The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1884. CULTIVATION OF THE WATTLE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1266, 18 November 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1884. CULTIVATION OF THE WATTLE.

In pursuing our enquiries with regard to what can best be calculated to enable farmers to extract wealth from their land, we have just come across a bit of information wi'ich we deem of special interest. It will be remembered that towards the close of last session a question w»s asked in the ilouscwith referenc to (lie cultivation of the Wattle, anrl that Ministers promised to encourage the matter as much as possible. Ministeralways promise to encourage things, but fhey invariably find out the wrong way <«f doing U, and we are afr«id thry will rot be more successful in this than anything else. However, to our mind the cultivation of the wattle tree is a matter which requires very little Ministerial care. Farmers invariably plant trees as nu ornament, and to afford shelter, and ihey might as well plant the wattle tree as any other, especially as (if the information before us is correct) it is capable of being made a very profitable industry. A parliamentary paper just to hand gives a few details regarding this subject. It gives the foUovriag as the estimate of § a bark-giowing company proposed to be floated in Melbourne. Trees planted 6ft. x 6ft., 1,200 trees to the acre. Estimate for 200 acres : £s. d. Cost of clearing land, at £1 per acre 200 0 0 Planting, at 5s 8d per acre 66 13 4 Pruning, at 10s per acre 100 0 0 Miscellaneous, at 3s4d per acre 33 6 8 £4OO 0 0 Proposed that 200 acres be planted every year for four years, the expenditure of which would be as follows : £ Cost of land, 1,580 acres at £3 4,740 Clearing first 2UU acres 40u 5,140 Clearing second 200 acres 4UO 5,540 Clearing third 2CO acres 400 5,940 Clearing fourth 200 acres 4UO £6,340 Bark off 6000 trees per acre, thinned at four years, say 141 b, per tree ; 75cwt. per acre, or 750 tons from the 200 acres, at £5 per ton on the tree =£3,750, so th>it from the four blocks there will be £ID,O'?O of bark off the trees thinned our, and the trees left to mature, 600 per acre ; should give all round considerably over -|cwt. each. We have 15 tons per acre, or, on each 200 acrep, 3,000 tons of matured bark, at £5 per ton, £15,000. £ Total of thinning out 800 acres, 3,000 tons, at £5 ... 15,000 Total of clearing off 800 acres, 12,000 tons, at £5 ... 60,000 £75,000 From this it will be seen that the profitH are enormous. But the profits are still greater than they appear, for it would I not be necessary to plant the ground agaiu as young trees would spring up from the roots of the one which had been cut down, as the following will show : " After the removal of the bark and wood, the debris should be burnt off, and no further sowing or planting would be required, as the young wattles would spring up after burning as thick as a crop of corn, and would simply require thinning out. Last April some of our men who were stripping for us burned off a lot of rubbish from the stripping, and just after a shower or two fell, and a fortnight after there were thousands of young wattles 6in. high." In the report are also given the following facts : " The evidence given before the Wattle Bark Commission appointed by the Victorian Government was all to the effect that the wattle came to maturity at from eiyht to ten years; that trees of 8i». d'amater, 2ft. from the ground, gave from SO b. to 401 b. of baric, and that first-class trees gave The Commissioners cut down a tree six years old, 29ft. high, Ift. in diameter, at 3ft. from the ground, and it yielded over of barx. It has been frequently stated by experts that, with a i proper system of training and pruning, j mature trees may be made to produce 50 per cent, more than in the wild state. One man, who paid a great deal of attention to•■wattle-growing, supplied the Commission with the following information : With cultivation you will have 19,360 trees, Isl't. high, per acre, averaging 2£in. in diameter. At the end of four years one-half must be thinned out. from which would be obtained 41b. of wattle per tree ; this would give 17 tons per acre, and each year every alternate tree shou'd be removed, producing about or over 17 tons per year, until, at the end of the tenth year, the yield would stan 1 at 122 tons per acre. It is very difficult to get any reliable figures with respect to the actual yield of cultivated wattles. The above statements are the best that can be had, but must bo accepted with caution. The wattle requires to be drawn up long and tall, hence they are best sown very thickly. They should not be l«ft without supervision. The plough should pass between the rows as they grow. They should he pruned carefully, nof haphazard, as they may bleed to death, or ba checked jn the growth j and, again, the trees must be periodically thinned out. By attention to these dbections an even sample of bark is procured, which would command a top price." Now there is a great deal of high barren land in this district which is not particularly good for either agricultural or pastoral pursuits and it appears to us t|if|t tliis might be made to yield wealth to its owners by plantiue wattles on it. The cost of planting would be a mere nothing; is is an industry which is within the reach t.f every farmer in the district ; it needs very little capital, and the trouble conuected with it is not much.

For one or two pounds a farmer could plant an acre of wattle at brst, as an experiment, and then if he found it answered lie could extend bis operations. The bark is sold for tanning purposes and is worth about £5 per ton.