THE WORK OF THE FOREST DEPARTMENT IN INDIA. 33 



tan, is pre-eminently suitable for tanning sole leather. It con- 

 tains 15 20 per cent, of tannin. In conjunction with myra- 

 bolans it gives a fairly light-coloured leather of good texture. 

 Very large quantities are available, though the supply is by no 

 means inexhaustible, which indicates the necessity of creating 

 plantations in the vicinity of the more important tanneries. 

 Recently the babul has been very heavily exploited for its bark 

 to supply the greatly increased demand of the Cawnpore tan- 

 neries during the war. 



Cassia auriculata or tarwar bark is probably the best bark 

 available in India for tanning purposes and is the standard tan 

 bark of Southern India. It gives good weight to leather and 

 though it contains catechol-tannin like the mangrove bark, it is 

 less highly coloured and yields a fairly light-coloured leather. 

 About 50,000 maunds of it are stated to be available annually 

 from the forests of Marwar alone. It is found in large quan- 

 tities in the wild state and is cultivated : its cultivation might 

 with advantage be largely extended. 



Kahua (Terminalia Arjuna) and dhaura (Anogeissus lati- 

 folia) barks. These barks have recently come to notice, and 

 give promise of being useful tanning materials. 



Sal (Shorea robusta) and sain (Terminalia tomentosa) barks. 



These are inferior to the two previously mentioned barks, 



though of considerable value and extensively used in Northern 



India. Their value in the preparation of tan extracts has. 



still to be proved. 



Oak barks. These cannot be considered as marketable 

 articles on account of the inaccessibility and distance of the oak 

 forests from the centres of consumption. They contain a 

 similar amount of tannin to the European oak barks. 



Leaf tans or sumach. Some work regarding the possibilities 

 of leaf tans has been carried out at the Research Institute. It 

 has been found that the autumn leaves of Rhus Cotinus and 

 Rhus parvi flora are richest in tannin. Recently it has been 

 proved at the factory owned by the Eastern States of Central 

 India Export Trust that the young leaves and twigs of 

 Anogeissus latifolia (the dhaura or bakli) contain valuable 

 tanning properties. Should the results of experiments lead to 



