Manufacture of Dyestuffs.

An Industrial Encyclopedia of the Occupations of the American People, 1906Dyestuffs are of organic or inorganic origin; and, although the art of dyeing dealt originally with materials of the former order, later inventions have brought mineral and artificial dyes increasingly to the front. Notable among materials of the latter class are artificial indigo, anilin, alizarin and other coal tar colors. At the same time, the use of various vegetable colors and products still continues an important item in dyestuff manufacture. The average annual importations of important foreign woods is as follows: Of logwood, over 48,000 tons; of logwood extracts, etc., nearly 3,500,000 pounds; of cudbear, 61,000 pounds; of crude indigo, about 2,750,000 pounds; of indigo carmine, pastes and preparations, nearly 280,000 pounds; of madder, over 120,000 pounds. The manufacture of dyestuffs and ex-tracts in the United States is conducted at seventy-seven establishments in fifteen States, employing nearly 2,100 wage-earners, and producing an out-put valued at over $7,000,000. At seventy-two establishments making a specialty of this line a total of over 61,200,000 pounds of all kinds of product are produced, including artificial and natural dyes, mordants, iron liquor and red liquor. Nearly 52,000 tons of logwood are consumed annually, in addition to over 2,000,000 pounds of logwood extracts, 3,000 tons of fustic, nearly 800,000 pounds of catch, over 100,000 pounds of indigo, almost 5,000 tons of yellow oak bark, and over 3,000,000 pounds of coal-tar colors. For the manufacture of iron liquor, or pyrolignite of iron, obtained by treating iron scrap with pyroligneous acid, nearly 3,000 cords of wood are consumed. Varying quantities of other substances, such as nic wood, quassia, gambler, nutgalls, sumac, etc., are also used.