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!•: ni.ACK \\A'I"TI.I': \S\)l->T\<y-~AC\lC/A MOLLIS- 

 SIMA WILL]).. .IC.ICIA DIKURRllNS WILLI).. VAK. 

 MOLLIS IUlXTII. 



Bv TtinMAs F\(j1!I-:rts(in Si.\i. 



Lhf black wattle industry has been for many years, is now, 

 ami will permanently be. one of the most important of Natal's 

 assets. 



It has already brought in nearly £3.000.000 of oversea monev 

 for bark exported, which, during the past five years (including 

 war restrictions), has averaged £266,000 per annum; it has 

 brought into circulation a further unknown amount, probably 

 i2,ooo,ooo, for mining timber and firewood used in South Africa ; 

 it lias paid to the Government a nearly equal amount for railway 

 freight on bark and wood ; to the shipping companies it^ has 

 provided a welcome addition Xo the home load ; it has found 

 occupation and maintenance for a very large industrial popula- 

 . don, and provided a congenial outlet for the energies of the 

 raw natives when hungry; it has provided the homesteads of 

 South Africa w^ith cheap and good fuel, and the gold and coal 

 mines with an absolutely necessary part of their equipment, 

 otherwise unobtainable except by import ; it has created a demand 

 for certain machinery and power, which also means money cir- 

 culated ; it has settled the Province with a contented and 

 prosperous lot of farmers, who spend money freely, and main- 

 tain the town stores ; and it has done all this on ground unsuitable 

 for other classes of intensive agriculture without ousting any 

 other industry, except to a small extent, grazing, for which the 

 available area is still very large. 



It also provided the late Natal Government with one I'rime 

 Minister and several Ministers and members of the Legislative 

 Council and Legislative Assembly, and even the Union Govern- 

 ment of South Africa has had representatives of this industry 

 in its Ministry, its Senate, and its Legislative Assembly. 



The black wattle is an Australian tree, and is believed to 

 have been introduced into Natal originally as an ornamental tree, 

 but on its tan value being ascertained, planting on a small com- 

 n^ercial scale began about 1880, and increased regularly, year by 

 year, up till 191 1, since which date the increase has been slow. 

 if any, for reasons mentioned later. 



In 1905 I estimated the area under wattle in Natal at 30.000 

 acres ; now I estimate the area to be about 160,000 acres, though 

 no full and exact figures are available, and some estimates go 

 much higher. 



The exports give the best clue to the expansion of the 

 industry ; these have l)een : — 



A 



