102 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
I AUG. 2 , 1897 . 
“WATTLES AND WATTLE-BARKS.” 
IS THERE SCOPE FOB A NEW INDUSTRY 
IN THE HIGHER DISTRICTS OF 
CEYLON ? 
We direct attention to a suggestive letter on 
this subjeet from Mr. A. J. Kellow of Albion 
estate, Wilson’s Bungalow, who has perhaps 
given as much attention to tire discrimination 
and utilisation of the different Australian acacias 
as any other planter in Ceylon. JMr. Kellow 
has long being an ardent advocate of the plant- 
ing of “acacia decurrens” which, he maintains, 
does not run from the roots after the fashion of 
the m. ire familiar “A. meianoxylon” and “A. deal- 
bata,” both so common in Nuwara Eliya and 
its neighbourhood. The wood of “A. meian- 
oxylon” is so good for a variety of useful purposes, 
even up to cabinet work, and the tree is such 
a quick-growing one, that no one need regret 
its introduction where land is to spare ; but 
it can be very troublesome in or near tea fields. The 
late Rev. W. Oakley was accustomed to show 
a very handsome bookcase — almost as well marked 
in the grain as calaraander — which he had made 
from the timber of “ A. meianoxylon ” grown at 
Nuwara Eliya. In Mr. Maiden’s valuable Mono- 
graph on Wattles and Wattle Barks,” the 
following is a part of the refetence to this tree, 
the immediate purpose being to discuss the value 
of its bark : — 
Acacia'iiielanoxi/Joii, R. Br., B. FI., il, 388. 
The “ Blackffood,” but also known as “ Lightwood ” 
and occasionally as “ Black Sally,” “■ Hickory,” 
“ Silver Wattle.” 
The bark of this highly valuable timber has 
usually gone to waste after the wood has been 
obtained from the logs. " The bark is however, 
rich in tannic acid, and ought not to be left un- 
utilised, though no trees of this species should be 
sacrificed for the sake of their bark alone.” 
(Mueller), A sample of bark from Monga, near Braid- 
wood, N.S.W., yielded the author 11-12 per cent 
of tannic acid, and 20-63 per cent of extract. 
But our chief business at present has to do 
vvith the non-running “A. decurrens” and its 
ready growth in our hill-country and the very 
considerable value of its bark for tanning purposes. 
As regards the tree itself there is no need for 
the present that we should reproduce the learned 
botanical description of tiie live recognized varie- 
ties. We content our.seives with n few sen- 
tences as to the variety Mr. Kellow himself 
has no doubt in view, namely “ Acacia decur- 
rens Willd,” the technical de.-scription of which 
’is as follows 
A handsomo tree, glabrous, or more or less tomen- 
tose pubescent. (B), ef seq. Branches more or less 
prominently angled, sometimes almost winged. PinuEe, 
8-16 paira, or sometimes even more, rarely reduced 
to 5 "or 6. Leaflets {pi.nnules) very numerous^ (30-40 
pairs or even more) ; iiaeur, from under 2 lines to 
nearly 6 linaB long, aocoiding to the variety. 
Flower heads small, globular, in axillary racemes, 
the upper ones forming a terminal panicle. Flowers, 
20-30 in the head, mostly 5 merous. Calyx short, 
broadly lobsd, ciliate. Petals, with slightly prominent 
midribs. Pods, usually 3-4 inches long ; about J inch 
broad or rather more. More or less contracted 
between the seeds. Seeds ovate (B), small as com- 
jiared with tho'so of moat other arboreous acacias. 
A more popular rererence runs : - 
The Acacia Decuruexs Guoup of Watxles.— T he 
well-known feathery-leaved wattle, familisr to most 
people in the eastern and southern colonies,— by 
whom it is chiefly known by one of two names, 
viz., black or grc-on wattle — was fu-st botanically 
described by the botanist Willdenow, who defined 
two species, Acacia decwrens and Acacia niollisswia. 
In the Flora Australiensis, Bentham took Willde- 
now's decurrens as the typical species, reducing 
the other species to the rank of a variety under 
the name of mollis \ in other words. Acacia mol- 
lissima, Willd., is Acacia decurrens, Willd. vav. mollis, 
Benth. Bentham also called another variety nor- 
malis, a third one paueiqlandulosa, and a fourth 
(doubtfully) Leichhardt ii. 
A. decurrens is an important tan-bark in most of 
the colonies, and as the tree grows in the poorest 
soils, every encouragement should be given to its 
cultivation. B iron Mueller recommends planting of 
A. decurrens in worn-out lands overrua witti son-. 1. 
It is fond of moisture, and not of too much he it. 
The B-?.r.jn also gives its rate of growth as about 
1 iucli in diameter every year. Mr J. E. Brown 
mentions some trees in South Australia 30 feet hi-rh 
and 8 inches in diameter, only five y-tars of age, and 
I can record similar experience near Sydney. 
Mr. Kellow has had practic.al experience not 
only of the growth of “A decurrens,” but of 
the utilization of its bark for the use of Co- 
lombo tanners ; and we gather that he has been 
paid as much as at the rate of R140 per ton 
for his consignments. He doe.s not mention hi.s 
outlay in liarve.sting, drying and transporting 
the bark ; but this is not of so muc-li conse- 
quence, because for any one taking up the in- 
dustry on an appreciable scale, clearly the boil- 
ing-down process would have to be adopted to 
save the cost of carriage, which Mr. Kellow 
reminds us is equal to R25-46 per ton from 
Naunoya to Colombo. This boiling-down pro- 
cess is the more valuable, Irecause, as Mr. Kellow 
mentions, branches and prunings (mere trash) can 
be fully utilized as well as the stem bark. 
Maiden’s reference and account are as fol- 
lows : — 
The preparation of extracts causes an immense 
saving in freight, but an extract is chiefly valuable 
in that it enables us to utilise everything. The fol- 
lowing is an account of a process as carried on in 
South Australia at the present time, and is suggestive : 
— “ Messrs. Barrow' and Haycroft have established at 
Echunga a manufactory of tannage, which, from the 
methods employed, is almost pharmacentical. About 
10,000 tons of wattle bark are sent annually from 
South Australia alone, and it is calculated that the 
waste in stripping is about four times this amount. 
The new factory converts the branches, too small 
to pay for stripping, into a strong fluid extract called 
tannage, which contains water 60 per cent., and so- 
luble tannin 38-2 per cent., according to an analysis 
by Mr. G. H. Hodgson of samples from the first 80 
tons recently shipped to England. The wattle ‘ trash’ 
yields 12 to 16 per cent, of tannage. Two men can 
often cut and load 5 tons, and the waggons can 
brirrg in two loads a day, equal to 5 or 6 tons ; 
and at the price (flatonj which the firm is paying 
for thinnings and tops and branches, so much is 
offering that the patentees are obliged to distribute 
their order. The trash is tied up in large bundles 
and carted into the factory. It is their w-eighed, 
close beside the machine which outs it up into 
‘ chaff.’ This machine is very much like an ordinary 
steam-plane, the chisels revolving at a high speed, and 
cutting through 2J-inch saplings quite readily. The 
chips are shovelled into large wooden hoppers, into 
which steam is introduced from a large Cornish boiler. 
There are three steam-heated vats, and the liquor 
is transferred from oue to the other, pumped into 
elevated tanks, and thence allowed to flow from a 
tap on to steam-heated evaporating p ins, ab-out 30 
or 40 feet in length. The evaporation is so rapid that 
in traversing the pans from t’ne one end to the other 
the liquid is converted into a thick, tenacious, treacly 
extract. Attire end of the pan.s it flows into a cistern, 
and thence by a kind of treacle gats into the casks, 
each of which will hold about 10 cwt. All that now 
remains to be done is paste on a label, p-ut in a 
bung, weigh the cask, and send it off to market. In the 
process of evaporation a certain portion of 1 h 
