Dyes and Tans. 



110 



[August, 1909. 



Average data :— Conservator of Forests, 

 Natal, 



Rainfall. 

 From 20 inches, if soil is deep and moist 

 and mist frequent 30 inches to 40 inches 

 most suitable. 



Price of land £1 to £6. 

 Cartage limits \ Fuel 8-10 miles 

 killing profits. J Mine props 16-20 miles. 



Seed per Acre. 

 In lines 1 lb. to 1| lbs. 

 Broadcast 3 lbs. to 5 lbs. 

 Thinning. 

 Cut out dominated stems, prune back 

 dominating stems ; first unremunerative 

 thinning at 3 or 4 years ; keep as far 

 apart as you can so long as canopy is 

 maintained and stems are clean. Usual 

 final espacement 6-10 feet or 220 to 400 

 stems per acre. 



Crop. 



Time from 5 years : average 10 years. 

 Yield. 



Average 5 tons of dry bark, 30 tons of 

 dry timber. 



Price. 



Bark average at Dalton, the centre of 

 Noodeberg district: £6 to £6 10s. per 

 ton for bark in bundles, 



Ground and bagged £1 more. 



Fuel £5 to £20 per truck of 20 tons. 



Pit props (heavy) double fuel prices. 



There are some 30,000 acres of Black 

 Wattle plantations in Natal. 



Owing to the dry weather in 1906 

 hindering the stripping of the trees, the 

 Natal export of Wattle bark fell from 

 £112,000 worth in 1905 to 80,000 worth in 

 1906. A considerable increase is, how- 

 ever, looked for during 1907. The price 

 of bark for 1907 is about £1 per ton 

 higher than in 1906. Owing to the ex- 

 tent of land suited for the growth of 

 this tree being somewhat limited, such 

 lands have changed hands at prices vary- 

 ing from £5 to £10 per acre. £6 per acre 

 may be looked on as the average value 

 -of good Wattle land in Natal, In Natal 

 the industry is now a well-established 

 and, generally speaking, a profitable one. 

 Yield of Firewood. 



The yield in firewood, at 40 lbs. per 

 c. ft. and cropping at 10 years, amounts 

 to a mean yearly timber yield (Acrim) of 

 150 c. ft. AVhere the Wattles grow very 

 cmickly and can be cut at 5 years the 

 Acrim would be 300 c. ft. The Black 

 Wattle grows as well in the Eastern 

 districts of Cape Colony as in Natal. The 

 average over 643 acres of wattle planta- 

 tion (mostly Black Wattle) at Fort 

 Cunnynghame, cropped at seven years, 



was an Acrim of 83 c. ft. (Sim in For. F« 

 of Cape Colony). 



In the Transkeian district of Cape 

 Colony where there has been much des- 

 truction of forest by natives, special plan- 

 tations of Black Wattle have been formed 

 to supply the natives with poles anchthus 

 save the young trees in the forest. 



An average sample of Natal Black 

 Wattle analysed by Mr. A. Pardy, F.G.S., 

 of Maritzburg gave :— 

 Soluble matter ... ... 47'90 



Non-tannin ... ... 11*94 



Tanning matter ... ... 35"96 



95*80 



Black Wattle Planting Experiment, 



The planting of Black Wattle in Bri- 

 tish East Africa can at present be looked 

 upon as an experiment only. At best, it 

 is a climatic exiotic here, its success 

 depending on altitude compensating 

 latitude, and herein is a serious element 

 of doubt. In the early days of tree-plant- 

 ing on the Rand (Johannesburg) it was 

 commonly remarked that every South 

 African tree would grow. Here it was 

 assumed that altitude would compensate 

 latitude ; but after a few years the num- 

 bers of successful introductions rapidly 

 fell off ; and every severe year since, 

 (either of frost or drought), has marked 

 a further elimination of the unfit. 



On the Nilgiris, in Southern India, 

 the climatic conditions almost exactly 

 x'epeat those of the highlands of British 

 East Africa. Between 35 and 40 years 

 ago a number of extra-tropical trees were 

 introduced, and a few of these have thri- 

 ven amazingly. In no part of the world 

 does the Blue-gum (Euc. globulus) yield 

 higher returns, One of the Himalayan 

 pines, Pinus longijolia, has for a pine 

 an almost equally remarkable growth. 

 When first introduced on the Nilgiris 

 the Dealbata variety of Black Wattle 

 grew well. After a few years, however, 

 it gradually altered its flowering period, 

 and degenerated, in most localities, to a 

 nearly worthless scrub about 30 feet 

 high. In 1883 I averaged the yield of 

 Black Wattle on the Nilgiris at 3 tons 

 (dty wood) per acre per annum. Mr. 

 Cowley Brown, a Madras Forest officer 

 who has recently written an extremely 

 interesting report on the Australian and 

 other trees introduced on the Nilgiris, 

 states that now the yield is under 3 tons 

 per acre per annum. When I left the 

 Nilgiris in 1880 the Silver Wattle was 

 looked on as a pest, and people were pay- 

 ing at the rate of £10 per acre to have it 

 dug out, root and branch, from the com- 

 pounds of houses. 



So far appearances are in favour of 

 the Black Wattle succeeding better on 



