324 nEPOBT OF CHEMICAL LABORATORY 



Source or gum highest fOinilMTcilll Villtlc, is the .1 '•';,(.» IV;-,/- klluwil ill St'IU'gul as thf Ariicltl Sfnfijdl, mu\ 



in the Su(hiii iis //ns/nilio (pi. //<n/tiif>). A much snmller i]imntity of gum called Tulh is 

 eolleete<l in the Sudiiii from the .1. Sri/nl. Tlie .1. Anih'ini (Siiiif.i, j)l. S,iiit) iin<l other 

 varieties exist and exude gums, hut these, either because of thiir dark colour or otlier 

 objectionable qualities are of no commercial importance. 



Growth and Collection — The conditions of cultivation and collection of ^'iim liavc 

 been note<l by C. K. Muriel.* former Director of Forests, as follows: — 



" Hasiiab Gum. —The best gum CHashab") comes ehieliy from Kordofan ; a siiuill 

 quantitv, is collected on the Blue Nile, and is known as ' Hashab Gezireh." llashab 

 gum is also reported as pleiitifiil in KassuJa. ' Hashab Gencina,' is the term applied to the 

 gum when it is obtained from tlie specially worked trees which constitute the Konlofan 

 Geneinas. Soon after the rains have ceased, bark is removed in strips from the principal 

 branches of all llaxhah trees of three years old and upwards in the Geneina. 



" The operation is performed by men armed with the common axe of the country, with 

 which the bark is cut through transversely and then torn off in a strip by hand : if carefully 

 done a thin layer of the inner bark (liber) is left covering the wood, and the tree is 

 not much injured. 



" Strips of 2 to 3 feet in length, and 1 to 3 inches wide — more or less according to the 

 size of the branch operated on — appear to give best results. 



" In some cases where lone strips of bark (J feet or more in length had been torn oti", less 



Collection t> t ^ 



of gum gum seemed to exude, than where short lengths of bark had been removed. 



" The removal of bark down tu the wood and cutting into the wood itself should be 

 avoided ; in such cases, less gum exudes, and tiie tree is injured. Dead ])ranches, and small 

 side branehlets are cleared away when barking is done to facilitate approach to the tree, for 

 collecting the gum. 



" Some sixtv davs after barking, tlic first collection of gum is made, and thereafter the 

 Geneina is completely picked over every fourth day, until the flush of new leaves soon 

 after the rains set in, stops the exudation of gum. Gum picking is chiefly done by 

 women. 



'"Hashab Wady ' is the name applied to gum which is exuded naturally from //'/.-7«i/< 

 trees not indudeil in Geneina. 



"This gum is slightly darker in colour than ' Hashab Geneina,' but it is po.ssiblc to 

 select clean pieces of 'Wady' gum which cannot be distinguished by tiie gum pickers 

 themselves from ' Geinina " gum. 



" ' Wady 't gum is usually in pear-shaped pieces of variable size, proportionate to the 

 length of time that elap.ses, between con.secutive collections (ten days to a month, and the 

 more distant Wady forest is only picked over once a year). 



" ' Kadab ' is the name given to a dirty gum which is .sometimes found exuding from 

 IFashnh trees. Tt is of no value, and if found in a jiarccl of gum is picked out. and 

 thrown away. 



"The conditions favourable to the production of Hashab' gum are: — Ferruginous, 

 sandy soil, with a good mitural drainage; dry heat during the gum collecting season, and a 

 moderately heavy rainfall (40 to 70 inches) during the rainy season. 



• Keport on the Forests of the Sudan. C. E. Muriel, October, 1901. 



t In a recent report Mr. Hroun, Pire<-tor of WtMid" nnd Forests, notes that the term " Wndv " i< now 

 Applied to certain larjfe roloured tears of either Wady or Ocneina origin. 



