Dyes and Tans. 



16 



[January, 190!i. 



ot revenue to the Municipality, besides 

 supplying a cheap and excellent tanning 

 material at the very doors of the chamars 

 who require it. The first crop of bark is 

 obtainable when tlie shrub is five years 

 old, so that the initial cost of cultiva- 

 tion is by no means prohibitive. 



Then, agaiu, there is Acacia arabica 

 (Babul) the bark of which furnishes 

 an excellent tanning material. The 

 Babul grows particularly well on black 

 cotton soil, and as the valley at the 

 entrance of which Burhanpur is situated, 

 consists almost entirely of this soil, 

 there would be no difficulty in growing 

 this species. Tenants and ryots might 

 be induced to plant their field bound- 

 aries and hedges with Babul, and would 

 always be sure of finding a market for 

 the bark- 



Cost of the Bark.— The chamars, as a 

 rule, extract their own baik obtaining 

 licenses from the Malguzars at the rate 

 of Rs. 3 to 4 per cart-load of dried 

 bark. This means an average royalty 

 of 8 annas per maund. 



Reasons for the Use of Kohar Bark.— 

 The real explanation of the use of Kohar 

 bark is that it is easy of extraction 

 and has been obtainable in abundance, 

 and the idea of any restrictions on a 

 custom of long standing is of course 

 repugnant to the ideas of any native. 

 —Indian Forester, October, 1908, Vol. 

 XXXLV. No. 10. 



[This is the Kumbuk tree of Ceylon, 

 known to the Tamils as Marutn, and 

 more commonly to botanists as Termi- 

 nalia glabra, it is common in dry 

 Ceylon and grows to a great size. The 

 astringent bark is used, in medicine, but 

 not, so far as we know, for tanning. 

 -Ed] 



INDIAN WATTLE BARK. 



"Wattle Bark" is the general name 

 applied, both in commerce and the arts, 

 to the barks of the various species of 

 Acacia exploited within the tropics and 

 elsewhere for the tannin which they 

 contain. Over the arid sandy wastes that 

 occur throughout the torrid regions of 

 the globe, the thorny acacias instal them- 

 selves on the banks and beds of rivers 

 and streams and shallow depressions 

 such as admit of the temporary lodge- 

 ment of water during rain. In some 

 situations during seasons of flood, they 

 are frequently completely submerged for 

 days, but recovering themselves from the 

 depressing effects of the transitory deluge 



with seeming impunity, they flourish 

 through the drier months of the year 

 under conditions of climate untenable to 

 all but very few species of broad-leaved 

 trees. Indeed the rigors of climate to 

 which the zones that constitute the 

 habitat of the acacias are subjected, may 

 be gauged from the fact that some of the 

 species are unable to develop ordinary 

 leaves. The phyllodes, which take the 

 place of the latter, are suitable modifi- 

 cations of the stem equipped to perform 

 all the functions of the leaves they 

 substitute. Although the foliar organs 

 of most of the acacias are usually small 

 and seemingly delicate, the profusion in 

 which they occur iu the plant, their 

 remarkable phyllotaxis or arrangement, 

 and their incessant and vigorous activity 

 throughout long and arduous periods of 

 vegetation result in the formation, among 

 the rest, of comparatively dense cortical 

 layers surcharged with a variety of 

 valuable substances of which the most 

 important is tannin. When it is re- 

 membered that the tropical acacias form 

 a large and well distributed group of 

 plants, it will be realized that the 

 availability of tannin from this source 

 alone is great indeed. Nevertheless, it is 

 a notorious fact that only a few species 

 of the genus are exploited for the 

 extraction of tannin. In India, again, 

 with about eighteen species that are 

 indigenous to the warmer parts of the 

 country, the barks of Acacia arabica, 

 (Willd., and Acacia catechu, Willd.,) are 

 the only ones at present employed to any 

 extent in the art of the tanner.. More- 

 over, it must be further conceded that, 

 so far from making the least attempt to 

 commercially exploit the bark of th ft 

 indigenous acacias, we have permittej 

 ourselves, at considerable expense, t Q 

 introduce four, and experiment with two 

 of the so-called wattle bark trees of 

 Australia. Introduced on the Nilgiri 

 hills of Southern India in the early 

 forties of the last century, these in- 

 teresting and valuable exotic acacias 

 required no less than a period of thirty 

 long years to become acclimatized and 

 completely naturalized. And even 

 though as doubtless they do, the black 

 and silver wattles of Australia (Acacia 

 decurrens, Willd., and Acacia dealbata, 

 Link.) yield relatively large quantities 

 of tannin of a quality which is inferior to 

 none, not only in India but wherever 

 else the factors of soil and climate have 

 been found to adequately suit their 

 several requirements, their adaptability 

 and general excellence in themselves 

 alone are circumstances which are un- 

 worthy to be advanced against the 

 serious consideration of the neglect to 

 which the local species have been now 

 and always consigned. 



