Vot. XII. No. 283. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



75 



and that it promises even more for the future than has been 

 accomplished in the past. Its increased facilities for work 

 and the inclusion of the West Indies within the scope of its 

 activities give an added interest in its future development 

 to all who live and work in this part of the world; whilst its 

 past record in connexion with the improved knowledge, which 

 faas done so much to make certain parts .of Tropical Africi 

 habitable to Europeans, indicates that it is deserving of all 

 the credit and recognition which it is at present receiving. 



WATTLE 

 II. 



BARK. 



The last issue of the AgrkaUand^Xew^i contained the 

 Urst of three articles on Wattle P.ark that it is intended to 

 publish. The subject is now continued as follows. 



CULTIVATION. It is stated {Agric. Journ. Union of 

 South Africa, IV, 5, 067) that the black wattle needs 

 a well-chosen site and careful cultivation, together with 

 a good rainfall and a loose, deep soil. In another instance 

 (Agric. Journ. Cape o/ d'ood Hope, XXV, 3, 277) it is shown 

 by experiment that the plant will grow in soils that are 

 deficient in plant food, provided that they are moist and open. 



Whether the plants are raised from seed and then 

 transplanted, or sown in situ (mixed with a quantity of sand, 

 as they are small), according to Bull. Imp. Inst, VI, 158, 

 the trees should eventually stand C feet apart in rows 12 feet 

 from one another. The same authority states that two rows 

 of maize are frequently grown between each t^vo rows of 

 the plants, to afford a return while they are maturing. The 

 black wattle is described as growing quickly, attaining 

 a height of 25 to 30 feet in four years. 'The foliage is 

 luxuriant and affords excellent shade for animals or for low- 

 growing crops. Practically no attention is given to the trees 

 themselves, for if they have been properly distributed, 

 pruning is imnecessary and several crops of wattles may be 

 taken off the same soil without rendering it unsuitable for 

 their further cultivation.' As the wattles are leguminous 

 plants they actually enrich the soil in nitrogen. Fire is one 

 of the chief enemies of the wattle grower, and tire 'breaks' 

 are often made, where the plantations are in prairie land, by 

 ploughing broad strips around them. 



sTRiri'iNG -\NLi j'REP.^R.^TioN OF r,.\RK. The authority 

 just quoted states that the trees reach their prime in about 

 ten years after they are sown, though trees are often 

 considered to be fit for stripping when they are seven, or even 

 five years old. The rate of growth is dependent upon the 

 soil and locality, as well as on individual variations in the 

 seed. For stripping, a cut is first made either 3 or 4 feet 

 ab<5ve the ground, or as near to the roots as possible. In the 

 Jirst case the bark is pulled off downwards, and thus includes 

 much of the covering of the upper roots which is often the 

 richest in tannin; in the second case, the bark is stripped 

 upwards, as far as the bases of the lower branches. Successive 

 -sheets are removed, until the trunk is quite bare; then the 

 tree is felled, in order to enable the bark to be stripped from 

 the parts between the branches. A stripping machine has 

 been invented, which is claimed to be successful. 



The bark is dried by hanging the long .strips over poles, 

 jn drying .sheds; the process usually takes several weeks. 

 Artificial heat is sometimes employed for the purpose, but 

 Tcquires care, or tannin is lost. The dry bark is usually cut 

 in a mill into pieces about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, 

 and exported in .sacks. 



After the plantation is cleared, seedlings usually sprinij 

 up and have to bs thinned out to the right proportion. There 

 is generally no need, therefore, for replanting. 



It should be mentioned that the fear of possible over-pr'> 

 duction of the bark, and the consequent fall in prices, have 

 led wattle growers in Natal to enquire into the feasibility of 

 exporting the extract instead of the bark. In one of the 

 publications {Xndtl Agrir. .loura., XI, 5, 595) dealing with 

 the subject, the opinions of the principal handlers of the 

 bark from Natal are given, in connexion with the matter. 

 It may be said shortly that these were adverse to the pro- 

 posal to extract and ship tannic acid from the bark, mainly 

 for the following reas(ms: (1) the comparatively high tannia 

 content of the liark, in relation to that of the extract 

 reduces greatly any possilile .saving on freight; (2) the 

 extract is not suitable for the kind of tanning employed, 

 which is done in pits with the bark itself; (3) Germany, one 

 of the largest customers, puts a duty on solid extr icts, buk 

 not on barks used for tanning; (4) the idea of over-produc- 

 tion is erroneous: a much larger output would put much of 

 the bark in the place of quebracho wood, which cannot beat 

 any lowering of prices. Further information (in Bull. Imp. 

 Inst., VI, 2, 17(1) refers to the manufacture of a fluid 

 extract from the branch-bark, and experiments for makii>g 

 it from the leaves, in Australia, and to the possible employ- 

 ment of central extract factories, 



YIELD OF T.\N.vix. The issue of the Bulletin of Che 

 Imperial Institute mentioned above gives a table compiled 

 from results (in Journ. Noc. Cliem. Ind., 1902, 21, 159) which 

 show, among others, that golden wattle 'No 1, special' and 

 golden wattle 'No. 2, ordinary', from South Australia, con- 

 tained respectively 49'5 and 40'2 per cent, of tannin; while 

 black wattle from an unknown source gave 383 per cent. 

 In Agric. Journ. Union of South Africa, IV, 5, 067, the 

 black and green wattles are stated to contain about the same 

 percentage of tannin, but the former is considered to give the 

 greater yield of bark per acre. As regards comparison of the 

 black and golden wattles, it may be said that, whilst the 

 latter is richer in tannin, the former is hardier and, again, 

 more productive of bark. In a general way, relating to the 

 subject of the tannin content of different wattles, attention 

 is drawn to :i useful article ia Bull. Bur. A'/rir. Iiihll., 1011, 

 2, 340. 



In the Natal Agric. Journ., XI, 5, 003, the question i» 

 considered as to the profitableness of barking trees before 

 they are six to ten years old. The results of analyses con- 

 ducted on material from trees two and three years old show 

 that no great modification of the present system can be 

 recommended. In Bull. Imp. Inst , VI, 2, 100, it was stated 

 that investigations were to be made to see if the season of 

 stripping influences the tannin content. 



The third, and last, of this series of articles on wattl» 

 bark will appear in the next issue of the Agricultural News.. 



Lecturing on 'The Moon' at Queen's Colle^, Loudoo, 

 Professor Jl. A. Gregory said investigations had shown that 

 air tides were produced by tiie moon, but they only caused 

 a difference of one-fiftieth of an inch in the height of th» 

 mercury in a barometer, and were of no value in practical 

 weather-forecasting. Systematic inquiries had failed to 

 reveal any useful rule connecting the moon with the weather. 

 (The Trojiicnl Agricnllurist December 1912, from th* 

 Daily Mail.) 



