and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



DIVI-DIVI. 



A Useful Tanning Teeh, 



Of exotic trees established at various centres 

 in Southern India, one occasionally meets with 

 Cceesalptnia coriaria, otherwise known as 

 " Divi Divi ", the latter appellation being pos- 

 sibly derived from the West Indian or South 

 American vernacular name. But the tree is 

 seldom found iu much quantity, and the export 

 of its valuable pods, used for tanning and making 

 ink, is of trifling importance at present. Culti- 

 vation in Botanical Gardens, by the Forest 

 Department, and at other experimental stations 

 throughout India, has made known thecultur- 

 able and climatic requirements of the species,and 

 It only remains to utilise the experience thus 

 gained to establish plantations for the bene- 

 fit of both the planter and the State. As a 

 tanning material the sinuous pods are of 

 great value, the produce of a full grown tree 

 being worth, on the .average, 115 to R7 an- 

 nually. The pods at first pale green, then 

 changing to reddish brown and dark choco- 

 late, are profusely borne in clusters all over 

 the tree. Tne tree is rather extensively 

 planted about Madras, and good growth is 

 reported from Calcutta, Cawnpore, Khandesh 

 Bombay, Bangalore and other centres. Seed 

 can also be opened from nearly all the public, 

 gardens on the plains. With such a wide 

 range of successful experiment there should 

 be little difficulty in finding suitable sites 

 for plantations. The statement made in 

 "Watts' Dictionary," that in its native 

 habit the tree is "found in marshy situ- 

 ations " must be taken with caution. The same 

 thing was said about the Para Rubber tree 

 when it first came to the East, and it is now 

 well-known that both trees require good drain- 

 age in this country. 



To obtain rapid growth a clayish calcareous 

 soil has been recommended, while red soil is 

 said to have the opposite effect. But when 

 the red soil of Mysore is properly loosened 

 and pulverised, growth is not slow. What 

 #he tree really needs is a pliant root 

 medium of fairly good soil of any kind, 

 and when this is not procurable naturally i 

 large pits should be dug for the seedlings' 

 The latter should also be well established in 

 pots or baskets, being at least a foot high and 

 pretty sturdy at the time of planting , say, in 

 July and August for preference. An annual 

 rainfall ranging from 35 to to 70 inches seems 

 favourable both to growth and the production 



of pods. In unbroken soils of a compact or 

 hard nature, as also in poor land, growth is 

 decidedly slow ; and the sapling remains in a 

 whippy condition for many years. But under 

 proper treatment the tree attains a productive 

 size in eight to ten years, and eventually be- 

 comes a handsome object requiring consider- 

 able space. The short trunk throws out a 

 number of woody limbs which, in their turn, 

 give off numerous drooping branches, producing 

 in a single specimen theform of ahuge umbrella. 

 Several trees of this type may be seen iu the 

 Residency grounds at Bangalore, where they 

 flower profusely at the close of the year and 

 ripen fruit two or three months later. At the 

 flowering season the species is very attractive, 

 the small yellow flowers — sweetly scented 

 and swarming with bees — forming a striking 

 contrast with the sombre green of the foliage. 

 To form a plantation trees should be put out 

 at 20 feet apart each way, the intention being 

 to remove every alternate tree as growth de- 

 mands it. The species is long lived and very 

 tenacious of life. After the initial cost of 

 planting the outlay would be trifling. 

 As the pods ripen they fall to the grouud. Full 

 sized ones are said to contain 50 per cent of 

 pure tannin and are worth about 11125 a ton 

 or approximately the same amount per acre. 

 The removal of the seed from the matured 

 pod is a difficult operation and can only be 

 done by hand-picking, pounding and macera- 

 tion. Its romoval is also necessary to preserve 

 the purity of the tannin in the legume, an 

 oil in the seed being injurious to the latter. 

 For commercial purposes it has been suggested 

 to reduce the pod, or legume, to a condition 

 of chips or powder before the seed can do 

 any harm. As an Indian marketable product 

 divi-divi should certainly take a more important 

 place than it does at present. 

 —M. Mail, Jan. 17. J. C. 



