12 NOTE ON BABUL. 



it is easily stripped from the tree. After removal the bark is allowed 

 to dry, and is then beaten up into small pieces by the same mallet , 

 it cannot be kept in this state for more than a year ; for, if kept longer 

 than this, it begins to lose its tanning colour. The prepared bark is 

 then mixed with myrabolans, which have also been broken up into 

 small pieces, in the proportion of 160 Ibs. of Babul bark to 100 Ibs. 

 of myrabolans. The object of this mixture is stated to be to ensure a good 

 colour, since if Babul bark alone is employed the resulting colour is 

 deep yellow instead of brown. A sufficient quantity of water (exact 

 proportion not stated) is added to the mixture, and into this prepara- 

 tion the skin to be tanned, which has already been soaked in lime for 

 about 15 days, is dipped. It remains immersed for three or four days, 

 and is then taken out and sewn into a sort of bag with aloe fibres. It 

 is then filled with the same preparation and hung up for four or five 

 days, by the end of which time the tanning process is complete. 



Quality of Bark. 



Mr. Pethe states that bark from the branches, trunks and roots 

 are all valued for tanning, but bark from the branches is the best. This 

 does not agree with the analysis given above, in which trunk bark is 

 shown to contain the largest percentage of tannin. Probably Mr. Pethe 

 had in mind large trees with very thick trunk bark, for it is generally 

 agreed that young trees yield the best bark for tanning purposes. 



The late Mr. C. S. McKenzie writing from Sind says : " although the 

 quantity of tannin in the bark increases with the size and age of the 

 tree, old bark yields a darker coloured tannin, and for this reason 

 the barks of younger trees and branches is preferred." Mr. Pethe says : 

 " young trees of 5 to 10 years old give the best bark for tanning." In 

 contrast with these statements, the author of an article entitled " Tannin 

 Materials " in Volume XXI of the " Textile Journal " writes : " the larger 

 the tree, the greater the tannin contents of the bark become, and it also 

 becomes a little darker in colour, and consequently in some districts, 

 where Babul is very plentiful, the local tanners only use the bark of 

 the larger branches, as they get a better coloured leather from this than 

 the trunk bark." Both Messrs. Gamble and the author of the 

 Dictionary of Economic Products, however, agree that eight to ten 

 years would probably be the most profitable rotation under which to 

 grow Babul for tanning purposes ; and Messrs. Cooper Allen & Co., of 

 Cawnpore, who probably have more experience in the matter than any 

 other firm, state, in a note on Babul planting drawn up by them, that 

 " the best age for a tree from which bark is to be taken is ten years." 

 Their opinion may be accepted as final. 



