ACACIA 



BAB! I, PODS AS A TAN ARABICA 



Tanning Materials 



other commodities, influenced very greatly by the laws of supply and 

 demand. 



Babul-li&rk is extensively employed in India as an astringent MEDICINE, Mdi 

 and the ashes as a di-ntifrii <. 



3. Tanning Pod. Roxburgh (Trans. Soc. Arts, 1805, xxiii., 408-10) Pods, 

 was apparently the first person to draw the attention of Europe to 



the large and valuable supply of these pods that might be procured 

 from India. This subject did not, however, seem to attract much at- 

 tention until 1884, when an absurdly high valuation as a TANNING MA- 

 TKIMAL was attributed to the pods. It was then affirmed that when spurious 

 crushed and freed from seed, they would fetch 40 a ton, or 50 per cent. "' '" lt '""" 

 more than was then being paid for oak-bark. This naturally led to 

 numerous experiments to test the yield per acre, the cost of production 

 and methods of crushing and baling the material. When the desired 

 report finally came to hand from England, babul-pods ceased to attract 

 attention ; they had been found to contain at most 9| per cent, of tannin, Porcentage of 

 and could not bring more than 10 a ton. All interest in the subject died i 

 as quickly as it had arisen. A more hopeful result seems, however, 

 to have been obtained by Mr. Chatterton. The Agricultural Ledger, 

 (1896, No. 9, 46) may be consulted for further particulars. But crushed 

 babul-pods impart a beautiful colour to leather, and mainly on that 

 account enjoy a certain local reputation as a weak tanning and dyeing 

 material, useful in conjunction with other substances. At the Cawnpore 

 Tanneries the pods are employed almost exclusively for the purpose 

 of removing the lime from skins and hides, before tanning the latter with 

 &a&wZ-bark or other substances. The dyers of India often utilise babul- use. 

 pods to obtain certain shades that are admired in calico printing. 



An extract may be prepared from the immature pods by inspissation. 

 This was known to the Ancients, and through the Greeks reached the 

 Arabs, to whom it was known as akakia. To this day a DRUG comes to 

 India under that name from Turkey and Persia, and is sold by most 

 Muhainmadan druggists. The unripe pods reduced to a powder are 

 used as a domestic medicine in all cases where an astringent is indicated. 

 They are employed in the manufacture of TOOTH-POWDER, and along Tooth-powder, 

 with sulphate of iron in the preparation of ink. The tender young pods ink. 

 are eaten as a VEGETABLE, especially in times of scarcity. They are 

 often pickled (achar) and viewed as a luxury, especially by the Marwaris. 

 The green pods with their seeds are regularly given as FODDER to goats, Fod,i,>r. 

 sheep, cows, and camels. In Sind the green pods are much appreciated, Much 

 and in the early part of the hot weather, during April and May, the sale 

 of green pods forms an important item in the forest revenue of that 

 Province. In the Annual Reports of the Forest Department for Bombay 

 (including Sind) the amounts credited as realised on this heading average 

 from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 30,206. 



4. Tanning Leaves. Most of the older writers speak of the leaves of this 

 tree being also used as a TAN, but according to voluminous opinions recently 

 to hand this would appear to be a mistake. They are sometimes employed in 

 dyeing, and are also often utilised in the manufacture of ink, so that they do Dye, 

 possess tannin but in such small quantity as to be useless as a tnn. The chief ink. 

 value of the leaves is as FODDER, especially in times of scarcity or famine. Fodde 

 Beaten from the lopped and dried spinose branches, they are regularly given 



to cattle. Although the tree is never leafless, fresh foliage appears from February 

 to April. The value of this source of fodder when rain fails cannot be over- 

 stated, as the tree is thereby little, if at all, affected in the production of foliage. 



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