Barking Tools
A dry, open and airy situation, convenient to the work, but without the wood, should be selected on which to harvest the bark, and rather than this should be done in a sheltered, humid spot, the bark should be carted to some distance off. The drying racks, or ranges, may be fully 2 ft. high, drooping somewhat to one side, and formed of forked sticks driven firmly in the ground, while stout rods are placed transversely upon these. It should also be so arranged as that not only may the rain be thrown off, but so that the ends of the bark may be facing the prevailing wind, thereby insuring a current of air through and beneath the mass. After being carted or carried to the drying-ground, the small bark is spread out loosely on the stage to a depth of about 6 in., and thatched or covered over with the larger pieces as a means of protection against rain. Each day’s bark should be cleared up, and put on the range the same evening, and oftener, if found necessary, during damp showery weather, keeping the white or fleshy part downwards and using the larger pieces as covers to run off the rain.
During favourable weather the bark will be ready for stacking in about a fortnight from the time it was placed on the stage, but should close damp weather intervene, it may be found necessary to turn the bark occasionally, thus adding to the length of time required for harvesting. It should, however, be remembered that the less turning the bark receives after being placed on the stage the better will the quality be. Well-seasoned bark has the fleshy side of a creamy colour, whereas such as has been exposed to the sun or rain is of a dull brown, and is wanting in tannin matter, and consequently of inferior value.
As soon as the bark is thoroughly dry and ready for stacking, which may readily be ascertained by its breaking freely across rather than bending or yielding to pressure, it should be secured in a shed, ricked, or delivered to the tanner.
In stacking bark the rick should not be made too wide—say about 9 ft.—but well hearted, so that the side pieces may have a good fall or declivity outwards to throw off the rain. The rick may be of any length, according to the quantity of bark on hand, and of a height proportionate to the width. The largest pieces of bark should be reserved for thatching the rick, the whole being covered over by a tarpaulin or waterproof cloth of some kind. In most cases the bark is chipped previously to being sold, but as this necessitates having a large shed at command, the system is not generally adopted. There are, however, several advantages accruing from this method, not the least of which is that the bark may be chopped up as it is removed from the drying-stands, thus saving the expense of stacking. Chopping the bark can also be done by the workmen during wet weather, and when not otherwise engaged.
In computing the quantity of bark before stripping, we have found the following data fairly reliable:—
1. A well-balanced tree with a good head will yield about 6 cwt. of bark for every ton of measurable timber, if branches down to an inch in diameter are peeled.
2. Hedgerow trees usually yield about a ton of bark to every three tons of timber.
3. Trees growing in close woodland are usually thin barked, the yield being about a ton of bark to every 4½ tons of timber.
4. Oak poles will average five tons of timber to a ton of bark.
Tall, clean stems, as are produced when the poles are grown thickly together, with small heads, give the smallest yield in proportion to the quantity of timber, and short stems with spreading heads the largest.
The cost of production is as follows:—
| £ | s. | d. | |
| Labour, peeling and harvesting | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Cartage to railway station, including loading | |||
| (this is the average from six districts) | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| Loss on four months’ delay in selling the timber, | |||
| which, but for the bark, would have been | |||
| felled in winter at 5 per cent. | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Customary terms of payment, less 2½ per cent. | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Superintendence, etc. | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| £2 | 6 | 0 |
It has been carefully estimated that there is a loss of fully 12 per cent. of wood, caused by felling the oak during the barking season. In other words, the proportion of sap wood to the whole tree is about 14 per cent., which, for the majority of purposes to which oak timber is applied, is rendered by the peeling of little or no value.
We may say, however, that 2 per cent. can be profitably utilized, which still leaves us with a considerable loss on the whole tree.
The average price of the best oak is 2s. per ft., 12 per cent. of which is as nearly as possible 3d. per ft., or £1 17s. 6d. per ton of bark to 150 ft. of wood.
This, with the £2 6s. per ton cost of production, brings the total to £4 3s. 6d., leaving a considerable balance on the wrong side at pre-war prices.