November, 1908.) 



419 



Dyes and Tans, 



given in the statistical returns for the 

 French Colonies since 1900. Annatto 



Saste was imported into the United 

 kingdom from Ceylon in considerable 

 quantities some years ago. but owing, 

 it is said, to a falling off in the quality 

 of the material, the demand for it 

 diminished. 



Manufacturers in the United Kingdom, 

 and merchants handling annatto paste, 

 say that the reason for the decline in 

 the market for this article is entirely 

 due to the practice of adulterating it 

 in the countries where it is produced, 

 and that if a clean paste of good 

 quality were produced it would com- 

 mand a ready sale. Unless, however, a 

 paste of excellent quality can be made 

 it is better to export the seeds. 



In Brazil annatto paste was formerly 

 made by crushing the seeds in hot 

 water, decanting the liquid containing 

 the colouring matter in suspension, and 

 evaporating it to a pasty consistence 

 in shallw pans over a fire. More 

 recently, however, in Brazil and French 

 Guiana the uncrushed seeds have been 

 mixed with hot water aud the mass 

 agitated until the whole of the pulp 

 carryiug the colouring matter has been 

 washed off. The muddy liquor so 

 produced is decanted through a sieve 

 to remove the seeds. The liquor is then 

 allowed to stand until the insoluble 

 colouring matter held in suspension 

 settles to the bottom when the useless 

 supernatant liquid is poured off and 

 the wet paste or colouring matter is 

 dried by exposure to sun heat. The 

 paste so produced can be prepared 

 for the market in several ways- It 

 may be formed into rolls weighing from 

 4 to 5 lb. each, and, after drying, 

 wrapped in banana leaves and then 

 packed in boxes or sacks, as is the 

 custom in Brazil ; or it may be made 

 into small cheese-like masses weighing 

 from 1 to 2 oz-,, and these, when 

 quite dry, packed in boxes holding 

 from 4 to 5 cwts. The French Guiana 

 variety of annatto is superior in 

 quality to the Brazilian (Spanish). 



It will be seen that no special 

 machinery is required for the production 

 of annatto paste by these processes, 

 but doubtless the extraction of the 

 colouring matter could be made more 

 efficiently and rapidly if mechanical 

 agitation were employed to keep the 

 seeds in motion while they are in the 

 water, aud similarly the seoaration of 

 the colouring matter from the mother 

 Liquor and its subsequent drying could 

 be more cleanly and rapidly effected 

 by the use of filter press. 



Owing to the very small demand 

 existing for annatto paste in the 



United Kingdom at the present time 

 it is impossible to obtain a satisfactory 

 idea of its commercial value, but it 

 appears that Cayenne paste from French 

 Guiana fetches about lOd. per lb. in 

 France at present, and that good 

 qualities of Ceylon paste when imported 

 into the United Kingdom were worth, 

 as a rule, from Is. 6d. to 2s, per lb. 



Uses of Annatto. 



At present annatto is principally 

 employed as a colouring agent for 

 food materials such as butter, margarine 

 aud cheese. It was formerly used in 

 considerable quantity for dyeing silk, 

 but is now little employed for this 

 purpose as better dyes less fugitive 

 to light are available, — Bulletin of the 

 Imperial Institute, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1908. 



PRODUCTION AND UTILISATION 

 OF WATTLE BARK. 



The wattle or mimosa barks of com- 

 merce are derived from several species of 

 Acacia indigenous to Australia, whence 

 the barks have long been exported to Eu- 

 rope for use as tanning materials. The 

 name "wattle" was bestowed on the 

 aacias in Australia owing to their 

 willow-like habit, and from the fact that 

 they were used in the early days of 

 the colony for binding hurdles to- 

 gether, generally to serve the same pur- 

 pose as the wattles of Europe, 



The species most priced for the pro- 

 duction of bark are Acacia pyenantha 

 (Golden Wattle), Acacia decurrens, 

 Willd., Acacia decurrens, var. mollis- 

 sinia (Acacia uwllissima, Willd.), Black- 

 Wattles, and Acacia dealbata (Silver 

 Wattle) . Of these the bark of A . pyenan- 

 tha is usually richest in tannin, whilst 

 that of A. dealbata is poorest. A, de- 

 currens, var. mollissima, has, however,, 

 the advantage of being hardier and 

 giving on the whole a better yield of 

 bark, and consequently wherever, as in 

 Natal, wattle cultivation on a large 

 scale has been attempted, this variety 

 has generally been selected for planta- 

 tion. 



Formerly the supply of wattle bark 

 came almost exclusively from Australia, 

 and especially from South Australia and 

 Tasmania, but in 1880 wattles were in- 

 troduced into Natal, and within the 

 last ten years or so the plantations of 

 Natal have begun to supply a preponder- 

 ating share of the material. Similar 

 progress has not been made in Australia, 

 but this is probably partly due to the fact 

 that the Commonwealth exporters have 

 relied principally on natural forests, and 



