TFii'. lu.AiK w \ I ii.'i': iNDisrm. 299 



I'hc profu of the industr) i> (.-losclx associiilcd with the 

 ntilisation ot' the timber. 



Fuel and higj^ings used to he the tiinlx-r prockict, and are so 

 still to a considerable extent, hut the longer rotations are beinjj 

 adopted niostK' with a view to ohiaiuing heavier timber suitable 

 for mine ])rops. 



If an equal weight of ])n)])s per acre is obtained, as formerly 

 was of laggings, then the value is about doubled, while the bark 

 value also is about doubled, the cost of harvesting is reduced, 

 and the cost of one renewal and maintenance through early stages 

 is avoided. Phis, of course, cannot be done everywdiere ; it can 

 "uly be done in what is reallv hrst-rate wattle ground, not too 

 far from rail, but if carried out extensively there the market for 

 these other products from ])oorcr sites is relieved and maintained. 



The (|uestion of utilisation of the wattle timber from 



remote farms has always l)een a difhcnlty. So long as it can 



profitably be railed for mining timber and for ftiel, that of course 



is the simplest utilization. But at distances which will not allow^ 



if that the timber so far has mostly been burned. 



To a small extent charcoal has been made, and this might be 

 extended on the remote farms, as the trans])ort to rail of the 

 same value on rail is thereby much reduced. 



- l)Ut allowing that the estimate of 160,000 acres now growing 

 in Natal is correct, and that each acre when mature will yield 20 

 tons of timber in eight years, and that half the total is too remote 

 frotu rail to allow of luarketing as fuel or nn'ning stufi', then we 

 find that there are 200.000 tons of timber being burned as waste 

 ever\- \ ear. besides what may be burned on farms nearer the rail- 

 wav. This amount, of course, is scattered over a wide area, but 

 the total is sufficiently large to place before the chemist and the 

 Government as a problem worthy of investigation with a view to 

 distillation or au}- other utilisation which may be suggested; any- 

 thing, in fact, rather than waste. 



When in London at the .S.A. Products Exhibition, in UjO/. T 

 had ex])eriments made in making this timber into paper. The 

 result went to show that the wattle timber taken alone is unsuit- 

 able for the manufacture of " mechanical " pul]). while pulp pre- 

 jjared 1)\ the sul])hite process and also by the alkali i)rocess is of 

 inferior (piality. and has' low conunercial value. 



1 have bleached and imbleached samples of the i)aper made 

 b\- the suljjhite i)rocess. and 1 was informed by exjierts 

 that tile fibre of the wattle is too short, and that consc- 

 quenth- the pai)er is deficient in strength, but that if mixed with 

 an equal weight of i)ul])e(l sugar cane or other grass hbre, the 

 paper ])roduced nu'ght be satisfactory . 



Meantime the wattle .wood])ulp is considered fit for card- 

 board or bo.xes if manufactured in Natal, but that the cost of 

 freight is prohibitive against taking the timber elsewhere for 



