'The Bega Gazette and Eden District or Southern
Coast Advertiser'
22 July 1885
Bark Trade. - The bark industry round about Towamba
has gone ahead under the stimulus imparted
by the exertions of Messrs Brearley and Forbes,
who have had as many as 25 men at work stripping,
chopping, and bagging wattle bark for shipment
to Melbourne, and latterly to London, via
Sydney. The management has found it necessary
to purchase a steam engine and powerful cutting
machinery, and has now in store a large quantity
of bagged bark awaiting carriage to Eden,
a distance of about 12 miles. The firm offers
a high rate of remuneration to teamsters,
who will have loading both to and from the
port.
'Pambula Voice' November 10, 1893
* Wattle bark strippers are busy and are
likely to do well this season owing to the
high prices that are now ruling. Mr. Nicholson,
engineer for roads for this district was
here a few days ago and intends to do what
he can towards making our roads passable.
Carting bagged wattle bark. Love's Valley,
Pericoe.c 1925 Photo courtesy M. Price |
'Australian Town and Country Journal'
14 December 1895
* At Towamba a single wattle tree yielded
over a quarter of a ton of chopped bark.
January 10, 1896
Wyndham
*
The wattle bark trade, which is one of our
staple industries during the summer months,
is in much the same state as that of dairying
for want of rain. The bark sticks to the
trees and cannot be stripped, otherwise the
price for this commodity is satisfactory.
'Pambula Voice' April 29, 1898
PERICOE
Pericoe bark is again to the front. A shipment
of forty-two bags of wattle bark recently,
by Mr. J. H. Ryan, to Messers Winchcombe,
Carson & Company of Sydney, topped the
market at the splendid figure of £8 per ton.
This proves a superior quality of the bark
produced in this district.
February 22, 1910
'Illawarra Mercury '
* In less than two years 900 tons of wattlebark
were consigned from Nangutta (Bega) to Sydney,
and averaged £9 per ton.
November 13, 1920
'The Sydney Morning Herald'
* The wattlebark industry in the districts
of Rocky Hall, Towamba, Wyndham, and Lochiel
is very considerable. During the year ending
June 30 last, one buyer paid out over £10,000,
and several others were operating.
May 23, 1924
'Albury Banner and Wodonga Express'
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
* Neglected Australian Industry.- Wattle-bark
grown in South Africa is being landed in
Sydney at £1 per ton cheaper than the product
from our own South Coast. The position is
truly an anomalous one, when it is considered
that Australia is practically the home of
the Mimosa and that the varieties grown commercially
in South Africa have all been imported from
this country. The production of wattle-bark
on a scientific basis is an industry which
has never been seriously attempted locally,
though it is one which, owing to natural
conditions, should prove quite lucrative.
The value of the wattle-bark grown in South
Africa amounts to well over £1,000,000 annually.
BURRAGATE
'Magnet' February 22, 1930
* Great activity in the bark industry. During
the last fortnight record loads have left
for the Eden mill.
PERICOE
'Magnet' April 12, 1930
* Lorry loads of wattle bark are still being
hauled from Nungatta.
Original Nangutta Homestead buildings. ('Nangutta' now often spelt 'Nungatta'.) |
Manager's cottage. Photos K. Clery |
BURRAGATE
'Magnet' July 4, 1931
* Mr. Ted Ryan has sent several record loads
of bark to the Eden mill this week.
'Magnet' September 12, 1931
* Bark stripping has commenced in earnest.
Strippers are hoping for reasonably good
market.
'Magnet' October 3, 1931
* The rain during the week has been most
beneficial and acceptable. Owing to the previous
dry weather bark stripping had to cease,
the bark refusing to leave the trees. If
only we could tame "those fierce westerlies",
the weather would be most enjoyable.
'Magnet' June 2, 1934
* Mr. A. E. Alexander topped wattle bark
market at £9/10/- . Bark from this
locality usually tops the market.
Leo Farrell of Towamba demonstrates how wattle bark was stripped from the trunk of the common black wattle tree, and bundled ready for transport. Photos courtesy of Rene Davidson. |
||||
'Magnet' November 3, 1934
WATTLEBARK
Farmers and graziers report: The market continues
extremely quiet and the dullness has been
accentuated by the fact that consignments
coming forward in many cases have not been
dried sufficiently. Tanners do not want bark
in sappy condition at any price. Quotes:
Best heavy to £9/10/-, Medium growth £8/10/
to £9, Good light to £8/5/-, Inferior £5
to £6 per ton.
Harry Grant at Eden Wharf with a load of wattle bark. 1937 |
PERICOE
'Magnet' March 9, 1935
* Mr. Hood, a partner in the firm of Hood
Bros., Sydney, boot manufacturers has bought
200 acres of land, part of the well known
Rankin property near Towamba with the object
of utilising it for wattle culture. He has
taken a house in Towamba where he will reside
pending the erection of a home on his newly
acquired holding.
Alby Love's truck loaded with wattlebark.
No date. Courtesy Susan Love |
'Magnet' November 23, 1935
WATTLE BARK AT TOWAMBA
Application from Mr. V.C.O. Smith, Towamba,
for permit to strip wattle trees on parts
of two unused streets adjoining portion 153,
Village of Sturt. Resolved permit be granted
on payment of fee of 10 shillings and subject
to usual conditions.
One of the last loads of bundled wattle bark
to leave the area was stripped by Leo Farrell, his brother William and with the help of Glen Jessop. 1966 |
With the proceeds from this load Leo and
William purchased the property 'Fulligans' on the Wog Wog River near Pericoe. |
The truck belonged to Bert Overend. The wattle
bark was collected from all around the district |
This was the largest load of bundled wattle
bark ever delivered to the mill at Melbourne. |
September 11, 1936
'The Land'
Tan Bark Industry on South Coast
* The gathering of wattle-bark for tanning
purposes is still an industry on the far
South Coast. Here is a load en route to market.
'Magnet'
January 9, 1947
WATTLE BARK TARIFF
Because the supply of Australian wattle bark
is insufficient to meet the requirements
of local tanners, the Federal Government
will continue to allow a certain amount of
wattle bark and wattle bark extract to enter
this country free of duty.
This was the answer given to Mr. Allan Fraser
when he recently approached the Minister
for Trade and Customs (Senator Courtice)
with the suggestion that some local wattle
bark growers were finding it difficult to
compete with the imported product.
Senator Courtice pointed out that duty on
sufficient imported wattle bark to meet increased
war needs was lifted back in 1942 after representations
had been made to the Government by the Federated
Master Tanners and Leather Manufacturers
Association.
Distilling Eucalyptus Oil in the Wyndham,
Towamba and Lower Towamba Districts
A short article by W.R.Mitchell printed in 'Tales of the Far South
Coast' Vol 2.
During the 1920 to early 1940 time slot,
Black Peppermint, or more correctly, Eucalyptus
Australiana was in big demand for the production
of eucalyptus oil. It was very plentiful
in the Wyndham, Towamba and Lower Towamba
areas, but there was very little further
down the river toward Kiah.
Square iron ship tanks were used to distill
the eucalyptus oil. These tanks had a flat
edge on top, three for four inches wide,
so that a lid could be fitted. Black Peppermint
is a very soft timber, and the trees were
very easy to fell with axes. No chainsaws
in those days.
The leaves were trimmed off the branches
with cane knives and carted, usually with
a dray and horses, to the tank. The tank
was filled with water to one-third of its
capacity and then as many leaves as possible
tamped in to the tank - usually about 600
lbs of leaves to a tankful. Wet hessian was
placed on the flat ledge, and the lid was
tightly clamped on the tank. A pipe was fitted
near the top of the tank, and the pipe kept
under water to cool the steam, and a container
caught the oil and water at the end of the
pipe.
Eucalyptus oil is lighter than water. It
was possible to skim the oil off the top
and put it in a 44-gallon drum (200 litres).
A hot fire was lit under the tank and, when
it was cold in the winter, often took a couple
of hours to bring to a boil. As soon as the
water began to boil we examined the lid to
see if any steam was escaping. If so, wet
clay was used to stop the leak. We usually
kept the distilling going for about two hours,
but the best of the oil was obtained in the
first twenty minutes. As soon as one tankful
was finished, we emptied the leaves out with
pitchforks and filled the tank with fresh
leaves, and with everything hot we usually
had the water boiling again in about twenty
minutes.We usually cut several tank loads
of leaves before starting to distill. The
trouble was if the leaves got wet they had
to be turned to prevent them heating up and
losing their oil. The Booth Brothers from
Rocky Hall started distilling oil at Lower
Towamba about 1920. They paid a peppercorn
royalty of five or six shillings per drum,
the same royalty they paid the Forestry Commission
to cut leaves on Crown land. However, it
gave employment to anyone willing to cut
the leaves. Usually they employed the farmers
to collect the leaves, mostly with a horse
and dray.
Most of the Black Peppermint grew near roads
so it made it easy to collect the leaves.
It was a good day's work to cut a tankful
of leaves to produce a drum full of oil,
so the job was very labour intensive. I don't
know what oil was worth in the 1920s but
about 1940 it was about £120, delivered
to the I.S.N (Illawarra Steam & Navigation)
steamer at Eden.
This area produced oil of a very high quality
and Fauldings took all the oil available.
Best yields were obtained in summer, autumn
and winter, and lowest in the spring, when
the gum tips were on the trees, the mature
leaves giving the best yield of oil.
A site for the distillery was selected in
a sheltered part of the river and the pipe,
about sixty feet long, was kept under water.
The river was a nuisance. In dry seasons
water had to be diverted from the main stream
to the distillery. In flood times there was
a chance the plant would be damaged or even
washed away. When the eucalyptus distilling
was at its peak, mainly in the Wyndham area,
the eucalyptus cutters were called 'Monkey
Starvers'. They even had a football match
- the Monkey Starvers versus the rest. I
forget which side won.
No distilling was done at Lower Towamba
for some years after the Booth Brothers left,
but about 1938, Arthur Byrne & Partner
from Cadgee started operations again.
When they left, not wanting to take their
plant back to Cadgee, they sold it to my
brother and me. Not liking the river, it
being so temperamental, we set our distillery
near a building with a couple of large water
tanks on it. We made a cement trough to hold
water to cool the pipe. It worked well and
we operated that for a few years. However,
as World War 11 dragged on, manpower became
too scarce so operations ceased and were
not started again at Lower Towamba.
Eucalyptus oil distilled from Black Peppermint
is much stronger than any bought from shops,
and we were not troubled with colds or flu
while operating the distillery. Also eucalyptus
oil is the best method to loosen nasty nuts
that I know of.
The Wyndham area provided far more oil than
we did at Lower Towamba and certainly some
Wyndham people would have more experience
in eucalyptus than I had. Cadgee, inland
from Bodalla, provided a large amount of
oil from Black Peppermint. I am told some
distilling is still carried on at Yowrie
near Cobargo.