Vol. XII. No. 286. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



127 



C. falcat-um is so far extremely complicated; it may be 

 summed up as follows: 



(a) The fungus is a faculative wound parasite chiefly 

 harmful owing to its invert action on cane sugar but under 

 certain conditions may also occasion a reduction in the yield 

 of cane. 



(b) The degree of virulence varies greatly according to 

 climatic conditions, age, and particularly with the variety of 

 cane. 



(c) The chief mode of infection appears to be through 

 the agency of boring insects. Thi.s i.s open to question in 

 the East, but highly probable in the Western Tropics. 



(d) The [lerpetuation of the disease through diseased 

 cuttings is probable in the East but improbable in the 

 Western Tropics. 



In the succeeding issue of the Agricultural News, an 

 account of South and Dunlop's experiments will be proceeded 

 with to show the extent to which their results agree with 

 those included in the above summary. 



WATTLE BARK. 



III. 



The following is the concluding article of the three on 

 this subject that have been promised for the Agricultural 

 News. It deals with the exploitation of the bark, returns to 

 be expected and by-products, and gives some account of 

 diseases of the trees 



FAPLOiT.vriON OF THE BARK. In the last reference but 

 one, above, it is stated that wattle bark is made up for export 

 in 3 8). Hessian bags, each containing 200 B). of the bark. 

 From the chief exporting countries (according to Bull. Imp. 

 Inst., IX (1911), 2, 116), the quantities and values of the 

 shipments were as follows: Natal (1909), 705,848 cwt. and 

 £192,9.50; Cape Province (1909), 9,.572 cwt. and £1,746; 

 Australian Commonwealth (1908 and probably including 

 some mallet bark), 200,364 cwt. and £102,410. In these 

 cases, the export is increasing, except from Australia where 

 it is decreasing. When these matters are considered, it must 

 be remembered that (as has been indicated already) there is 

 the probability of a large future supply from German East 

 Africa, and that this is the case also of the British East 

 Africa Protectorate. In the latter place a Wattle Bark 

 Industry Ordinance was enacted last year, for protecting the 

 industry (Bull. Imp. In.U., X, 3, 479). 



The United Kingdom and Germany are the chief con- 

 sumers of wattle bark, the latter country taking by far the 

 larger amount, as is shown by the fact that the imports into 

 Hamburg, in 1909, were 426,982 cwt., value £195,398. 



It is of some interest in the We.st Indies that a large 

 demand for wattle bark has arisen in Canada (Satal Agric. 

 Jovrn., XII (1909), 3,270). On page 558 of the same 

 volume of the journal just mentioned, reference is made to 

 a serious shortage of the bark in Victoria, which was causing 

 leather manufacturers in the State to restrict their output. 



In Bull. Imp. Inst., IX (1911), 2,119, a comparative 

 statement is given which makes it clear that: 'wattle bark is 

 a very cheap tanning material when its actual cost is com- 

 pared with those of the materials it would probably replace 

 in the tanyard, viz. valonia in the United Kingdom, and 

 quebracho wood in Germany.' 



The general conditions of the exploitation of wattle bark 

 cannot be better summarized than by giving the following 

 short statement of its advantages that appears near the end 

 of the article just quoted: '(1) it is being produced in 



increasing quantities so that there is no danger of a failure in 

 supply, (2) it is being cultivated in several different countries 

 so that no monopoly in production is likely to occur, (3) it is 

 produced mainly in British Territories having rapid and 

 regular means of communication with the United Kingdom, 



(4) it presents, as marketed, very little variation in quality, 



(5) it is rich in tannin, (6) it is cheaper than good tanning 

 materials of similar quality, and properties, (7) the tannin it 

 contains is easily extracted, (8) the bark can be extracted and 

 used with great advantage in admixture with other materials, 

 and (9) whilst it is best used for tanning heavy leathers it 

 can be used for certain kinds of light leathers.' 



RETUKNs TO liE EXPEi'TED. Little information regard- 

 ing these is available. Trees planted (i feet by 12 feet would 

 give 605 plants to the acre. One of the articles quoted 

 already (Agric. Journ. Union of South Africa, IV, 5, 668) 

 gives a yield of 30 ft. of wet bark from each tree; that is, 

 about 20 R). of dry bark. Reckoning 600 trees to the acre, 

 this would mean a weight of dry bark per acre amounting to 

 something over 5.V tons. At £6 per ton, which is the price 

 given in the article just mentioned (lower than the usual 

 prices for bark from Australia), this would mean a return of 

 £32 per acre. This article also states that Australian 

 authorities estimate the yield at £35 to £45 per acre, and 

 gives the further information that the current prices 

 (November 1912) of wattle bark at Durban were £2 10s. 

 to £7 per ton. 



BY-PRODUCTS. The only by-product of importance is 

 the wood, which is used for mining-timbers. A suggestion 

 for its employment as a source for paper pulp is dealt with 

 in Teclinical Beports and Scientific Papers, published by the 

 Imperial Institute, p. 314; success is not predicted for the 

 use of the wood in this way. Another suggestion, from 

 Natal, is its distillation for the production of wood alcohol 

 and acetic acid (Bull. Imp. Inst., VI, 2, 161). 



DISEASES. From a statement in Agric. Journ. Union oj 

 South Africa, II, 5, 693, by the Government Plant Patholo- 

 gist, it appears that young black wattle trees in Natal some- 

 times suffer from gumming; death may be caused by this 

 means, which requires further investigation before the true 

 cause can be known. 



Some of the most recent organized work in the subject 

 has been done by Fetch, who (Circs, and Agric. Journ. Roy. 

 Bot. Gard., Ceylon, V, 10, 89) describes two root diseases of 

 Acacia decurrens: one (Armillaria fuscipes) killing young 

 trees used as wind-breaks in tea plantations; and a second 

 (Fomes australis) which gradually kills old trees. The 

 remedy suggested is the uprooting and burning of the 

 affected trees. 



Transmission of Colour in Cattle.— The fol- 

 lowing interesting facts concerning the transmission of colour 

 and colour markings in Hereford-Shorthorn crosses, is taken 

 from the E.cjjeriment Station Record, for iJecember 1912. 



'The circle around the eyes would seem to go with the 

 solid red colour, as the greater number of red calves carry the 

 characteristic eye circle. The fact that out of sixteen roan 

 calves fifteen have no red markings on face (having only 

 imperfect eye circles) strongly points to the dissociation of 

 eye circles with roan colour. The cross of red and white 

 results in roan, and the roan cow, having received red from 

 one parent and white from the other, transmits the red to 

 about half her offspring and roan to the other half, so that 

 about half the calves from a roan cow bred to a Hereford bull, 

 will be red, and the other half roan.' 



