EBPOET OF THE WATTLE BARK BOARD 

 OF INQUIRY, 



THE Board appointed by Order in Council of the 7th day of 

 January 1878 have the honor to report that they have made a 

 full and careful investigation into the subject of wattle conser- 

 vation and the concomitant industry of bark stripping. The Board 

 were appointed u To consider and report upon the subject of wattle 

 bark, and whether the indiscriminate stripping of the trees, caused 

 by the increasing demand for bark in Continental and English 

 markets, in addition to the requirements of Victorian tanners, was 

 likely to lead to the early extermination of the trees or to a reduc- 

 tion of the supply necessary for the home trade even temporarily." 

 The Board were also asked to state whether forest regulations could 

 be so framed as to conserve and encourage the growth of the 

 wattle trees in order that a sufficient supply of bark might be 

 ensured for local requirements as well as for the maintenance of 

 the export trade. 



In first approaching the subject, the Board were impressed with 

 the fact that during past years sufficient attention had not been 

 paid to the cultivation of wattles, and that consequently a direct 

 source of wealth had been neglected throughout the colony. Until 

 the appointment of the Board little or nothing was known of the 

 magnitude of the industry which might have been established, 

 although the bark trade had attained large proportions, besides 

 forming the basis of the leather industry, one of the most flourish- 

 ing trades of Australia. 



The Board have given every aspect of the question careful 

 consideration, their decision with regard to the efficacy of an 

 export duty on bark, and their recommendations on the subject 

 of regulating the operations of strippers, being based on actual 

 observations made in all the main wattle growing districts of the 

 colony, together with a review of the evidence of close upon two 

 hundred witnesses, who gave their testimony voluntarily. 



The advance of the leather trade in Victoria has been most 

 rapid of late years, a fact almost entirely attributable to the great 

 advantage possessed by local tanners, in consequence of the cheap 



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