August, 1908.] 



121 



Oils and Fats, 



The candle-nut tree is not a very im- 

 portant tree in this country, but for 

 those who would wish to grow it for 

 experimental purposes the following 

 instructions given by Mr. J. Cameron of 

 Bangalore will be found useful :— " Seeds 

 germinate in about five weeks from the 

 time of sowing, or a week earlier if 

 placed in fermenting litter such as 

 leaves and bedstraw. When upwards of 

 a foot in height the seedlings should be 

 planted out into large square pits at 25-30 

 feet apart. Being a gross feeder, the 



tree requires the exclusive use of deep 

 fertile soil, as, when the roots of other 

 trees encroach, the Belgaum walnut 

 usually suffers and becomes stunted and 

 unproductive in consequence." — Indian 

 Agriculturist, Vol. XXXIII., No. 3. 



[This tree, Aleurites triloba, Forst., is 

 common in the West and South of 

 Ceylon, where it is known as Tel-kekuna. 

 There should be a market for the oil if it 

 could be collected from the growers at a 

 moderate cost — Ed.] 



DYES AND TANS. 



WATTLE CULTIVATION IN GER- 

 MAN EAST AFRICA. 



In a note in Der Pflanzer (1907, 3, 252) 

 it is stated that several samples of 

 the bark of Acacia decurrens, grown 

 at West Usambara, have been exa- 

 mined and reported on with a view 

 to ascertaining whether the cultivation 

 of wattle can be successfully undertaken 

 in German East Africa. Many of the 

 barks first examined gave promising 

 results, and as a consequence a number 

 of plantations have been laid down, 

 principally in the neighbourhood of 

 West Usambara. Some of the samples 

 of bark collected recently from these 



plantations have proved to be of poor 

 quality, and though barks of better 

 quality have also been obtained, this 

 inequality in material produced will, 

 unless it can be remedied, seriously affect 

 the future of the plantations. It is sug- 

 gested that the difference in the tannin- 

 content of the various samples is due 

 to principal causes, viz.. variation iu the 

 tannin-content of the tree at different 

 times of the year, and differences in the 

 method of treatment (drying &c.) of 

 the bark after stripping. These impor- 

 tant questions are receiving close atten- 

 tion with a view to the production of a 

 wattle-bark of uniform quality. — Bul- 

 letin of the Imperial Institute, Vol. 

 VI., No. 1., DOS. 



ft 



