First Mill For Pine

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28973, 14 August 1959, Page 16

First Mill For Pine

Although the use of radiata pine has become more widespread in recent years, the milling of this timber is not a new venture. The Rangidra firm of G. W. Pearson and Sons. Ltd., has milled radiata for about 50 years and is believed to be the oldest company in New Zealand which is still milling this type of timber. The milling of radiata was pioneered by Mr G. W. Pearson, father of the present managingdirector, who started cutting pine when other sawmillers in the district were still cutting stands of native beech and red pine. The last mills cutting native timber in North Canterbury in the View Hill district felled their last trees about 1912, but at this time Mr Pearson’s firm was still milling radiata. Mr Pearson was encouraged to take up the milling of 'radiata pine by Mr Hugh Boyd, a former Mayor of Rangiora and partner in the building firm of Keir and Boyd, which was prominent in the early growth of Rangiora. The .firm was milling native timber at Oxford and Mount Grey and was receiving requests from farmers for radiata pine. Rather, than mill this themselves they suggested to Mr F>ar#on th# he take over this side of milling operations in the district. In the early milling which followed, Mr Pearson used a portable mill which he took to the properties of farmers who wanted their radiata trees cut. He milled as much of the timber as they required for their' own use and then moved on to the next property where more trees were required to be milled. The company still gives a similar service, although it now fells the trees on the farms and then transports them to its mill for cutting. Today the company has a wider scope of activities than sawmilling and its Southbrook and Rangiora organisation covers building, contracting and engineering work in addition to its early work. Mr Martin Pearson said that one reason for the earlier start on the milling of radiata in Canterbury than in many other areas of New Zealand was that radiata pine trees were brought out to New Zealand by farmers who wanted trees which would grow quickly and give adequate shelter for their properties. The bare plains of Canterbury were the homes of many shelter belts of pine trees in the early days of the country and therefore the trees matured relatively earlier than in other parts of the country.