NOTE ON BABUL. 



13 



Outturn and Price. 



That there is a large demand for Babul bark in India is evidenced 

 by the fact that the Cawnpore tanneries alone are stated to consume 

 500,000 maunds annually, and, since the local supply is declining, the 

 establishment of plantations within an economic radius of Cawnpore 

 has been mooted. 



It is also stated that in Hyderabad and Kotri, which are the chief 

 centres of the bark trade in Sind, some 115,000 maunds of Babul bark 

 are sold annually for tanning purposes and also for making country 

 liquor. 



It is exceedingly difficult to obtain any reliable figures regarding 

 outturn and price ; for Babul trees are, as a rule, sold standing to con- 

 tractors, and the bark trade is therefore not in the hands of the Depart- 

 ment. The Chief Conservator of Forests of the Central Provinces in 

 1913, however, gave it as his opinion that arrangements could be made 

 to sell the bark separately, if necessary. 



The price will obviously depend largely on the local labour supply 

 and the distances from the Railway. Although no general figures 

 can be quoted, the following statistics may be of interest : 



From an experiment carried out in the Berar Circle of the Central 

 Provinces it was estimated that the cost of collection alone, without 

 carriage to rail, or railway freight, would be Rs. 0-10-6 per maund in the 

 Amraoti Division, and Rs. 0-13-8 per maund in the Akola Division. 



In his Forest Economic Products of India published in 1912, Mr. 

 Pearson states : " The prices vary in different localities from 10 annas 

 to Re. 1-4-0 per maund of 82 Ibs. In Cawnpore the ruling prices at 



B 



