XII 
SISAL HEMP AND BLACK WATTLE 115 
attention to this end means everything. A strong 
point in favour of the industry lies in the fact that 
a regular and constant supply of labour is required. 
This fact places it at an advantage with those 
industries which require a lot of labour at one season 
only. The prospects of sisal in British East Africa 
look singularly rosy. 
Black Wattle .—The cultivation of Black Wattle 
(.Acacia decurrens ) has in the last two or three years 
received much attention, and bids fair to supply one 
of the premier products of the country. As is, of 
course, well known, black wattle is grown partly for 
the timber but mainly for the bark, from which a high 
percentage of tannin can be extracted. The source 
from which the bulk of the bark imported into Europe 
came was originally Australia; but nowadays this 
country has been, to a large extent, superseded by 
Natal. The exports from this country have risen 
from ,£89,000 in 1906 to £*192,000 in 1909, with a 
much greater increase during the last few years. 
Among the various questions that must be asked 
with reference to the economic cultivation of wattle 
in the Protectorate are emphatically the following : 
(1) Are there areas in which wattle will grow and 
come to maturity, and if so, where and in how long ? 
(2) Will the bark contain an adequate percentage of 
tannin, and will it be of marketable quality ? (3) Is 
there a ready and certain market for the bark ? 
(4) Does the same apply to the timber ? (5) Is there 
any fear of over-production ? 
The first question can at once be answered in the 
affirmative. There is a very considerable extent of 
country over which wattle will grow and grow well. 
In Natal wattle grows best in what is known as the 
