The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-28
CANAIGRE CULTURE.
This Western Weed Will Revolution
ize Leather Tanning.

In the California canaigre, hitherto
looked upon as little else than a beau
tiful weed, agriculturists may ind a
new field for production and manutac-
turers an exceptionally useful product.
When the Spaniards came to America
they found that the Indians OF the
southwest were skilled in the Oldest OF
all the practical arts, that OF leather
tanning. The Spanish historians of
Mexico mention that the inhabitants
of the country used the juice of a ma
tive plant in curing skins, and when
cattle were introduced that this same
plant was found useful in tanning their
hides Recognizing the plant as q rela-
tive of the European dock they called
it "canaigre," which is a combination
of two Spanish words, meaning sour
dock" Canaigre possesses the great
est store of tannin of any known plant,
and it is this that gives it a value
almost incalculable and will make it
world-famous.
Fourteen years ago a resident of
Jersey City, who was employed in rail-
way construction in Mexico, saw an
Indian tanning hide with the juice or
canaigre and, being curious to know
the properties of the root, sent some
specimens to a Boston chemist. The
report returned was that the roots con-
tanned pure tannin in a proportion of 40
per cent of their bulk. This was the
beginning of a series of experiments
conducted for seven years and costing
many thousands of dollars, but demon
strating beyond the possibility of a
doubt that a vegetable tanning agent
had been discovered which would reVo-
Iutionize the tanning Of leather.
Leather tanning, as is well known. is
slow, laborious and disagreeable pro-
cess. and has been subject to fewer
changes than any other industry. I'm
til within our own century the methods
employed had progressed but little be-
yond those used thousands of years
ago. Oak, hemlock, willow, birch and
many other barks and various nuts
were stepped in water and the solution
| thus made was used for the immersion
| of the hides. In the last so years many
! improvements in depilitating and hand
| ling hides have been made, but the
| time consumed in turning a hide into
fine leather was not materially short
| ened weeks and even months being
necessary for the process.
| The experiments with canaigre, con-
Quoted by the government and by pri-
vate individuals. show that the plant
was evidently designed by nature fOl
tanning purposes. All of the tanbarks
and nuts must be used with skill ana
care, as the hides left too long in the
tanning solution are burned and weak
ened. Cutting through an ordinary
piece Of leather, d fine, dark line l!
seen near each surface, showing tina
the distribution of the tanning fluid i
not uniform. SinguIarly enough, hide
tanned by canaigre absorb only a Ger
tain quantity of the fluid, and no mat
ter how long they are left in the val
will neither take more nor be iniure
in any way by being subjected to tn
influence of canaigre tanning.
Until within three years ago Their
was not a canaigre farm in the WOrlC
; and the first commercial crop was haT
vested in California last year upon
farm of q, eco acres, reclaimed from tn
desert for the purpose The expert
ments in Arizona had proven that tn
quantity of tannin in the roots Of tn
plant was largely increased by cultivs
ton, and that no crop could be grow
with less labor or would yield large
returns. The bulletins sent out by Ii
government declare that it costs $16.;
per acre to plant, irrigate. cultiVat
and harvest canaigre, while the return
are S65 to $40 per ton, and the yiel
from Il to 20 tons per acre on ne
E land
b Although nature succeeds in prop;
eating canaigre from the seed, ma
e has not yet learned her secret, and c
o the three canaigre farms in the soutl
e west, where the industry is in a StuT6
and promising infancy, cuttings fro
7 the roots are the sole means of prop
cation. These roots are dug in Il
o remote desert, the supply near raj
q ways having been marketed in Il
e past three years. Only that portion
s the plant nearest the stems will gro7
s and even after these cuttings ha-
o been dried and stored for two yea
# they retain their perfect virility. TIL
% are set three feet apart and six inch
-e below the surface, being planted
l. machinery in ridges, as sweet potato
IS are set. They are also dug with
t. potato digger, and their culture
1t easy, two irrigations annually bel
N all that is required.
ID After the cuttings are taken fro
t the upper part of the root, the low
lie portion is sliced by machinery to t
OF thickness of Saratoga potatoes
lie These thin slices are then spread UP
Id canvas and exposed to the sun for
hours, when they are ready to
n placed in bags and shipped to
y | consumer.
ks Of course the process of decay begi
lit in a hide the instant it is remov
of from the animal, and the object
is tanning fields is to arrest decay. I
as sooner the process is completed
We stronger and more perfect the leath
ty and for so years. scientists have sous
r. a chemical combination that wo
nd Immediately arrest such decay. WI
ad they failed in, nature accomplished
ng her desert store house. The culture
canaigre mas opened up great des
lis agriculture, established new ind
ed try and source of wealth for the