412 THE IRISH LEATHER AND BOOT-MAKING INDUSTRY. 



than a small percentage of his goods classed as best, most of his production 

 must of necessity be secondary no matter what excellent tanning may be 

 given or how highly finished his leather may be. 



Turning again to the manufacture of boots and shoes, it must be noted 

 that there are at this moment a number of successful boot factories in 

 Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Derry, Waterford, Ballymena, Lisburn, Mullingar 

 and Killarney, equipped with modern machinery. They produce boots and 

 shoes suited to the requirements of this country, and their products find a 

 ready sale. It is well known in the boot trade that Irish-made goods are 

 more reliable, and so they command a better price than those made abroad. 

 It is also satisfactory that although any increase in the output of machine- 

 made boots in Ireland is slow, it is nevertheless going on steadily, perhaps 

 in proportion to the spread of knowledge in their manufacture. This 

 success is a guarantee that with energy, intelligence, and enterprise, the 

 boot-making industry could be largely developed. The multiplication of 

 boot factories would, of course, re-act on the leather industry, and thus, in 

 addition to keeping in the country the money now spent on imported 

 boots and shoes, the spread of this industry would have a most beneficial 

 effect on the Irish tanning trade. 



