In Bangladesh bamboos are the most important forest produce and have become an integral part of the life of most people. Five species of bamboos occur in the forests of Bangladesh. The most important is Melocanna bambusoides. Other species such as Bambusa tulda, Dendrocalamus longispathus, Neohauzeaua dullooa and Oxytenanthera nigrociliata occur sporadically in gregarious areas of Melocanna bambusoides. The stocking varies from extensive areas of pure bamboo to scattered undergrowth in predominantly timber producing areas. In order to meet the increasing demand of bamboo, for both commercial and industrial purposes, all accessible areas have been overfelled and the obvious result has been their disappearence. Felling has now started in the less accessible areas and it appears that these will meet the same fate. Replenishment of stock has, therefore, attained a new dimension. All cultivated species respond well to vegetative propagation but the species found in forests are not amenable to any of the known methods. Seed, therefore, remains the only method by which large scale plantations of forest species can be undertaken.

Earlier investigations on kraft pulping studies of Albizzia moluccana Miq. wood (1) reveals that pulp of good physical strength properties could be obtained from this exotic wood species. After  the successful completion of the kraft pulping, attention has been diverted to observe the response to the Semi—chemical pulping of the wood. If the response is positive, it may be possible to suplement the existing short supply of pulp-wood in Bangladesh by introducing large scale plantation of Albizzia moluccana. Several logs of Albizzia moluccana were collected from the tea-gardens of Khadimnagar, District Sylhet, Bangladesh. After debarking, these logs were sawn to 6* x 4″ x 4” sizes and left for air-drying by stacking. Chipping was subsequently done in a laboratory model Murrey chipper to 1″ x 72″ x 78″ sizes. The chips were hand sorted to remove the over and undersized ones. Moisture content of the chips were then determined.

Albizzia moluccana is a fast growing tree of Leguminosae family and Mimoseae sub—family, with light foliage and straight clean bole. The wood is soft and light. It grows rapidly in the wet zone (in the rainfall, range of 75 inches to 200 inches) and reaches 32 ft. in height in about four years. The chief use in Bangladesh appears to be for shade purpose in, tea garden:.., o -her probable uses include making of tea-chests and planks. This species is a native of Moluccas and Java (2).