State

THE STATE A Weekly Survey of North Carolina EkUrrd >. **tt*r. Jan* 1. 19SS. M ifc. PortoSr* at RaUUh. Non* Carolina. end*r the Art of March J. 1879 Vol. 5. No. 44 _ April 2, 1938 Gallacking Up in the Mountains galax loaves, laurel tips. Incut ia sprays, etc., af¬ fords the mountaineers a steady income uliich they have enjoyed for years immemorial. A WEEK of early spring ha? come to the Blue Ridges, and thou¬ sand? of North Carolina high¬ landers have been out “gallacking.” Following the oldest and largest part- time employment of the mountains, they «го clambering up t lu? slopes, and reaching under overhanging ledges to gather the leathery, heartshaped ga- lax leaves, laurel tips, lucotia sprays and other greenery in such steady de¬ mand by florists and decorators. In late afternoons the traveler meets them on the roads on their way homo, in rare singles, romantic dou¬ bles, and in domestic groups, carrying bagsful of leaves which they will grade after supper. A Boon to Mountaineers Widely scattered, disorganized, and inconspicuous, yet simple anil effi¬ cient, the gallacking industry from time immemorial has been a boon to the hardy Appalachian. Crops may languish, mining ami lumbering fluc¬ tuate, but the forests yield crops which have never failed. Given good weath¬ er, father, mother and children can take their lunches and stout legs into the hills ami сото back with mer¬ chandise for which n steady market exists usually as close as the nearest roadside store. To thousands of fam¬ ilies who do subsistence farming, gal- lacking provides the chief, and some¬ times only, cash “crop.” A fast picker, in a prolific region, can pick up to 10,000 leave, in a day, and gnlax is now selling at around 35 cents |>er thousand, and laurel tips the same. Lucotia sprays, more difficult to find, currently bring *iti cents per thousand. In addition to this harvest of deco¬ rative greenery, the mountains yield these resourceful people roots, barks and “varbs" which are used in mak¬ ing tanning acids, dyes and medicines. One storekeeper estimated that in his community $50,000 was paid to coun¬ try folk for their part-time forest gleaning in one year and that this constituted over !>0 per cent of the total cash received in the neighbor¬ hood. Nothing Complicated No complicated economic system is involved in gallacking. After the day in the mountain, the picker must tie up the leaves or sprays in bundles of Gathering laurel sprays, which are used for wed¬ ding ropes or funeral wreaths. The “gallacker” cuts off only the tips of the shoots leaving the plant to replenish the woods. 27 pieces (two to allow for culls), and these must be graded according to the color, which in gnlax ranges from deepest green to bronze and red. The greenery is then delivered to the near¬ est depot, usually the country store* keeper, who pays promptly in cash or equivalent credit. The storekeeper, пн buying agent, delivers the stuff in bales to the broker, who either ships immediately to florists and decorators or puts the produce in cold storage. Some processing also is done in the mountain towns, with wreaths, laurel ropes and other decorative pieces man¬ ufactured and shipped, or leave? treat¬ ed chemically. At Christmas or other festive seasons the market is more ac¬ tive and prices are usually higher, but the market is fairly uniform. At Christmas, too, the demand is more varied, and the gallacker adds to his harvest beautiful balsam trees (a luxurious evergreen), holly, mistletoe and strange greens found only on the mountain tops which go to the house¬ holder who wants the unusual in deco- (Continued on page eighteen )