ACACIA 



CATECHU 



Timber 



Minor 

 Uses. 



Tooth-brushes. 



Baskets. 



Fishing-hooks. 



Lac. 



Agricultural 

 Shade. 



Reclamation. 



Hedges and 

 Fences. 



Timber. 



Agricultural 

 Implements. 



House 

 Construction. 



Fuel. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 27-44. 



THE INDIAN GUM AKABIC TREE 



The leaves constitute an ingredient in the intoxicating drug of Indian hemp 

 known as madak, and it is said that in a similar way they are also made up with 

 opium. 



5. Minor Industrial and Agricultural Uses. One of the most widely 

 known of the minor uses of the plant is for tooth-brushes. Short twigs are 

 made up into small bundles of about 100 each and in that form are exported 

 as a regular article of trade from Karachi to Bombay and practically all over 

 India. They are very extensively in demand by the Marwaris ; on being used the 

 end is chewed until it forms a sort of brush. Very strong and durable baskets 

 are also plaited of young green babul-twigs. In fact, this is the chief basket 

 of the agricultural and industrial classes of many localities (see Basket and 

 Wickerwork, etc., pp.' 1 14-6). In some parts of the country fishing-traps are similarly 

 constructed of the young shoots and the spines are occasionally employed as 

 fishing-hooks or as pins to fasten together the leaves used as platters. Crude 

 ropes are sometimes made of the bark fibre. 



In Sind (and to some extent also in the Panjab) babul is one of the important 

 trees on which the LAC insect is reared. The reader will find full particulars 

 on this subject in The Agricultural Ledger ( 1901, No. 9). To the Indian cultivator 

 babul is of the greatest possible value. It does not afford much shade, and yet 

 curiously enough very little except grass will grow underneath it. On this 

 account it is rarely, if ever, allowed to get established in the middle of fields. 

 For avenue purposes, where shade is required, it is not a desirable tree. But 

 in the RECLAMATION of waste lands babul is invaluable, especially where reh 

 efflorescence gives cause for anxiety (see Alkalis and Alkaline Earths, p. 55). 

 Grass rapidly becomes associated with it, so that grazing affords a distinct source 

 of revenue in babul plantations. [C/. Ribbentrop, Ind. For., April 1900, xxvi. ; 

 Moreland, Director of Agriculture in the United Provinces. Official Reports 

 regarding the Abbuspur (Oudh) Experiments.'] Sown thickly as a HEDGE, 

 babul forms a great protection both against animals and the parching, dust- 

 laden winds. As dead fences, the spiny boughs are universally employed to 

 afford temporary protection to valued crops. For these and similar reasons 

 extended cultivation of this tree should invariably be commended in all suitable 

 localities. 



6. The Timber. This TIMBER is highly appreciated for all forms of agri- 

 cultural implements, because of its hardness and durability. It is especially 

 valued for cart-wheels. In Bengal, the United Provinces and the Central Pro- 

 vinces the timber is rarely, if ever, employed in house constrxiction or for furniture, 

 as it is supposed to be very unlucky. But in the Panjab, Sind and Bombay no 

 such superstition exists, and accordingly it is frequently utilised in house-building 

 and is much appreciated where great strength is desired. In Bijapur it is in 

 demand for the construction of the carts for which that town is famous. When 

 used for furniture, especially wood-carving, the timber is previously carefully 

 seasoned in water. Recently it has been suggested that babul-\vood might be 

 employed for wood-paving. A writer in Capital (March 5, 1903) believes 

 that this would be found cheaper in the long run than the present method of 

 metalling. The wood when seasoned is very durable and much easier to cut 

 and shape than the timbers most largely used for paving-blocks. 



As a source of FUEL or CHARCOAL babul justly holds a high position in popular 

 favour. Its cultivation in the vicinity of all large towns would seem highly 

 profitable. An average-sized tree will give 5 maunds of fuel, besides branches 

 and bark that bring in additional returns. Some few years ago a scare was 

 started by the Madras Railway that babul fuel injured the boilers. This point 

 has been freely discussed since then. The practical result may be said to be the 

 conclusion that, as compared with coal, all forms of wood fuel are injurious. 

 Babul is not more injurious than other timbers, and moreover it has so high a 

 calorific value that it is not only extensively used at the cotton and other mills 

 and on the railways of Upper India, but would be even more extensively em- 

 ployed were it procurable in sufficient abundance. 



A. Catechu, Willd. ; Fl. Br. Ind., ii., 295 ; Heuze, Les 

 PL Indust., 1895, iv., 288-92; Prain, Some Additional Leguminosce, 

 Journ. As. Soc., Beng., 1897, Ixvi., pt. ii., 508-9 ; Gamble, Man. 

 Ind. Timbs., 296-8. This is the Cutch or Catechu tree, the khair 

 pr "katha. Prain has rendered valuable service by establishing the 



