THE MANUFACTURE OF SUMAC EXTRACT
Sumac is indigeneous to many sections of this country. That
which grows in the Eastern part of Virginia and the Carolinas
produces a larger percentage of tannin than the sumac of any
other section. In fact there is no sumac of any country finer
than this, save that which is imported from Sicily, and the Sicilian
sumac is only superior because of the superior methods of gathering,
drying, baling, etc. The sumac shipped from Palermo is carefully
picked, only the small twigs on which the leaves grow being
gathered, while in Caroline county much of the stem is broken
with the leaves and there is little or no tannin in the stems. The
Sicilian sumac is carefully cured in the shade, although called
sun-cured and is bright and strong, while in Caroline county the
green product is frequently dumped in piles in sheds, or allowed
to lie on the ground, until it has molded to a dark color, thus
destroying fifty per cent. of the tannin. A chemist from the
Agricultural Department (Mr. Veitch) visited Caroline in the
interest of the sumac industry and while in the county prepared
some sumac as nearly after the Sicilian method as possible, and
this Caroline sumac, when tested and compared with the Sicilian
product, proved superior. The Government has issued bulletins
on the cultivation, gathering and curing of sumac, which, if
followed, would probably make it unnecessary to import the raw
material from Europe.
Sumac was used in Virginia nearly a century since in the
tanning of light leathers and nearly one-half century ago the
extract was manufactured by the Knox Brothers in Fredericksburg.
This plant was moved to Milford, in Caroline county,
in 1913, and was operated for a time by Thomas Haigh. Mr.
Haigh sold the plant to William Pettus Miller, of Kentucky, who
now operates it. It is said to be the largest plant of its kind in
the United States. The sumac extract is used extensively in the
tanning of light leathers and as a mordant to fasten colors in
all textile fabrics.
