"Don't it injure the tree?"
"No more than it does you to peel the dead skin from your hands; only the live bark beneath must not be injured."
"What time of year do they peel it?"
"July and August."
"How do they get it off?"
"They first pound the tree to loosen the dead bark from the live, then make two up and down cuts the whole length of the body of the tree, then cross-cuts about three feet apart, and remove the bark with a wedge."
"That," said Walter, "is the way we peel hemlock bark in America; only we cut the trees down, and don't beat the bark."
"What else do they do to it?" asked Ned.
"They scorch it to close the grain, and warp it straight, then put on rocks to keep it so till it gets set (like that you saw in the hovel), when it is ready to sell."
As they went on, Walter said, "I shouldn't think a man in this country would ever have courage enough to commence farming."