The Portland daily press., 1897-08-25
SLIPPERY BUSINESS.
oa'nering Bark from a Certain Kind o
Elm Tree Has Come to be Big Industry.

oa1nering Bark from Certain Kind
ih Tree Has Come to be a Big Industry.
from the Memphis Commercial Appeal. }
slippery elm bark is widely used in
.aeuioine today. Long ago, when doctors
'nought water when drank clear was GER
'"in death to q person with fever, slip
pery elm came to the rescue of suffering
thousands, and when it was put in water
1i1e patient was allowed to drink it, AS
ohe years went on and the doctors grew in
wisdom, new uses were found for slippery
elin bark. There are big factories in
which this bark is pulverized, and it is
prescribed by physicians and sold by the
druggists for various uses. Sometimes it
is lor poultice for some inf1amed and
irrltated place. Again, it may be used
When there is internal irritation to soothe
ana allay the suffering. Its uses are le.
sion, and for years the frugal people who
i've In the rural districts of the East have
mad lucrative employment in gathering
this bark,
In later years the Eastern supply has
grown SO short that the manufac turers
have had to cast about for new forests,
and have turned to the South for their
supply. Accordingly last spring Allen
Asher OF Memphis received an inquiry
from an Eastern house wanting from
100000 to zoe, 900 pounds of the bark. This
was last April. Mr.. Asher inserted an
advertisement in the papers inquiring
Where and in what quantities the bark
could be found here. There were hun
dreds of responses, and a thriving little
industry had been established. Mr.. Asher
tells the story Of the bark inthis man.
ner:
To get slippery elm bark in large
quantities is new industry In this sec
| ton of the country. Heretofore the East
ern manufacturers have been able to get
all they desired from nearby points. Six
or eight monts ago we had an inquiry
from large manufacturer who is en-
gagged In the business of manufacturing
pure powdered licoric root, tobacco flavor,
etc. He desired to know If we could get
any slippery elm bark in this section Of
the country and the probable COST and
quantity to be obtained and at the same
time stated that on account of its scarcity
with them the price had advanced two
cents pound.
/
" found there was any quantity of the
bark to be had in this section. In Mis-
sissippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Ala
bama, l found by advertising that this
bark was very plentiful, mostly on ridges
contiguous to rivers, creeks or bodies of
water, and I Immediately correspondent
with several hundred persons who had
answered my advertisement, telling them
wanted the bark in large quantities,
and endeavored to secure all this bark l
POSSIBLY could. The mill which wants it
desires to get from 100000 to zoe, 900
pounds annually. This, of course, is q
large quantity Of the bark, owing to the
shape In which it is desired and the fact
that when dry it is not nearly SO heavy
as when stripped from the tree. A great
many parties who wrote to me with a
view to getting it out, have, for one
cause or another, failed to do SO, while
there are numbers of others getting the
bark and shipping it regularly.
IF the people would pay particular at
market, it is SO easily gathered and re-
quires SO little work, that it would
be quite remunerative, especially as
it can be gathered from the time
the sap rises until the fall. 1t is not
necessary to cut down or kill the trees
1t is better to not cut down or kill them.
If enough bark is left the parts stripped
IL
time. All that the mill requires is that
the outside or rough part Of the bark be
taken of clean to the white part Of the
bark. Then, that the bark be thoroughly
dried, and while drying protected from
the weather. If it is left out in the
weather so the rain and dews fall on it,
it will mildew and become discolored.
When protected from the weather and
thoroughly dry 1t is almost perfectly
white. After the rough part of the bark
Is taken off it can be stripped from the
trees In any width, and in pieces from
three to twelve feet long and then
doubled over itself three to three and q
half feet long before drying SO that when
dry 1t can be made into nice shipping
bundles easy to handle in transit.
81 don't think the people realize show
much could be made in this manner by
men and children engaged in farming,
and it is really an extra duty, and can
be performed when the crops are laid by
or when the weather is too wet to plough
or do other field work, OF at any spare
time. The frugal Eastern people have
been gathering it for years to supply the
increasing demand of manufacturers and
eve pay 1-3 cents pound for the dry
bark. So far the most of our supply has
come from northern Alabama, Critten-
den county, Ark, and along the line of
the Illinois Central Railway as far down
as Grenada, Miss, but we could handle
many times what we now get, and would
be glad if greater numbers Of people
would become interested in this industry.
Many might find it more profitable than
cotton"