Wattle Culture 41 



will depend upon many factors, such as market values, demand 

 for wood, season, &c. On the average a crop is ready for the 

 market in from eight to ten years. Methods of stripping and 

 curing change from year to year, and are likely to become more 

 economical each year. As a rule, the stripping commences be- 

 fore the tree is felled, the boy ringing the bark as high as he 

 can reach easily, and pulling downwards to the root. Then the 

 tree is felled, and all bark taken off down to a branch diameter 

 of 2 inches. Anything thinner than this is not worth taking. 

 A trained boy should strip and hang half a ton of green bark in 

 a day. 



Large ventures have special drying sheds built, and, of course, 

 expert men to operate. In small plantations it is usual to make 

 racks 5 feet from the ground, using the stripped timber for the 

 purpose, and to hang the bark over these, outside upwards, 

 until dry. This process takes about a fortnight in good 

 weather.* 



The important point in curing is to avoid heating and sweat- 

 ing, and to procure bark of a rich brown interior colour, and 

 hard and brittle. Contact of the sticks during the drying pro- 

 cess, or too much rain, will cause discolouration, and much re- 

 duce the value. A light shower does not do much harm, but 

 some protection is necessary against continuous rain. 



Bark from small plantations is generally sold in the " stick " 

 to the miller or merchant, and by him it is chopped into half- 

 inch or inch lengths, and bagged for shipment. The probable 

 average yield of a plantation is 30 tons of wood and 4 tons of 

 bark per acre. In an extra good plantation as much as 6 tons 

 of bark may be obtained, with a proportionate increase in the 

 quantity of wood. 



Since the publication of our first edition, a great advance has 

 been made in the extraction of " wattle extract " from green 

 bark, and several local factories have been erected. No doubt 

 many more will be erected, and this method, with its great sav- 

 ing of freight and drying of the bark, will entirely do away 

 vith the older methods. 



Pests. 



The two insect pests seriously attacking Wattles are com- 

 monly known as " Bagworms " and " Froghopper.'' The effects 

 of the first is a complete defoliation, in a serious attack, and 

 this frequently occurs in the year when stripping should take 

 place, although not necessarily at that time. This defoliation 

 stops the usual flow of sap and thus delays stripping until the 

 attack is over and new leaf growth comes. 



In the case of ''Froghopper," the defoliation is not so com- 

 plete, but this pest is probably the worse of the two. It occurs 

 at a young stage, often in the second year. The insects eat away 

 all the leading shoots, and cause the "leader" to "fork." When 



*It is important that bark should not be suspended, for drying, over iron 

 fences or wire. 



