214 ON SOME N.S W. TAN-SUBSTANCES. 



It will not be out of place to give a few extracts from the 

 Report of the expert appointed by the Society of Arts to examine 

 Australian leather and tanning materials at the Colonial and 

 Indian Exhibition of last year :- "The best of which (Australian 

 -and New Zealand leather) is now almost as bright as, and competes 

 very closely with, good English tannages. The grain, however, 

 is rather brittle, and the leather difficult to work, and lias 

 consequently to be used almost exclusively for common nailed 

 work. Most of the exhibits are badly fleshed. * * * * In 

 these colonies also myrabolans and valonia have been freely used, 

 -and when judiciously employed in a certain proportion with the 

 mimosa bark, considerably improve the quality of the leather, and 

 make it of better colour and firmer, and consequently more 

 marketable and more valuable. It should be here remarked that 

 mimosa bark always gives the leather tanned with it a more or 

 less pinkish or reddish colour, which for the English market should 

 be got rid of as much as possible. The use of some other material 

 mixed with the bark, such as bright myrabolans, helps much to 

 counteract this colour. The leather of Australia and New 

 Zealand is not so solid as that of Canada. On the other hand, it 

 is, however, much more "cleanly fleshed," "lighter weighing," 

 more pliable, and more easily sewn, and therefore more adaptable 

 for some purposes. * . * * * One very noticeable feature 

 about the Australian tannages is the strongly marked difference 

 between the sole leather produced in the colonies of Victoria and 

 New South Wales : that of Victoria being in every case much 

 more cleanly fleshed, of brighter colour, and especially better 

 finished than that tanned in New South Wales (tanned chiefly in 

 or around Sydney); the Sydney leather is always more fleshy, of 

 darker colour, more roughly finished, and only suitable for a 

 common class of work. * * * * Some Australian tanners 

 have experimented by using cheap extracts, the effect on the 

 leather being very deleterious, as it spoils the colour, which is now 

 the first and most important consideration for the English market. 

 Others have very freely used glucose, in order to add weight to 

 the leather. This is very detrimental, offering no advantages to 

 the tanner, as he loses in price considerably more than he gains in 

 weight." Flaying and branding are also taken cognizance of in 

 the Report. 



Then follow reports on individual exhibits, which should be 

 well taken to heart by the exhibitors. Tanning materials are 

 •again referred to : — * '* * * " They (Australian and New 

 Zealand) have an admirable tanning agent in the bark of acacia, 

 mimosa, or wattle, as it is spoken of in the country. The leather 

 produced by means of this bark is some of it of bright colour and 

 high excellence, and large quantities are sent to this country, 



