514 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. ~*~ 
The following table shows the quantities and values of the different . 
tanning materials imported into England during the year 1877: 
Articles. Quantities.| Value. 
Tons. | 
Bark (for tanners’ and dyers’ use) 32, 283 £282, 926 
Bark extracts. - 105, 317 
Coteh==--eon =. 164, 5 
Gambier .-.-.--- é | 539, 322 
Myrabolams ....--. 22-2. 4. < <2 22 eo esenne nese oo ane ener n seen eee n nates =e 208, 042 
Whine Oboe ee ego: oS See RE Nt eR ee aoe et S055 Sean GAC CNC uaoee “ 13,409 224, 862 
Vialoniae sso coiccs cn poe ee oaee Selo soso sn a Sacer aa eee sera ete aig. a'e a= sie/aias 29, 989 | 668, 497 
Motel ees ve Ske sess BSE eek Uo. Ges J ee Ae cecmecees soomeeee cic swescee 123, 424 2, 188, 549 
In France, in 1875, there were imported 32,261 tons tanning materials 
of a total value of 10,514,569 francs. Of these, 21,419 tons, worth 
4,554,569 francs, were barks for tanners’ and dyers’ use. : 
The supplies of bark imported into England and France in the years 
mentioned were obtained from Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ger- 
many, Holland, Italy, Norway, Spain, the United States, and other 
countries. 
In 1878 the importations ef tanning materials into the United States 
were : 
Articles. ‘ Tons. | Value. 
Barks for tanning. - $412, 575 
Hemlock extract.... 24; 2 
Cutch, gambier, &c...........---.-------- 2-222 nee ne eee ene ene eens ee esses 11, 049 978, 539 
ips 2 Nea Ne ee eNOS NR 8 ee anne Mme Se peed AE ENA Poe | 14, 049 | 1, 415, 328 
The exports of the same materials from the United States for the 
same year were of bark of various kinds amounting in value to $111,338. 
In 1878, from January to June, 9,871 tons of wattle bark, valued at 
£73,708, an average of about £7 10s. per ton, were exported from the 
colony of Victoria, against 1,384 tons in 1870, worth then only £4 12s. 9d. 
per ton. 
In 1877, England imported 12,428 tons of bark, worth £156,944, a little 
more than £11 per ton, from Australia, all of which was probably wattle 
or mimosa bark, as it is also called. 
This shows a steady and increasing demand for wattle bark and a 
continued appreciation of its value as a tanning agent. In England the 
best oak bark is worth $32 per ton, a little more than half the price of 
wattle bark. It is probable, however, that the difference in price is 
owing to the superior richness of the wattle in tannic acid, as oak- 
tanned leather is certainly held in higher estimation in England. 
Cutch, gambier, sumac, myrabolams, and some of the barks included 
in the table showing the imports into England and France, it is proper 
to say, are also largely used in dyeing. 
Exact information with regard to the climate of the colony of Victoria 
has been furnished by Mr. Robert Ellery, government astronomer at 
Melbourne, in his report of 1872. The mean annual temperature at Mel- 
bourne during fourteen years was 57°.6, and that of the whole province 
56°.8, including stations 2,000 feet or 1,400 feet above the sea-level at 
Daylesford and Ballarat. 'This is equivalent to the mean annual temper- 
ature of Marseilles ‘awd Florence, in the northern hemisphere, but the 
