10 



Before selection became so general, the strippers, following the 

 occupation as a regular means of subsistence, roamed all over the 

 country, stripping wherever they pleased, and without much com- 

 petition. The boundaries of the wattle areas have lately, however, 

 become considerably circumscribed, and the districts open to the 

 ordinary strippers are comparatively few in number. Although 

 there is an evident desire on the part of the selectors and free- 

 holders to devote more attention to wattle cultivation than formerly, 

 yet there can be no reliance placed on this source, and unless 

 some general system is adopted there is ground for apprehending a 

 diminution of the supply. A definite system must be adopted, 

 otherwise the future of both the tanning industry and the export 

 bark trade will be endangered. Unless the Crown lands are more 

 directly utilised in the future than in the past for purposes of 

 wattle cultivation, the continuance of the supply must depend 

 almost entirely on private owners. There is no doubt that the 

 cultivation of the wattle for commercial purposes has remained an 

 undeveloped industry, and that so soon as the subject is better 

 understood the utilisation of many thousands of acres of private 

 land at present lying waste will be commenced. 



Raw material, like wattle bark, having nearly corresponding 

 articles in competition on the markets of the world, must always 

 be subject to fluctuation in price, a fact which will have due effect 

 on those who cultivate the wattle as a direct source of profit. 

 Particular care was taken by the Board to elicit a general expres- 

 sion of opinion on the subject of the marketable value of bark, the 

 result being that the price may be fixed at from 5 to 5 10s. per 

 ton, delivery being made at the tanyard or seaport. Any figure 

 above 5 per ton, guaranteed for a few seasons, would have the 

 effect of causing many holders of land to turn their attention to 

 wattle growing as a regular occupation. Should any reduction 

 take place in the price named, and prevail for any number of years 

 consecutively, the cultivators of wattles on private lands might, 

 for a time at least, relinquish planting, and a scarcity would conse- 

 quently arise. This view was taken by nearly all the owners of 

 land who gave evidence before the Board, and they were positive 

 in their assertions that any reduction of prices would simply lead 

 to the destruction of wattles on their land without any regard 

 whatever being paid to the bark. 



The primary object of the investigation was the discovery of 

 means whereby the chances of the supply of bark failing could be 

 reduced to a minimum, and no phase of the subject has escaped 

 careful consideration. In arriving at their conclusions and making 

 the recommendations appended hereto, the Board have been guided 

 by the result of their personal observations in all parts of the colony 

 conjointly with a careful analysis of the evidence of all the persons 

 examined. 



