8 



B. — Income. 





\T 1 Af ATI Q n KAQl'n 



V lOtUIldU UUtuU. 



i»j.r. oruwii. 



Dir. i oi mi. 



Yield of 5th year trees each 



Yield 6 th year 

 Yield 7th year 

 Value of bark, per ton 

 Total yield in tons 



561b. "j 

 701b. 



841b. » J 

 £4 



1,215 (8 years) 



101b. from each tree 

 admittedly a low- 

 estimate. 



£5 



500 (7 years) 



> 



> 121b. 



£7 10/. 

 642 (7 years). 



Harvesting Wattle-Barks. 

 (a). Time of Year/or Stripping. 



Wattle-barks are often gathered all the year round, whereas they should only be stripped for 

 three or four months in the year ; (the months recommended are September, October, November, and 

 December)! out of that season there is usually a depreciation of tannin in the bark. In these months, 

 also, the sap usually rises without intermission, and the bark is easily removed from the tree. The 

 impression appears to have prevailed amongst bark-strippers that whenever the bark would strip it 

 possessed full tanning properties, but this is erroneous. After a few days of rain during other seasons 

 of the year, a temporary flow of sap will cause the bark to be easily detached from the trunk, but then 

 it is greatly inferior in quality. (Report Victorian Board.) 



Mr. A. L. Thrupp, in a paper read in March, 1890, before the Congress of Agricultural Bureaux 

 in Adelaide, carefully warns tanners and others against receiving wattle- bark damp, pointing out that 

 bark in that state engenders mould " of a most virulent form," is liable to spontaneous combustion if 

 stacked in the hold of a vessel, and, while bark received green will tan hides as fast as bark received 

 dry, still, there is the undeniable fact, in nine cases out of ten, that leather produced from bark so 

 received, so stacked, and used for tanning purposes is spotted, and therefore of second rate or third rate 

 value. . . . 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, South Australian Bureau of Agriculture, 

 November, 1889.) A correspondent of mine, engaged in wattle cultivation in the Blue Mountain, 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). . . 



(b.) Age and size of Trees. 

 Wattle-bark should only be procured from mature trees, i.e., from those whose bark possesses the 

 full natural strength. The Victorian Board states, as has already been noted, that bark- stripping may 

 profitably commence at the end of the fifth year, and returns undoubtedly commence not later than 

 this period. 



Mr. J. E. Brown strips his wattles at about 6 years of age, but the exact period can only be de- 

 cided by the cultivator's common sense. Mr. A. Bucknell mentions that wattle trees mature in seven 

 years in the Majorca plantation, Ballarat. Mr. W. Ferguson of Victoria makes the general statement 

 that none should be cut under five inches in diameter,— a reasonable suggestion which might be en- 

 forced, on Crown lands, by legislative enactment. 



Some people fell their wattles before stripping, and use the wood for fire-wood. 



Bark-strippers as a rule leave about a third of the bark on the tree, besides leaving unsightly dead 

 trees. It should also be borne in mind that dead and decaying trees are a source of danger to the 

 plantation, owing to the harbour they give to insect pests. The matter of utilizing the bark on the 

 twigs, &c, will be alluded to below. . . 



(c.) Export, Packing, 8fc. 

 In regard to the preparation of bark for export, the following letter from a well-known London 

 firm of brokers, which appeared in the Leather Trades' Circular and Review of the 8th March, 1887, 

 is valuable : — 



" In reply to a question as to the best form in which to ship mimosa (wattle) bark, we beg to state 

 that the trade, as a rule, prefer it ground, so long as they can be sure it is not adulterated. Some few, 

 however, cannot be satisfied unless they grind it themselves. We should recommend shipments of 

 well-ground, with a few parcels chopped or crushed in bags, but, as we know that freight is heavier on 

 the latter, and buyers expect a reduction of from 10s. to 20s a ton to cover cost of grinding, the former 

 will generally be most satisfactory to shippers. We think that the strength is better preserved in the 

 chopped than in the ground, but there is nothing we can suggest as an improvement on the best stan- 



* An extravagant estimate, except for picked trees. Every third tree stripped. 



t No fixed time, applicable to all parts of New South Wales and to varying seasons, can be given. Farmers and 

 others will have to find the best time from their own experience, supplemented, of course, by assays of bark stripped at 

 various periods. 



