KAURI GUM A UNIQUE PROVINCIL RESOURCE

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 284, 1 December 1898, Page 24 (Supplement)

KAURI GUM A UNIQUE PROVINCIL RESOURCE

more difficult to obtain tho spear was very largely discarded, except in working in swamps, in place of just searching through the scrub for occasional gum large areas were burnt off, and nearly the whole of the land turned over with, the spade—a mode of procedure called in gumfield vernacular 'paddocking.' The custom of burning off the titree and fern to clear the ground renders useless large areas, as the fire, destroys the roots, pulverises the little soil that there is, and then ashes and soil are carried away by the wind, and there is nothing but the bare white pipe clay left on many stretches of gum land. The ridges of titree and fern were uninteresting, but this hard clay, growing here and there a small patch of vegetation, is positively unsightly. This is one of the points most dwelt upon in the report of the recent commission, which suggested, among other things, that a heavy tine should attach to diggers burning off more than a square chain of scrub at a time. This poor gum laud never had any very groat pastoral value, but experiments in grass growing over such areas met with some success, and at the Hay of Islands Mr T. C. Williams is enabled by "rowing gorse to rear on the land several sheep to the acre. In this connection it-may be stated that the commissioners recommended that the Government should follow up these experiments with a view to thoroughly demonstrate the value of gorse as a fodder plant.

this or past ;1 8" es, was jffij&lk ' r practicallyre-£j*^jfc-j? stricted to wW*i the Auckland province; 'jbXj^^K and in fact the tree oceur--7C&&1 red generally only as far JsA~s^ south as a line drawn tFse_? aoross from Port Waikato to Tauranga, while W' the heaviest kauri i'orf/J ests, both past and . present, were north of Auckland city, consequently the kauri gum industry is confined to Auckland, and of late years almost exclusively to that part of the province lying north of the Waitemata.

For more than a decade there has been an ever recurring cry—'The gumfields are worked out.' When avc take into account the fact that practically no new sources of the fossilised resin have been discovered, one has again and again been inclined

PROBLEMS OF OCCURRENCE

to give some credence to such assertions. But the. "production of the gum goes on in but slightly diminished quantities year in and year out. As the export becomes less, so th^ producers prepare the fruits of their labour for the market more carefully, thus obtaining a higher average price than formerly without market quotations necessarily rising. The maintenance of the quantity exported is the more surprising since the report of the recent; Government commission. The area of the fields before their sitting was variously estimated at from 1,500.000 to 1,800.000. The commission, liowever, appointed by Parliament last session, and which took evidence on the gumfields and

in Auckland early this year, set down the fields north "of Auckland city as »j^P-_aJ^liyii^^Bv-^t), ; acres; and those south, 90,000, Cr a total of 814,000 ncres. Messrs '£. Tregear and G. J. Mueller, the commissioners, hail the fullest opportunities for observation and facilities for obtaining information, so that there is no reason to doubt the correctness of their estimate. The maintenance of the output is of course purely the result of the gradual substitution of careful and systematic working on an extensive scale for a somewhat careless scratching of the surface here and there. THE DIGGERS. Any romance that is to be found on the gumfields lies, not in the fields themselves, but in tlie chequered career of many of. those who from one cause or another have drifted on to them there to work out a living. There are obvious reasons why a mixture of classes should be found on the fields. It would be difficult to name any oilier product which can he so easily obtained without any previous outlay. It is true that for several years diggers have been supposed to pay a fee of 5/ per annum for the privilege of searching lor gum on Crown lands which comprise more than one half the area of the fields; but so difficult of collection has this proved that all but one of the local bodies on whom devolved the work abandoned attempts to gather Lie ironev. 'The Romance of the Gumfields;' comprising a volume narraing incidents in the lives of some, of those who earn a living on Ihe fields would make reading as interesting as many a work of fiction. Men springing 'from undoubtedly good families, both in England and various continental countries, through the vicissitudes of fortune have ('rifted on to fields; and on more than one occasion has been found a person hearing a title and passing under an assumed name. It is more than probable that scions of illustrious families are even now to be found handling the gum spear. A DESCRIPTION OF THE FIELDS. If the persons making a living on

There are many conundrums which the occurrence of gum suggests, but none perhaps more difficult of solution than that of the disappearance of the immense forests of kauri (datnm antra Australis) which must at one time have clothed almost the whole of the. Auckland Province north of Auckland. Occasionally one conies across great mounds of yellow clay, pointing to the fact that at one time was growing there an immense tree, but rarely any indications of the tree itself. The kauri pine is exceedingly slow of growth,while it undoubtedly lives for a considerable time after reaching maturity; and yet there arc indications of the total disappearance of at least two immense kauri forests which clothed at different periods before the Christian era most of the country north of Auckland. In the subsoil of the gumfields is to be found quantities of gum almost black in colour, the age of which undoubtedly exceeds by an immense period the lighter gums found in an upper strata. Another difficult problem is the great poorness of these once heavily forest clad lands. That the kauri is very exhaustive in its growth we have ample evidence at the present day. but the destruction of such forests as must have existed should have made some return to the soil.

SWAMP DIGGING

There are practically two seasons in the digging of gum. In the summer the swamps are very largely worked, and in the winter the higher land is dug over after the fashion that we have already detailed. The gum from the swamps is black in colour and of inferior quality, but at the present lime, when large (inutilities of light coloured gum are not easily obtained, the big hauls frequently made in swamps make them a favourite, ground of the hardy digger. Here the spear is still used largely to indicate. Hie presence of gum. hwl it is only when the diggers.are convinced that there is a fair quantity to be obtained that they set about digging for it. This swamp work is arduous. Work is started generally at daylight, and continued till darkness settles down. The gum is lor I lie most part not found nearer the surface, than six feet, while, it is frequently dug out at a depth of 10ft. This great, depth necessitates ii trench being dug, so that m swamp digging generally two or throe work together. In the softer swamps, when the trench has obtained any depth, it takes two men constantly bailing- to keep it clear of water, and very often by the following | day the batiks have so sagged in as to render working impossible; consequently a new trench has to be started. When work is abandoned for the day the men leave the swamps thoroughly exhausted, and not ''ilrequenU. so covered with muck and h Ith as to be absolutely unrecognisable. An in It csting way of extracting gum Iron swamps which are so soft as io be lain-eroiis to walk on is the hooking ■oc°ess. When the digger has s ruck of gmn with his spear ami sats ie I himself by the feel and genera n licUions, which are only mastered by a considerable apprentices ,1 Ji.it the piece is of fair «•!»'. ho ;ttc>ts to work it iq) to the surface with . Jong iron rod somewhat similar m suo to the spear, but booked at the end With experience it is wonderful how adept the diggers become at hooking up gum through the slime with this somewhat crude instrument.

the fields have, in some instances, a «-erm of romance in their .ives, the fields themselves are devoid of the slightest remnant of anything that the most vivid imagination could construe as romantic. In their original state they consisted of vast expanses of sparsely clothed rising and falling land, with here and there, interspersed with the dull brown, the more vivid colour of swan.], vegetation. If before the inroads of the p-umdigger such country was lacking in beauty it certainly had nothing •ulded to "it by his invasion. At first the diggers passed over this stunted manuka and fern country more or less casually. Their modus operandi was simple. Equipped with a spade, ' ~ thin, square, and sharply-pointed cteel si)ear,and small sack in which to carry any gum obtained, they set out. The around was prospected with the i.eur'to a depth of a foot, cr eighteen iiw-lies When the point came in •nntact with the hard gum the spade !£," brought into requisition, the Sppo dug out, and if there were incliiSions of it being but part of a l £'X a small area of the ground in EC. vicinity was turned over. Ihe Bll'Tiitiated passing over an expanse ■K^-loinid treated in tins way would ffiitl hIV conjecture in vain as to llllP' \ * 0 f the numerous holes, daniFJ&yfc '-- v the low .scrub to the eques-W--m k1 ad not altogether without t IPVbiace of barked hands and -tUrtin,!?,-. H-those on foot After this ' V %i 7it of the fields were origi--7 % \ Vcr. As the gum became

TREE CLIMBING. A furl her source of the gum °|' commerce is the kauri tree itself. It is largely from the upper parts ot the tree that the gum found in the. ground was originally shed, aud in the lorks of the branches of the older trees there are often considerable quantities of tho gum to be found. .Frequently, where the smooth barrel of the free is broken by the lowest branches, a hollow exists, and it is from this that most of the tree-gum is obtained. Io ascend the tree the seekers oi: the. gum do not, as some might suppose, go round with long ladders. The barrel of a fair sized kauri is often unbroken by branch under SO feet, so that a ladder sufficiently Jong to be of. much use would be, to say the least of it, somewhat cumbersome. As the diameter of the trees climbed for gum is not uncommonly Ifi feet, it will; be seen that any attempt by an average person to shin up the stem, as a small boy does up a verandah post, would be' futile. The expedient resorted to to accomplish what at first sight appears to be a very difficult task is simple. A fishing line with a heavy

lead sinker at the end is thrown, over the lowest limb —sometimes with con-, siderable trouble—and by its means n strong- greased rope attached is drawn over the branch. A noose is made in the end of the rope, into which the climber inserts his foot, and he is then drawn up by his mate. Once among the spreading branches of the tree, there is little difficulty in knocking oil with the hatchet always carried in the belt any gum there may happen to be about. A large proportion of the tree gum thai comes inlo the market is (or perhaps it might be more correct to say was, for the natives have largely given up the work of later years) obtained by Maoris. The natives are sometimes

dig a little gum; in fact, many a comfortable homestead of the north has been largely built u\> out of money earned by occasional digging. Maoris also do a'little desultory work on the fields when their crops fail or they are in need of ready money. It is as often as not on the Maori women and children that this work falls. The life of the average worker who permanently finds employment on the field is not to be envied. The work", if more than a mere pittance is to be earned, is hard and constant; and then it is only a very few who gain a competence. The diggers are migratory in their habits, shifting frequently from one held to another.

very venturesome in their tree climbing, and not content with ascending each tree separately, may occasionally be seen in a dense kauri forest passing from Ihe upper branches of one tree to another by means of the indispensable

rope. Tree gum is usually of a whiter colour than that dug from the ground, aud is of less value, owing to the fact that it is not thoroughly matured.

THE DIGGERS AND THEIR LIFE. To conic back to the life on the fields. There art! between six and seven thousand persons earning' a living b.v Hie gum industry, of whom number .'2,000. In their own country this total, which from the nature of the case must necessarily be only approximate, are I hose engaged in scraping, sorting, and making boxes for guii'i hi Auckland —a by no menus inconsiderable number. Besides Ihe regular diggers on the Holds, which may perhaps be estimated at .'>()()(), are numbers of set Hers who occasionally

Austriaus. Some few years ago they did not exceed a few score, now they over li,ooo ara Austrians. Included in they could earn only about !)/ a-week, while it is stated that so steadily do they work at gum digging that (according to the report of the commission) they earn from £'.\ to £5 a-week. They send large sums of money home to Austria, and with this fresh batches of emigrants come out. The commissioners estimated the savings of the Austrians oil the fields at £1500 a-week or £78,000 per annum, while many individuals are known to have considerable amounts in the bank —in some eases from £500 to £800. Yet the storekeepers

They live for the most part in wret- in their evidence before the comdied canvas; or sack one-roomed huts, mission staled that the Austrians some of which have chimneys built lived as well as any engaged in gum mil of huge sods. Every now and digging. Their cottages, constructed then the dreariness and" monotony of bags lined with canvas, with their palls on the average digger, and he sod chimneys and one or.two rough goes away lo the nearest township bunks, are very similar to those of and has a regular spree, which very other gum diggers; and the cost of frequent.lv lasts till his money is all their food per head much the same, spent. This is one of the" great As to the trustworthiness of the evieurses of Ihe life. The eosl of living deuce coming before tin- commission does not exceed 10/ a week, and as on this point there can be little the earnings of tin- men aver- doubt, for it was so widely given. ; ,rr t . a | i oas | :.o/ ( 0 „!.-,/ 11 The commissioners arrived at the week, (here should be a good conclusion that these Austrians. with margin did the diggers remain I heir knowledge of vine growing, etc., steady. The absolute colourless ><;v\ni\ would make desirable settlers for the of their every day work, however, north. At the same time steps have seems to foster a craving for an oe- to lie taken to exclude further imcasional outbreak, during which their migration, which would result in the hard earned money is wasted as if spoliation of what has always proit were so much water. Aud vet the vided a source of employment lo large number of Hiose out of work but anxious to make a living. AUSTRIANS NOW ON THE FIELDS ,\ jr rou t drawback to Ihe gum diggel the name of being steady. It is giug'of the north is the wretched curious to trace the increase "of these state of the roads, which frequently

entails as much as £3 a-ton being paid on stores and gum for carriage to or from the nearest seaport, thus raising the cost of living of the digger by at least 3/ per week while, decreasing considerably the price of his gum. PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENT. Once out of the hands of the small dealer and in those of the exporter the gum is carefully sorted. It has already been very largely scraped by the digger, and the work that the merchant in Auckland more particularly attends to is the sorting of the gum into the various classes before weighing it out in cases containing 2cwt each. At one time the gum from the east coast was the best that was dug, and although no very considerable quantity now comes from that part, the name east coast is still applied to the best grade of gum, denoting, not the locality from which the gum comes, but the fact that it is hard, clear, and mature. Not only good amber coloured gum is graded as east coast but dark gum, providing that it is hard, clear, and not swamp stained. The market quotation for such gum has been this year from £68 to £7G per ton, whl.e poorer grades sell at anything from £35 to £50. according 'to quality. Darker re-vcraped is quoted at about £00. Latterly the high grades of gum have", owing to the high prices ruling, been rather neglected, preference being given t-o medium qualities that could be obtained at more reasonable prices. Re-scraped gum generally rules much higher in price, as it is the best grade of ordinary specially cleaned. At times poorer gum is also re-scraped, but for the rtally good article from £100 to £110 have been about the average rates paid duringthe past year. A regular line of sailing ships is engaged in conveying the gum to New York, while it is also shipped to London by cargo steamer aiul sailing vessel. The export since the first shipment made in the early forties by Messrs Brown and Campbell, for which a quotation of any description was unobtainable in England, has varied considerably. In 1553 about 830 tons were exported, and realised £ 15.972, while since ISSO the annual export has only once dropped below 5000 tons', and never below a quarter of a million sterling in value. The highest figures were attained in 1592 and 3893, when were exported 5705 tons valued at £537,688, and 5317 tons valued at £510.775 respectively. The export for ISO 7 was 663. tons valued at £397.514, and the total export since the beginning of the trade to the close of last' year was 190.563A tous, valued at £8.512,356. Gum holds the position of the fourth largest, of the colony's exports, though some few years ago when grain was ex-

ported in considerable quantities it was only fifth.

applied in many districts of the North, where a large section of the diggers are known as 'publicans' working bullocks/ has more than a grain of truth in it, but this is a thraldom cemented by no bonds, and the publican, while the digger has money, is practically his servant, not his master. So, from one field to another, the digger migrates, enjoying his independent life, thinking little of to-morrow and contributing- his share to what is one of Auckland's biggest industries.

THE USES OF KAURI GUM.

As to tlie uses of kauri gum. it has been for a good many years the principal resin used in the manufacture of varnishes. Similar products from other countries are used in the manufacture of varnish, notably the gum anini" of Zanzibar, which commands from £200 to £300 a ton; gum exporte from Manila and the eopalo of West Africa, which, according to the locality whence they come and (heir quality, bring from £60 to £250 a ton. Kauri is, however, the main resin used in varnish manufacture, both in England and the United states, ant. as long as the supply continues there seems every probability of the market remaining.

CONCLUSION

The report of the recent Commission states that there is a possibility of the gumfields area being increased, and judging by past experience we have no hesitation in saying that kauri gum will continue one of the main exports of this province for a very considerable number of years to come. As the gum gets scarcer so rhe price will increase, for till they discover some substitute, or varnish goes entirely out of fashion, manufacturers will be forced to buy resins. Ultimately the gum must of course be exhausted as far as its production in commercial quantities goes; but by that time the 'Roadless North' will be a very different place from what it is to-day, and those engaged in the industry will have gradually drifted into other ways of earning a. livelihood. Certain it is that the gum digger despite his usually impecunious state, once he becomes lnmlened to and experienced in the work of searching for gum. is rarely inclined to take to other work. There is a freedom about the life that is particularly grateful to a man in whatever station of life he may be—a freedom from the disagreeable necessity of owning any man as 'boss.' _So doubt the epithet