February i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



643 



wider iulervals ; lobe pruned, but not clipped. Irriga- 

 tion i3 necessury as loug as the trees are not sufficiently 

 grown np to dispense witli it. Tiic pods and seeds 

 coutiiiued are usually sold togfthir, aud not the seed 

 alone, as some writers seem to imagine. There has 

 hitherto been very little trade in Divi-Divi pods iu 

 Madras, the exports during the past lustrum being as 

 follows : — 



We have noticed a few trees in some of the public 

 places iu Madras, such as the Napier Pari:, but doubt 

 whether the produce has been gatliered and sold. The 

 Government have the subject under consideration, and 

 ■we m>iy soon hear of steps being taken to encourage 

 the growth of the trees in this Presidency. Wu should 

 certainly recommend a thorough enquiry into the 

 matter, as the cultivation of Divi-Divi involves but 

 little expeuse and trouble, and many an acre of laud 

 now producing nothing or but very little could probably 

 be converted into a flourishing plantation. At any 

 rate, the ex| eriment is well worthy of a trial. Tlie 

 trees which have been planted on the site of an old 

 manure heap at Perambore appear to have grown 

 much betti-r than the rest, and those who can afford 

 to apply manure will prol)ably find it profitable to do 

 so. I)ivi-Divi is attracting attention in other countries, 

 we see. In the report on the Public and Botanical 

 Gardens, Jamaica, tor 1881, we notice mention is made 

 of "a piece of good land of about two acres iu 

 extent which has been enclosed with a hedge of limes 

 and laid out in bede for raising the most import- 

 ant economic plants. The number of these plants 

 ready for distribution amouuf to 32,000, and among 

 them are Liberiau Coffee, Nutmeg, East Indian ivlan- 

 goe, Pimento, Oranges, French Limes, Casuarinn, Jani- 

 pnr Cedar, Kola Nuts, Teaks, Bio immortelte, Divi- 

 Divi, Madras Thorn," etc. The tree is described 

 in the Treasury of Botunij :— ' ' C. Coriaria is a 

 small tree twenty or thirty feet, high, native of 

 several of the West Indian Islands Mexico, Vene- 

 zuela, and North Brazil. The primary divisions of 

 its leaves vary from nine to fifteen, each bearing 

 from sixteen to twenty-four narrow oblong blunt 

 leaflets, marked with black dots on the under sur- 

 face. It has branched racemes of while flowers, which 

 produce curiously flattened pods, about two inches 

 long by three-fourths broad, and curved so as to bear 

 some resemblance to the letter S. The large per- 

 centage of tannin iu these pods renders them exceed- 

 ingly valuable for tanning purposes ; tbey are known 

 in commerce under the names of Divi-divi, Libidivi, 

 or Libi-dibi, and are chittiy imported from Maracaibo, 

 Paraiba, and St, Domingo." 



iu Day's Gardener's Hictionary, V. 2, p, 432, the 

 4th section of Cffisalpinia is given as: — " Lihidihia, 

 from Libidibi, the name of the pod of this plant 

 in Curacoa, the Cie^ialpinia coriaria of Willdenow 

 which is a native of Curacoa, Carthagena. and St. Dom- 

 ingo in salt marshes by the sea-side. The legumes of this 

 plant are called Libidibi and are used in tanning 

 leather when ripe by the Spaniards and natives. The 

 tree grows 15 to 20 feet." 



In the Bombay Flora of Dauzell and Gibson pub- 

 lished iu 1861 this plant is noticed as follows : — 

 " Ciesalpinia coriaria. Libi-Divi. Native of South 

 America. A spreading, umbrageous tree ; not high ; 

 leaflets minute ; legumes very numerous, variously con- 

 torted ; has beeu raised extensively at Hewra and 

 Dapoorio from seed received through the late Dr. 

 Wallich. This tree is likely to be of great importance, 

 on account of the excellent tanning material which 

 it affords," 



The seeds of the plant were introduced to Ceylon 

 some years ago, au<l the result was tliat several of 

 them germinated but died immediately afterwards, 

 probably owing to the climate being too damp. On 

 the other hand, tbii is what Ur. Trimen writes to the 

 Tropical Jr/riculturist :— R. Bob. Garden, Peradeniya, 

 3rd Aug. 1S81. 



SiK, — It may, perhaps be instanced as a good ex- 

 ample of the habit of passing by what is close to ub 

 without notice, that neither you nor your morning con- 

 temporary, in your remarks on •' Divi-Divi." have 

 seemingly been aware that the seeds of ccexalpina 

 coriria are regularly advertised in your columns, along 

 with other useful plants on sale at these Gardens. 

 The flue old tree of this species near the entrance 

 to Peradeniya aflbrds an almudant crop of pods every 

 yers, and there cm be no doubt that the plants would 

 flourish generally at the lower elevations in Ceylon. 



Dr. Cleghorn, in his " Forests and Gnrdeu of 

 South India," says th:it small plantations of C. cori- 

 aria exists at Bangalore, Guntur, Hunsur, Masiili- 

 patam, &c., and that the tree grows well in most of 

 these situations. 



In Nov, 1S81, the Divi-Divi tree was thus alluded to 

 in our columns: — " A correspondent writes: — This plant, 

 which grows in many of the outlying villages of Madras, 

 and has been up to diite uucared for, is now found to be 

 a valuable article for tanning purposes. Large quantities 

 of the pods these plants yield are being shipped to 

 Europe, and iu fact many persons have begun to pay- 

 son e attention to the cultivation of tliis plant. A 

 cohsigument of 88 bags of dried pods from this plant 

 was shipped to England by the " Duke of Bucking- 

 ham." 173 trees of the Divi-Divi in full bearing, 

 which would take an acre of laud, is supposed to 

 yield 50 cwt. of pods, which are valued iu London 

 at £37 10s ; and, as the cultivation and care cost 

 literally nothing after the trees are once in bearing, 

 it is found to be a most profitable crop." 



Aud a few months afterwards a correspondent 

 of a local paper wrote as follows: — "The Divi-Divi 

 pods are employed for tanning purposes, as they 

 contain 50 per cent of pure tannin. I have been 

 told that in Bangalore there is a large planta- 

 tion of this tree, and that its pods are largely used 

 for giving the skins that superior smoothness re- 

 markable in the vadras and Bangalore skins. I 

 have also used Divi-Divi in dyeing, aud I have em- 

 ployed a solution of acetate of iron after the bath in 

 Divi-Divi tincture. The ink u^ed in most of the 

 Government Offices in Fort St. George is made with 

 this plant. The cultivation of this eleg.:ut shrub is 

 very easy. The seeds should be sown in March, 

 and the young plants can be removed from the nurse- 

 ry during the following rainy season ; they recjuire 

 some watering till they have attained the height of 

 three feet, after which no more care is necessary. 

 This plant grows luxuriantly in a clayieh calcareous 

 soil, but very slowly iu red soil, as I have observed 

 at the Red Hills near Madras. I think the difference 

 in the growth in the two soils results from the 

 clayish soil retaining moisture for a very long time 

 in the summers while iu the latter the young plant 

 is exhausted by the strong dry winds blowing then. 

 But I think it still possible to cultivate this shrub 

 in red soil with some success by adding dry mud 

 from tanks to the soil before replanting the young 

 tree from the nursery. Cow dung ashes will prove 

 useful round the plant. The great difficulty to con- 

 tend with, however, in such soil is the «aut of water. 

 The cultivation I have made for the last few years 

 is quite a success, and I have made experiments in 

 both soils, clayey as well as red. I shall feel ob- 

 liged if any of your readers will give me some in- 

 formation regarding the market current price of this 

 dye iu Londuu or elsewhere, I think that the bi^h 



