Conventional soda pulping results in lower pulp yield and
strength properties. It also needs a much longer cooking time. To
overcome these difficulties a study on the effect of anthraquinone
( AQ ) in the alkaline pulping of Acacia auriculiformis was conducted.
The result showed that 3.1 percent point yield gain was achieved in
the soda pulping with 0.05% AQ addition. The yield was comparable
to that of the kraft control. Further increase of AQ did not substantially
increase the yield. In kraft-AQ pulping the gain in yield
was less remarkable, although 1.4 percent point gain was obtained.
Addition of AQ can substantially reduce the alkali requirement ?.nd/
or duration of cooking. The quality of the AQ catalysed pulp was
in no way inferior to the kraft control.
The feasibility of using AQ in a soda pulp mill in Bangladesh
has been shown. It indicates a remarkable economical gain.

A community Forestry Project was initiated in 1980 in the
Protected Forest land at Pomra in the district of Chittagong. So
far, 126 landless families have been rehabilitated in 24 groups in the
project area by allotting 1.62 ha of denuded hills to each family.
Most of the families took loans from the Bangladesh Krishi Bank
for procuring inputs with the help of the Forest Department to
amounts ranging from Tk 1,000 to Tk 4,000. The paper discusses
the state of development of horticultural and forest plantations in
these plots, and the improvement of the standard of living and
socio-economic status of these families. The cropping pattern, inputoutput
ratio, Land Expectation Value and employment intensity have
been reported on the basis of a survey conducted on 24 families out
of 126.

The operational mechanism of the project is also discussed.
The major problems of the model have been outlined. The model,
if properly developed may substantially contribute towards salving
national problems like unemployment, poverty, food and forest
products deficits by depicting a way of optimum utilization of the
hitherto unproductive Unclossed State Forests, Protected Forests and
hilly khas lands of the country.

The flowering nature of Bambusa balcooa Roxb. has been described.
It was observed that it flowered giegariously in the clump
but sporadically over the area. The clump died after flowering without
setting any seed. The flowering cycle has been speculated to be
40 ±5 years.