122 MANGROVE SWAMPS 
whether or not bark of the same age has a different tannin con- 
tent in different regions. The barks from East Africa are, 
however, reported to be richer in tannin than those from the 
Indo-Malayan region. The Philippine barks certainly appear 
to be as rich as those in Borneo which have been used in cutch 
factories. Owing to the relatively low price that the crude 
barks command and the expenses of shipping, it would probably 
be advisable to export cutch rather than the crude barks. 
Cutch is not only used as a tanning material but also as a dye. 
A short history of the uses of cutch has been given by Fox- 
worthy.* The name cutch was originally applied to a product 
of the heartwood of Acacia catechu Willd., which has been 
known from India and Burma for many years. 
TABLE XXIX.—Amount of tanbarks and dye barks on which forest charges 
were paid in the Philippine Islands from 1914 to 1918, inclusive. 

-— — — - 



| Year. Tanbarks. Dye barks. 
| Kilos. Kilos. | 
PRY a Sc a eae eae ee ENR eee Milne be sie Gt each L eee 2, 793, 295 58,714 | 
[ie WU rate at ee Ia eb Bae Wee eee 1, 913, 558 94, 492 
[aT G1 G Weis eRe ac SL te OE Pt oe MOAI Le ce A oe 1, 543, 686 93.057 | 
LOTT eet rr A gis Se eR a ae Se ee 3, 165, 687 84, 364 
ICE} bees Pe ere PU Se Sng he RO eee Eee ny ne Gene ede | 1,978, 786 148, 764 

The supply was however not entirely uniform or reliable. 
When the product from the mangrove trees came into the 
market it superseded the Indian cutch to such an extent that 
this term is now used mainly with reference to the mangrove 
extracts. With the advent of the common use of aniline dye 
it was found that the Bismarck browns furnished a cheaper and 
a more easily handled dye than cutch and, consequently, the use 
of the latter as a dye gradually ceased. 
The bark of Ceriops spp. is used locally for coloring rice and 
tuba and for dyeing. The bark of Xylocarpus granatum is also 
used locally to a considerable extent for dyeing purposes. The 
dyeing property of the barks of Ceriops tagal and Xylocarpus 
granatum is not great, and they are of more use as mordants. 
They are, however, used in large quantity for dyeing fishnets, 
ropes, sails, and clothing used in salt water. Table XXIX shows 
the amount of tanbarks and dye barks upon which forest charges 
were paid from 1914 to 1918. The barks consisted very largely 
of mangrove-swamp species, the dye barks chiefly of Ceriops 
spp. and Xylocarpus granatum. 


* Foxworthy, F. W., Cutch, Philippine Journal of Science, Sec. A, Vol. 3 
(1908), page 534. 
