The Briar Crop, Sources and Status

[mso489]

The briar used to make pipes is mentioned now and then, and the process by which it is aged and selected has been described in articles. Is briar grown commercially, or only harvested commercially where it happens to grow, like a lot of timber harvesting? Is the crop abundant or scarce, increasing, steady, or in decline? Are there professional briar cutters who sell to wholesalers, or is it all one operation usually? I think of briar as coming from Greece, Algeria, and Italy. Are those correct, and are their other major sources? Anything on sourcing briar would be of interest. I don't hear much about it at the growing and harvesting end.

 

[cortezattic]

From the LePipe.it website:

Corsica was the earliest major producer of briar for pipes, and still produces some. Italian production is pretty much used by pipe makers within Italy, and little if any is exported. Greece produces and exports considerable quantities. Algeria was once the preeminent producer of briar, but when the French were ousted in the 1960s export of briar was prohibited, and the craftsmen who knew the business of selecting and cutting briar left, leaving behind no one capable of restarting the industry. Morocco replaced Algeria as the main supplier to the French pipe making industry, and I assume it still is. Albania has been rumored to have notable stocks of briar growing on its hills, but I am not aware of any being harvested and exported.

 

[mso489]

Thank you, Cortez. It sounds like harvesting is labor intensive and not compellingly profitable or Algeria and Albania would find a way to cut and export their supplies. I would think between the large Italian and French pipe industries and artisan carvers around the world, there would be some demand, but perhaps not. It think of the briar tobacco pipe market as small but thriving.

 

[mso489]

Anyone know if you have to excavate around the tree trunk to get to the viable briar? I think briar mostly grows in rocky uneven sloping ground, so it is rough work to cut it and haul it. That's why a promising chunk doesn't come cheap. Are animals used to haul? I don't think this can be done with vehicles mostly.

 

[mso489]

Here's a good piece by none less than Mark Tinsky. Mules are used in harvesting. The burl is just above the ground, but it sounds like some digging may be necessary.
Here's a link:
http://www.amsmoke.com/briar_folder/BriarStory.html

 

[warren]

http://www.theitalianpipe.com/make/briarharvest.htm
The above will show you how one guy does it.

 

[mso489]

warren, great pics. Vito and Maria do an amazing job, heavy work done by experts. Take a look at the link in Warren's post. You'll never feel the same about the briar in your pipes again. The answer to my question is, yes, the base of the tree definitely has to be excavated to get to the prime burl. That's essential to harvesting it.

 

[cshubhra]

Nice reading! Thanks for sharing!

 

[sablebrush52]

Briar is also harvested in France and Spain.
The only factory make that conducted its own harvesting and milling operations, of which I am aware, was Barling. All of the other makers bought their wood from dealers.

 

[cortezattic]

I was dismayed to learn that no one in Algeria remains to pass on the knowledge and skills to harvest useable briar. The upside is that the briar there is growing older by the year, and more abundant. Maybe in the future, if, as you said, the price is right, enterprising foreigners will be allowed to exploit this resource.
The pipe smoking world experienced a similar loss of expertise in the production of Latakia in Syria. Even if the political and legislative situation changed, and Latakia production could resume, knowledge of the seasoning recipes and fumigation techniques are thought to have been lost -- perhaps forever.

 

[mso489]

Iwan Ries, for many years, had Benton house pipes stamped by Iwan Ries said to be made of Algerian briar. These were economical house pipes, so they had a fill or three, but the fills were done well and were permanent, and the briar was generous sized, and these are excellent pipes for their price. These are long gone, but I'm glad to say I have some Algerian briar on my racks.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

The Benton line were screaming bargains.

 

[sablebrush52]

The interesting thing about Algerian Briar is that it was not prized, nor thought of as the best quality, because of it's relative softness compared to briar from other Mediterranean countries. It sure made for wonderfully craggy blasts. That perception surrounding Algerian briar has certainly changed.

 

[sasquatch]

Cortez, why do you suggest that no one in Algeria is harvesting briar?
Yazid is. Just, his stuff ranges in quality from great to total crap and he's... kind of slippery to deal with.
If you talk to people in the industry, they'll tell you that briar is plentiful as a plant, it's a bit like us here in the prairies worrying about harvesting too much poplar. You just... couldn't.
Like any forestry industry it must be managed, and that seems to be understood - think about how much wood was being cut for factory pipes from say, 1930 to ... 1980? I mean, there were factories, plural, doing 500,000 pipes a year. The largest french factories might still be doing something like that, under many different brands, but the basic demand for briar is nowhere near what it once was. The demand for scorching tight grain and perfect vertical cuts is up, of course, with a bunch of us all competing for the best cuts at this point from whoever will sell them! But the idea that there isn't enough briar is wrong. Enough people harvesting and cutting might be more of a problem! It's hard work!
I've had conversations with Jaume Hom in Spain, Mimmo Romeo in Italy, and Makis Minetos in Greece just to name 3. They were all very candid with me about supply/demand issues in the industry. Jaume's "If I ask my cutters to bring me dead root they will laugh in my face. There are, of course, dead trees, but always the dead ones are cracked and full of insects." made me laugh.
Anyway, there's lots of wood around, yes, guys like Mimmo and Makis are over-run with demand for super flawless perfect wonder blocks, and they just... can't all be that. But I could pick up the phone and have 50 real nice plateaus at my house tomorrow from Italy, Spain, Algeria, Greece, hell even Morocco (puke). The hobby/artisan demand is high, but even if there are 1000 of us doing 100 blocks a year... that's 100,000 blocks. That's nothing.
So we still have lots of good wood, the factories still buy bales of 2nd-rate cuts, and pipe making goes on.

 

[mso489]

sas', that's a great insider's view of the briar situation. Thank you for piping up, as it were. The commonness of the plant is a telling point.

 

[jasonmazzy]

It was my understanding that yazid has basically fallen off the planet. I would live a bulk of cheap bdiar as I want to practice on making hand shaped only (no power tools) pipes and today's resell prices are too high for practice pieces.

 

[cortezattic]

Cortez, why do you suggest that no one in Algeria is harvesting briar?

Not my suggestion. I only expressed dismay over the statement I quoted from the LePipe.it website.

If that statement is inaccurate, then my dismay is groundless.

 

[sasquatch]

Oh I see, yeah I didn't relate your first (quoted) post to your second.
Yeah, Algerian's been available for the last... 15 years or so, but the cutter stole a bunch of money about 5 years ago from carvers and secondary suppliers to set himself up in some other venture as far as we could tell. He's back now crawling around on facebook complimenting every pipe that gets posted and trying to make backroom briar deals. Most of us are wise to it. It's too bad because the best of his stuff was very nice indeed.

 

[jasonmazzy]

I'd be willing to risk a small amount of money on him....

 

[lasttango]

Lorenzo claims it's 3 lesser lines of pipes are made in Albania with briar from Albania.