THE INDIAN GUM ARABIC TREE 



Babul- 

 bark Tan. 



Source of Bark. 



ACACIA 



ARABICA 



Tanning Bark 



from the same tree is not of equal quality. The variation is doubtless 

 due to bacillic action, and ants have been spoken of as facilitating the 

 ingress and dispersion of the bacilli. 



Price. The information available regarding the price at which the 

 gum can be procured is so conflicting as to render the returns practically 

 worthless. They range from Ks. 12 to Rs. 50 per 100 Ib. 



2. The Tanning and Dyeing Bark. Bobul-loaik is perhaps one of 

 the most extensively used and most highly valued of the crude tanning 

 materials of India. It is in fact, with many of the Native tanners, 

 the chief TANNING SUBSTANCE in practically all provinces except South 

 India, where its place is to a large extent taken by the tanner's Cassia 

 (Cassia auriculata}. It is also very extensively employed by the 

 dyers because of the rich colours it affords. In a work such as the present, 

 space cannot be afforded to deal with the methods of dyeing and 

 tanning pursued, nor to furnish the formulae of the special preparations 

 employed. The reader must consult the Dictionary and other such works 

 for all details. 



Source. The introductory paragraphs of the present article have already 

 set forth some 'of the practical considerations regarding production of babul- 

 bark. It is commonly obtained from trees felled for fuel, and the bark very 

 often becomes the woodman's wages. So again the observation has been made 

 that the bark from old trees is not so valuable as that from trees 6 to 10 years 

 of age. In order, however, to obtain perfectly trustworthy information on 

 this point an extensive series of barks from a selected number of districts was 

 procured from trees of various known ages and during certain fixed seasons of 

 the year. [Cf. Agri. Ledg., 1896, No. 9, 42, 54-5.] Apparently no report 

 has as yet been published of the results arrived at by the examination 

 of the barks, thus specially brought together for that purpose. Hooper, 

 however, affirms that " the tanning content undoubtedly increases with the 

 age of the tree " (Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 1, 23), and he cites a report of 

 Mr. J. Teil of date 1845 in support of that opinion which is exactly the opposite 

 of the modern view held by the European tanners of India. Recent inquiry has, 

 however, been prosecuted sufficiently far to reveal the circumstance that babul- 

 bark is hardly likely to compete successfully with the tanning materials already 

 procurable in Europe, and that very possibly it will never even pay to manu- 

 facture for export a tanning extract from this bark or from the bark and pods 

 combined. Much has been written on this theme, but it may be said that the 

 chief claims of 6a&Z-bark turn on its cheapness and abundance. It is bulky 

 and the percentage of tannin is small, hence it cannot be profitably carried for 

 more than short distances. Accordingly the conclusion must be that 6a6wZ-bark 

 is a tanning material of great local value, but one that stands a poor chance of 

 being exported to any appreciable extent. It contains 18 '95 per cent, of catechol 

 tannin, which takes a beautiful cream colour when precipitated with gelatin. 

 Martin says that f- Ib. of the bark suffices for each maund of hides. [Cf. 

 Monographs, Tanning, and Working in Leather : Walton, U. Prov., 23 ; Martin, 

 Bomb., 7 ; Chatterton, Madras, 26 ; Rowland N. L. Chandra, Bengal, 1 1-2 ; 

 0. G. Chenevix Trench, C. Prov., 7.] 



Price and Supply. Very little of a definite nature can be published 

 on these subjects. It has been reported recently that the annual con- 

 sumption in Cawnpore alone is over 200,000 maunds, valued at eight 

 annas a maund. But Cawnpore is the great tanning centre of India, and, 

 therefore, its transactions represent a very large slice of the total traffic 

 in the bark. Quotations have been obtained from Dumraon, Bandelkhand, 

 the Central Provinces, Shahpura (in Rajputana), Delhi, Poona, etc., etc., 

 which show that the bark fetches from 8 annas to as much as Rs. 2-4 

 per 100 Ib. These and such as these are the returns that have come to 

 hand, and they afford very little trustworthy information other than 

 that the bark is a local product which in point of price is, like most 



6 



Percentage of 

 Tannin. 



