294 'I'll-- liLACK WATTLl-; ].\!H".STRV. 



The abo\e table shows that most of these barks lost 50 per- 

 cent, weight through drying. 



Further experiments proved that the loss of weight in dry- 

 ing \ aried from 38 to 58 per cent., but that 50 per cent, might 

 be considered usual, thotigh it was found that thin bark lost 

 more than thick Ijark. I am satisfied that no plantation at nine 

 years" age shtnild be standing at the same espacement as at three 

 years' age. and consequently that the above comparison, if leased 

 on that condition, is defective there: and if not based on that 

 condition is misleading. 



I am also convinced that under suitable conditions the bark 

 yield, and also the tannin content per acre of mature trees is 

 higher from a w"ide espacement than from a close one, while 

 the timber value is greater and the cost of stripping is much less. 



It has been asserted that the bark becomes old and is corky 

 (rhetidome) when eight or nine years old, btit that is usually a 

 matter of management, and subject to the control of the farmer. 



It is not uncommon for bark to be barkbound and practi- 

 cally useless when two or three years old. and at any age there- 

 after, through bad selection of site, and such trees seldom quite 

 recover except under exceptional weather and good manage- 

 ment ; it is also common experience of those who care to ob- 

 serve, that individual trees can be grown to two feet diameter 

 and still have fresh marketable bark of great depth and of im- 

 mense weight per tree, and that this can be done almost any- 

 where if conditions are proper for wattle doing its best. 



Keep in mind that the wattle is a great light-demandcr, and 

 that the golden rule in thinning wattle is to always leave enough 

 trees to maintain canopy without leaving enough to seriously 

 injure girth growth. 



These are the guides which have led to the wider espace- 

 ment now being adopted. It is found that mechanical cultiva- 

 tion among the young trees, together with sufficient light, gives 

 the desired growth and greater cleanness of ground surface, 

 with less risk of the trees being barkboimd, than does closer 

 planting without these accompaniments, and that once canopy 

 is secured there is less difficulty in keeping the canopy right, and 

 in handling; and that by judicious thinning the crop can be 

 carried on for a much longer period than has so far been at- 

 tempted excejn under crowded conditions, also that the bark 

 product in weight or cash is heavier, while the timber becomes 

 valuable poles instead of low-value laggings ; altogether, that the 

 long rotation and allowing the tree space to become to some 

 extent mature (which never hai)pened under the old method* 

 is the more valuable one. Williams, in the same report, gives 

 another series of analyses (i)age 84) show^ing variation in the 

 amount of bark and in the distribution of the tannin matter 

 according to height above ground, which summarised is as fol- 

 lows, taking one sample tree of 3. 6. and 9 years of a,ge respec- 

 tively, and dealing with each 6 feet length from the ground up- 

 ward se]uirately. 



