Chestnut Oak Wood Extract—­Is manufactured in quantities, and easily finds purchasers.

Pine Bark Extract—­Is also consumed in goodly amounts.

Quebracho Wood Extract.—­The wood is shipped from Brazil to Hamburg and other ports, and the tannin extracted there.  Hamburg furnishes quantities of it.

Hemlock Extract—­Is used in Russia, and seems to have taken a hold on the shoe buyers’ fancies, as they now make imitations of it in color.  The hemlock that is consumed is imported from America.

As most leather is sold by weight in Europe, the leather manufacturers aim to obtain as good weight results as possible, and often, I am sorry to say, do so at the sacrifice of quality.  This is common to both upper and sole leather.  Sole leather is nine times out of ten given false weight by forcing entirely foreign substances into the leather, such as glucose, barium chloride, magnesium chloride, resins, etc.  Glucose and resin are also used for weighting upper leather.  Leather is also weighted with extracts by overtanning.  Leather buyers have become very wary of late and do not purchase large quantities before an analysis is made of a fair sample.

One more word before I close.  The governments and private individuals in Europe cultivate and raise trees for both lumber and bark purposes.  The forests are excellently cared for by efficient foresters, and the result is that the tanners obtain much cleaner and better bark, and of a very even quality.  Would it not be a good idea if some individual, who would certainly earn the everlasting gratefulness of the tanners, would look into this matter, and see that not only the lumber side of our forest cultivation is not neglected, but that the bark also is preserved and cared for?  Of course, we can obtain all the bark necessary at present and for some time to come, but the time will come when we shall certainly regret not having taken these steps, if the lumbermen and bark peelers go on devastating magnificent forests.  Below will be found a table of weight results.  Sole leather tanned with these materials gives for every 100 lb. green hide the following quantities of finished leather: 

lb. 
Oak bark                          48 to 54
"   extract                       55 to 56
Pine bark                         44 to 46
"   extract                       48 to 50
Willow                            45 to 46
Birch bark and oak extract        49 to 51
Quebracho wood and extract        48 to 49
Valonia                           52 to 56
Knoppern                          51 to 53
Myrabolams                        50
Knoppern, myrabolams and valonia  52 to 53
Hemlock                           55

Specification of tanning materials used in different countries: 

France. 
Oak bark (kirmess). 
Sumac. 
Chestnut wood extract. 
Quebracho " "
Some gambier.

Italy. 
Oak bark. 
Pine "
Sumac. 
Valonia.