In 1843, 3,078 tons of mimosa bark was shipped from Port Phillip to Great Britain.  The price then realised in the London market was L12 to L14 per ton, but it has since declined to L8 a ton.  The quantity of this bark to be procured in the colony is quite inexhaustible.  The price of chopped mimosa bark in Australia, for export, in the close of 1846, was L2 5s. per ton.  Bark valued at L912 was exported from Van Diemen’s Land in 1848.

The imports of mimosa bark have only been to a limited extent within the last few years, reaching 350 tons in 1850, against 110 tons in 1849, 230 tons in 1848, and 600 tons in 1847.  The prices realised were L10 to L11 for chopped, L12 to L12 10s. for ground, and L8 to L9 per ton for unchopped bark.  Whilst the imports were 3,900 tons in 1814, they dwindled to less than 400 tons in 1850.

From an experiment, conducted by Professor Brandt, the strength of the mimosa bark, as compared with that of young English oak bark, is found to be in the proportion of 57 to 39, so that the mimosa bark is half as strong again as the best English bark.

Mr. Samuel Mossman, in a communication to the Botanic Society of Edinburgh, in 1851, stated that the bark of A. dealbata pays to ship to England, notwithstanding the distance, from the fact of its containing a greater per centage of tannin than any other bark.  It is a handsome tree, from fifteen to thirty feet high, forming luxuriant groves on the banks of streams, most abundant in Port Phillip and Twofold Bay, between the parallels of latitude 34 and 30 degrees.

New Zealand is rich in barks and dyes.  The bark of the Tanahaka (Phyllodadus trichomanoides, of Don) is used by the natives as a red dye for the ornamental parts of their kaitahas, their best border garments.  There is also another red dye, called Tawaivwai, the bark of which is very profuse.  A black dye is procured from the hinau.  They are of a rich hue, and exceedingly fast colors.  The barks are to be found all over the colony.  The hinau and tanahaka are employed in tanning, all the leather used in the colony being tanned either at the Bay of Islands or Port Nicholson.

The bark of the Rimu or red pine (Dacrydium Cupressinum, of Solander), a very common tree, possesses tanning qualities far superior to any of the Australian barks.  One pound of the bark yields 85 grains of extract.

The native tanning barks of New Zealand are various and easily obtained.  Specimens of the bark and dye, &c., of most of these trees were sent home to the Great Exhibition.  One pound of the Tanahaka bark is said to yield 63 grains of tannin.  The sails of boats are dyed with it to preserve them.  The Towai (Licospermum racemosum, of Don, Weinmaunia racemosa, Decandole), is supposed to be valuable for the purposes of the tanner, and is said to yield 104 grains of tannin for every pound of bark.  The bark of the Pohutu kawa of the natives, the Metrosideros tomentosaof Richard, and Callistemon ellipticum of Allan Cunningham, would also be useful for tanning, one pound of it furnishing about 60 grains of tannin.