32 



As the natural forests and scrub become more limited and the fuel species give 

 place to the more valuable timber trees under scientific treatment, the need 

 for special fuel plantations will be still more felt. For reasons of transport 

 it is advisable that these plantations should be situated in proximity to the 

 railway. 



The question of charcoal-burning on a fairly extensive scale has been 

 raised. There is certainly scope for a more extensive use of charcoal, which 

 has the great advantage over wood in portability alone, apart from other 

 advantages. It might also find a wide use in suction gas plants on estates. 

 It is somewhat doubtful if a use could be found for the other products of 

 destructive distillation of wood, since the country is not sufficiently indus- 

 trialized to make use of them. 



The black wattle (Acacia decurrens), if grown in a sufficiently moist 

 climate, produces fairly high yields of wood suitable for charcoal manu- 

 facture. 



The whole future policy regarding railway fuel plantations will depend 

 on a decision as to whether oil or wood is to be the railway fuel of the future ; 

 it is advisable that this should be settled definitely, and if the decision is in 

 favour of wood, then plantations should be established not only in the high- 

 lands but also at convenient centres down the line between Nairobi and the 

 Coast. 



15. MINOR FOREST PRODUCTS. 



35. No systematic survey of the minor forest products of Kenya Colony 

 has yet been attempted, but with the appointment of a Research Officer this 

 should be taken in hand with the help of local Forest Officers and with the 

 collaboration of the Chemical Research Department. Such a survey should 

 extend not only to the timber forests but also to the scrub and savannah 

 forests, where it is not unlikely that gums and tanning materials of com- 

 mercial value may be found. 



Tanning materials have received some attention in the past. There is a 

 demand for mangrove bark, but the supply has become almost exhausted owing 

 to excessive exploitation under former concessions. Plantations of Australian 

 wattle (Acacia decurrens) have been formed on a considerable scale, chiefly by 

 settlers, in the hope of making profits out of the bark, but latterly the 

 industry has not fulfilled expectations, and many of the wattle plantations 

 are being cleared. It is difficult to say if the future will hold out better 

 prospects, but it is reasonable to suppose that with an increase of stock in 

 the country Kenya should become an important producer of hides, in which 

 case tanning may become an industry of some magnitude. If wattle planta- 

 tions are formed in future, care should be taken to avoid dry localities, where 

 they are a failure, and to confine them to the damper regions of the highlands. 







Meanwhile, experiments on a small scale might be made in the cultiva- 

 tion of Cassia auriculata, a shrub yielding the most important tan bark in 

 India, as well as being a useful plant for clothing dry stony ground. It 

 might be tried at different elevations from the coast up to about 5,000 ft., 

 care being taken to select soil which is light and porous, not stiff or water- 

 logged. It is easily raised by direct sowings on land which has been 

 ploughed or hoed up, and is worked as coppice on a rotation of 2 years for 

 tanning goat and sheep skins and 3 to 5 years for tanning cow-hide. 



The question of bamboo pulp is discussed in the next section. The wood 

 of Neobutonia macrocalyx (mutundu) was sent recently by the Conservator 

 of Forests to the Imperial Institute for report as to its pulping qualities. The 



