SECTION VII. THE EVOLUTION OF THE 

 LEATHER INDUSTRY 



THE leather trades are amongst the oldest of all industries, 

 but their evolution has been much more rapid during the 

 last two or three decades than at any other period of their 

 history. The European War, moreover, has caused the 

 commencement of another period of rapid development, 

 and it is the aim of this section to point out some of the 

 principal lines of change which have already become apparent. 



Many of these lines of evolution in the methods of 

 manufacture have been previously discussed in their appro- 

 priate sections. They may all be summarized as attempts 

 at more economical production. Prominent amongst them 

 is the persistent effort to attain quicker processes. During 

 the last twenty-five years the time necessary to produce the 

 heavy leathers has been reduced from 12 months to as 

 many weeks. The tendency is to reduce the time further 

 still, but this is of course increasingly difficult to accomplish. 

 On the other hand, it is more urgent to strive in this direction 

 than ever, because a needless week involves more capital 

 lying idle than ever before. Moreover, as most leather 

 factories are now large works, a saving even of 24 hours 

 has become a serious item in economic production. Hence 

 in liming, bating, tanning, drying and in warehousing there 

 are increased efforts to make a quicker turnover. 



A good illustration of this " speeding up " in modern 

 tanneries is the adoption by all large factories of much more 

 rapid methods of extracting tannin. On the old press-leach 

 system liquors may be percolating through the material for 

 possibly a fortnight. The extract manufacturer reduces 

 this operation to about two days. Steam generated from 

 the spent bark is used to heat the extracting vats, and to 

 work a vacuum pan or evaporator whereby more water can 

 be used and a more complete as well as a more rapid 



