and abundant supply of wattle bark, now acknowledged to be far 

 and away the most powerful tanning bark in the world. Within 

 seven years the exports of leather have increased from the value of 

 111,707 to 199,304, and the exportation of hides has nearly 

 ceased, while the number of hides imported into the colony during 

 the seven years just terminated were 392,228. The total value of 

 the leather exported during seven years in question was 1,532,703, 

 this being of course exclusive of the amount required for home 

 consumption in the colony. 



The Board, while considering the great importance of the 

 leather trade, have not overlooked the interests of the compara- 

 tively large section concerned in the preservation of the bark 

 export trade. As in the case of the leather trade a large increase 

 has taken place in the exportation of wattle bark during the last 

 seven years. In the year 1870 the total amount of Victorian bark 

 exported was only 1,384 tons, representing 6,418, while in 1876 

 the exportations amounted to 9,724 tons, the aggregate value 

 being 60,386. The Board have therefore been guided by the 

 desire to establish both industries on a firmer basis than heretofore, 

 and instead of making recommendations which might have seriously 

 affected one or both, they have endeavoured to discover the best 

 method by which the development of one industry would prove 

 beneficial to the other, while guarding against the possibility of a 

 diminution of the supply of bark by such means as would ensure 

 its production in larger quantities and of a better quality. 



The rise and progress of the wattle-bark trade in Victoria, as set 

 out in all the evidence forthcoming, has been spread over the last 

 thirteen years only. Thirteen years ago wattles were growing in 

 most parts of the colony covering large areas of country in the 

 neighborhood of the seaboard, and contiguous to rivers, creeks, 

 and marshes, also in gullies and ravines ; but the quantity of bark 

 exported was comparatively small. The facilities for obtaining 

 bark at no great distance from the tanneries then in existence were 

 so great that no difficulty whatever was experienced in obtaining 

 sufficient bark to store a supply for three or four seasons ahead. 

 The acknowledged superiority of the bark for tanning purposes, 

 conjointly with the ease with which it was obtained, led the tanners 

 in the first instance to export shipments to England. For the first 

 two or three seasons the tanners were the only exporters, but in 

 consequence of the steadiness of the supply and demand in the 

 English market other persons ultimately engaged in the trade, and 

 many of the tanners withdrew altogether from the position of ex- 

 porters, content with obtaining a supply sufficient for their own 

 requirements. At the present time there are about ninety-six tan- 

 neries in full operation in Victoria, employing in the aggregate about 

 1,150 hands constantly. Of these establishments the largest are 



