16 WATTLES AND WATTLE-BARKS. 



not later than this period. Mr. J. E. Brown strips his wattles (pycnantha) 

 at about 6 years of age, but the exact period can only be decided by the 

 cultivator's common sense. Mr. A. Bucknall mentions that wattle trees 

 mature in seven years in the Majorca plantation, Ballarat. Mr. "W. Ferguson, 

 of Victoria, makes the general statement that none (decurrens) should be 

 cut under 5 inches in diameter a reasonable suggestion which might be 

 enforced, on Crown lands, by legislative enactment. 



Mr. Thrupp states, as his experience, that greater weight of bark can be 

 produced in five years when cultivated, as against 8-year-old bark grown in 

 its natural state (Journ. S. A. Bureau Agric., April, 1890). It is to be 

 hoped that farmers and others will institute some experiments with the view 

 to estimate the improvement in quantity and quality of wattle bark under 

 cultivation, but such experiments, to be conclusive must have the data 

 carefully checked, in order to make sure that the comparisons of wild and 

 cultivated trees are as fair as possible. 



(<?.) TO INCREASE BULK OE BARK. 



Mr. Thrupp states that if the bark of a wattle tree of three or four years 

 be slit down on the south side with a sharp knife, from root to first branch, 

 the increase in the bulk of the bark will be considerable. This has been 

 tried in the Montacute District of South Australia^successfully for years. 

 Spring is the proper time for this work. (Journal S. A. Bureau of Agri- 

 culture, November, 1889.) A correspondent of mine, engaged in wattle 

 cultivation in the Blue Mountains, has also practised this method with 

 success. He has instituted comparative experiments, and is convinced of 

 the advantage of the process in increasing bulk of bark. He performs the 

 operation in the early winter (May or June). 



(/.) FIBRE IN BARKS. 



The best wattle barks contain comparatively little fibre. A good bark 

 will, as a rule, grind to a fine powder, while one which with the same treat- 

 ment forms a fibrous substance is, as a rule, to be avoided. I have not, 

 however, come to any conclusion with respect to the connection between 

 percentage of tannic acid and fibre. The practical disadvantages of a too 

 fibrous bark are twofold ; firstly, it cannot easily be disintegrated (this may 

 perhaps be got over by substituting cutters for crushers) ; secondly, a dis- 

 integrated fibrous bark may be so bulky that sufficient cannot be got into 

 the pits to tan the leather, and when it is exhausted it is difficult to remove. 

 This difficulty need not be insurmountable, but in a few years it is to be 

 hoped that the supply of little-fibrous bark will be adequate. 



