xii SISAL HEMP AND BLACK WATTLE 115 



attention to this end means everything. A strong 

 point in favour of the industry lies in the fact that 

 a regular and constant supply of labour is required. 

 This fact places it at an advantage with those 

 industries which require a lot of labour at one season 

 only. The prospects of sisal in British East Africa 

 look singularly rosy. 



Black Wattle. — The cultivation of Black Wattle 

 {Acacia decurrens) has in the last two or three years 

 received much attention, and bids fair to supply one 

 of the premier products of the country. As is, of 

 course, well known, black wattle is grown partly for 

 the timber but mainly for the bark, from which a high 

 percentage of tannin can be extracted. The source 

 from which the bulk of the bark imported into Europe 

 came was originally Australia ; but nowadays this 

 country has been, to a large extent, superseded by 

 Natal. The exports from this country have risen 

 from ,£89,000 in 1906 to £192,000 in 1909, with a 

 much greater increase during the last few years. 



Among the various questions that must be asked 

 with reference to the economic cultivation of wattle 

 in the Protectorate are emphatically the following : 



(1) Are there areas in which wattle will grow and 

 come to maturity, and if so, where and in how long ? 



(2) Will the bark contain an adequate percentage of 

 tannin, and will it be of marketable quality ? (3) Is 

 there a ready and certain market for the bark? 

 (4) Does the same apply to the timber ? (5) Is there 

 any fear of over-production ? 



The first question can at once be answered in the 

 affirmative. There is a very considerable extent of 

 country over which wattle will grow and grow well. 

 In Natal wattle grows best in what is known as the 



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