Gunnison news-champion., 1924-02-01

duct is very pleasing to the eye.
az Aadition TO the tanning Qualities
vi the cedar bark, l was Particularly
.-npie sed with the possibilities for
using the leached shreds for oma.
nieatal or useful weaving. The fiber
Is long and strong and the twisting
movement Of the hand shreding pro-
cess appears to Affect the cross sec
tion Of the bark but sliRhtly-the
fracture being lengthwise almost en-
tirely.
Oak RrasA (Qseress Nitisoeas!)
The material referred TO as oak
brush Is the common scrub oak which
covers thousands of acres Of the west
ern Colorado ranges 1t an elevation Of
5000 to 5000 feet, with apparently no
other mission than to retard progress.
which Il does in . most effective man
ner in the heavier stands.
In testing oak brush it was found
that the leaves as well rs the bark are
very rich in tannin At the time when
the shrub first leaves out in the spring
and for thirty days afterward. This
point is more strikingiy illustrated in
the leafage Of the younger shrubs
than in the older ones. Indeed, per-
haps there is q difference in the
species Of the half dozen or more
varieties Of scrub oak found on the
same ranges. No attempt was made
to run down the separate varieties.
The impression Of the high import
ance Of the leaves Of the younger
shrubs naturally leads to contempla-
tion Of a means of producing 4 fus-
tained yield Of the more valuable class
Of material. Il seems that it would
be entirely practicable TO clear a strip
Of oak brush land down to the roots
at the leaving out time in the spring.
Strip the larger sticks Of bark and
grind 1t with the LEAKAGE and smaller
material for use, and then, probably
with two year rotations, remove the
crop Of LEAKAGE and tender shoots at
the proper period.
II the original clearing was careful
ly done, the subsequent harvesting can
probably be done with a specially con-
structed moving machine. I am con-
fident that the powdered product from
the LEAKAGE would be equal to "Sum-
ach," the priced powder from the
leaves and peduncles Of the wild olive
Of Italy. France and Sicily.
The teaching of the leaves and
stems Of the oak brush was done while
the material was yet in the green
stage-or only partially dried. The
leaves and stems were placed in a
vat and boiled vigorously, and the
solution yielded was Of deep, golden
brown color, rich in tannic acid, and
more prompt in its action on rawhide
than any Of the other materials test
ed. The natural color produced is
a bluish-gray, well adapted to coloring
the lighter skins for ornamental leath-
cr. Sheep skins were tanned very
rapidly with the ooze, and the leather
was strong and durable.
Given the proper study by practical
tanners. I believe oak brush and
cedar bark would tan all the leather
used by large section Of the middle
west.
Douglas Fir Bark
(Pseud0tsuga taxif0lia)
That Douglas fr bark is an effici-
ent tanning agency was fully demon
strated by experiments at Montrose.
While the supply of bark ! had to
work with precluded the tanning Of
whole hides, number Of tests were
made which all showed positive re-
suits. The bark used principally was
the u inch inner layer, since l had
no machinery to grind the thick outer
layer, which is quite solid. The inner
layer referred to was cut in thin strips
while still in the green state, and
leached with hot water. The ooze
produced was deep, yet brilliant red,
and very rich in tannic acid.
The leachable ingredients from
Douglas fir bark seem peculiarly free
from gallic acid and other useless ele-