WATTLES AND WATTLE-BARKS. 17 



. DRYING OP BARK. 



Mr. A. L. Thrupp, in a paper read in March, 1890, before the Congress of 

 Agricultural Bureaux in Adelaide, carefully warns tanners and others 

 against receiving wattle-bark damp, pointing out that bark in that state 

 engenders mould " of a most virulent form," is liable to spontaneous com- 

 bustion, if stacked in the hold of a vessel, and, while bark received green will 

 tan hides as fast as bark received dry, still, there is the undeniable fact, in 

 nine cases out often, that leather produced from bark so received, so stacked, 

 and used for tanning purposes is spotted, and therefore of second rate or 

 third rate value. 



Apart from the intermittent supply already alluded to, it is owing to the 

 greedy and indiscriminating way in which wattle-bark has been gathered, 

 and the moist condition in which it has often been shipped, that purchasers 

 in England, finding the quality variable, have not entered into its regular 

 employment as largely as might have been expected. 



Too much attention to this question of drying cannot be given. I have 

 seen excellent bark sent to market in a mouldy condition, and sold for next 

 to nothing. Bark must be dried on the spot. This is usually carried out in 

 a largo weather-shed, and the operation takes several weeks, the precise time 

 being of course dependent on climatic circumstances. It is usually laid 

 on saplings, the sap side downwards. Where an engine is used at the 

 stripping depot, common sense will dictate some method of utilizing the 

 waste-heat to dry the air in the shed, but bark must not be subjected to a 

 high temperature, otherwise diminution in tanning-power will take place. 



(h.) GRADING OF BARK. 



The physical characteristics of barks require to betaken into consideration 

 as well as percentages of tannic acid, and consignments should be as nearly 

 uniform as possible. Bark should be classified or graded just as wool, fruit, 

 &c. No care spent in this direction will be unrewarded, and no kind of raw 

 product has suffered more from slap-dash, empirical judging, than wattle 

 bark. 



Special brands of bark well known to buyers sell readily, so ifc is advisable 

 to endeavour to cultivate their good opinion by sparing no pains to keep 

 bark up to a standard quality, and by using a particular brand or trade- 

 mark. 



In the present rule of thumb method of dealing with consignments of 

 wattle-barks, localities have much to do with the price obtained ; while bark 

 from localities bearing a good reputation finds ready sale, new localities have 

 c 



