roads.
His contract is a cast-iron one. and ne has
to live up to II to the very letter A cora
according to the tanneries, contains 900
pounds, and when measured In volume II
must be eight feet long, four feet high and
-four feet wide. Sometimes the contractor
agrees TO cut and cure the bark by weight,
and then much bark can be used that -
not the regulation length OF four feet.
1t takes about 1000 feet of logs to peel
a cord of bark, and on the average in the
hemlock forests of Northern Pennsylvania
IL takes one acre to produce ten cords OF
bark and 1900 feet Of logs. The contrae-
tor makes roads through the forests about
sixty feet apart, and the logs and bark
are piled between them. When the forest
runs up on the sides of the hills ana
mountains the felled trees have to be
trimmed and carted down to the roads IN
the valley, making the work doubly dim
cult. The peelers 90 into the woods I'm
gangs of four and cut down the trees, trim
off the limbs, peel the bark Oft and cur
them into the proper size logs. Each gang
is composed OF two log cutters, one spud-
der and one filter. The filter goes first
and selects his tree, and cuts a ring
around 1t through the bark close to the
and then N,
The bark Is then split down one side from
ring to ring, and the spudder comes along
and inserts his spud into the slit. With
a few deft strokes he peels off the whole
piece or bark as clean as q boy rings a
chestnut whistle, when the sap Is flow
ing In the spring of the year.
The choppers then follow, and with their
axes and saws they soon bring the tree to
the ground. The tree is trimmed when 1t
has fallen. The filter measures off the
bark on the giant tree, and the spudder
peels Ii off the same as before, and then
the logs are cut to the length desired.
In this way the gangs Of men will go
through the hemlock forests each set of
four peeling off from five to eight cords Of
bark a day and cutting the trees up into
logs. one such gang will peel 250 cords Of
bark In season and cut half a million
feet of logs. The sawmills are ready to
work as soon as the bark peeling begins
and one good mill will eat up the logs from
250 acres in one year. The hemlock um-
Der cut in northern Pennsylvania IN this
way amounts TO over $4,000, 600 feet in a
season. This means that over 10000 cords
of bark are peeled and 1900 acres of for
ests stripped in year.
The filters, spudders and wood chop
pers in the hemlock forests receive only
moderate wages, although the work is
probably the hardest connected with lum-
berng. The ruling prices paid to bark
peelers is SLIPS per day and board but
good spudders can secure 81. The jobber
who takes the contract receives about
LBS to S1.J0 a cord for gathering the bark
and from 40 to 70 cents a thousand for the
cut logs. This jobber then employs his
men, ana expects to make his wages in
getting good work out of them The
tanners own most of the woods and these
prices are merely paid to the men for
gathering the bark and cutting the logs
The bark peeers are a typical class Of
men, who make their wages in gatherine q
the hemlock bark in summer, and live bv,
cunning and doing odd jobs in winter.
The hemlock Industry has indirectly
helped farming in this region,
Tor It created home mar
son there are thousands who come to the
woods who buy their butter, eggs. cheese
fresh fruits and vegetables direct from
the surrounding farmers. Many farmers
who owned hemlock tracts sold them to
the tanneries for good prices. and others
merely sold the trees on the land and
had the pleasure of seeing their farms
cleaned of the trees. IT is true that the
stumps remained, but these were brunt
or rooted out by degrees. More than this
a few of the farmers, seeing the great in
roads made into the forests, cultivated
the young hemlock saplings and even
planted others. and in time there may be
a new industry for them In forest plant
ing. In the winter season the hemlock
bark has to be carted to the tanneries
and the local farmers find that they can
take their teams into the woods and make
good wages in a season of the year when
farm work is at a. standstill. Many a far
mer has made enough cash In this way
to pay off mortgages and buy new ma
chinery for his work.
The tanners have naturally made the
most profit Of the woods. This is no more
than any one could expect, as they in
vested the capital and did most of the
head work.
Church Going Made Easy.-"This must
be a pretty religious town. judging from
the number Of churches It has" said the
traveller. ut amt that, mister. The peo-
pie IS so durn lazy that there had to be
Ito -Faar H. I.H H.