269 



to fuperior capital, which enables them to take the firfl choice of the 

 market, and procure the fur of the beaver, which is the raw mate- 

 rial of fine hats, of the firfl: quality, and on the mofl: reafonable 

 terms. This is, no doubt, a great advantage ; but much of the pre- 

 fcnt fuperiority of Englijh hats, in cheapnefs, and quality, mull be 

 afcribed to the excellence and /kill of Englijh workmen. We ought, 

 not, however, to be fo much afraid of a competition with England, in 

 this, as in many other manufaftures. — It is one, which has already* 

 taken extenfive poffeffion of the country, and diffufed the knowledge of 

 itfelf very generally ; and it is one, which requires lefs apparatus, and ex- 

 tent of capital, to carry it on. with credit and fuccefs, than any others. 



Formerly, the manufafture of flioes, was an objeft of confiderable 

 importance in Dublin ; and large quantities of the fabric were exported 

 to America. Of late years the manufafture has declined. This de- 

 cline may, I believe, be attributed, in fome meafure, to the fcarcity 

 of oak bark. The want of this material, fo ncceffary in the pro' 

 grefs of manufafturing leather, was fo feverely felt in this coun- 

 try, that the Dublin Society, with a laudable folicitude, direfled their 

 attention towards the provifion of fome fubftitute for bark, which might 

 alleviate the inconvenience. Different afliringent vegetable fnbftances * 

 have been tried ; but with no very flattering fuccefs. Of late, fome 

 judicious manufacturers have wifely turned their thoughts, to mineral 

 fubfl;ances, which are more powerful agents. It is by the ufe of mi- 

 neral fubflances, that the French manufafturers have been able to ac- 

 celerate the operation of tanning, and they are faid to have fucceeded 

 in this, in fo high a degree, as to be able to prepare a raw hide for 

 ufe, in the courfe of a fewT-lays. 



However that may be, in confequence of the fcarcity of bark in 

 this country, raw hides and calves skins are daily exported, in great 

 q-uantities ; and tanned leather and dreffed calves skins are conftantly 

 imported, to fupply the confumption of the country ; and fo it mull 

 be continued, until, by the encouragement of plantations of oak (a 



remote 



* There are forty or fifty different vegetable fubftances, which contain the tanning princi- 

 ple, in a greater or leffer degree. 



