KAURI GUM

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 51, 28 August 1926, Page 15

KAURI GUM

A UNIQUE INDUSTRY WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

OUTLOOK NOT TOO PROMISING.

One of New Zealand's uniquo industries —that of kauri gum digging—is in a bad way. It is in fact dying a slow death from natural causes, two factors operating to bring about its extinction. Slowly but surely the gumfields aro being depleted of their fossil rdsin —tho supply of good quality gum is getting less and less year by year. Added to this, the market is not what it used to be, this being one of the results of the Great War,, and also tho result of modern competition. ' The value of tho kauri gum industry to New Zealand sinco its . inception about SO years ago has been well over 21 million pounds. In round figures tho amount exported yearly may bo estimated at 6000 tons. Tho price, of course, varies extensively according to the grade. At tho present time the best "re-scraped' white gum is quoted at £300 a ton, but prices have often been higher than this figure as well as lower. Chips and dust have a market

yalue of only about £20 or so, but the average may be taken in round figures as "somewhere in the region of £100 per tpn. Before the outbreak of the war tha European, and to a lesser extent tho 'American, markets provided a steadydemand for this commodity at a price satisfactory to all concerned, the gum being used in the manufacture of highgrade varnishes and linoleums. Choice bits are also used as a substitute for amber. But the war disorganised this jparket like many another, and sales became restricted. New avenues of disposal had to be found, but competition began to tell its tale, and the Government were forced to step in so that tho industry might be kept going. The Kauri Gum Industry Act provided for State purchase and disposal, and has certainly been the means of prolonging the life of the industry. But from the Par North of New Zealand where the gumflelds are comes tho cry that all is not well, and this cry lias recently found its echo within Parliamentary walls. THE GLORY OP THE FOREST. The kauri tree (Dammara Australis) —one of the glories and wonders of the New Zealand forests —grows in a comparatively restricted area, ranging between the south latitudes of 4} and 37J degrees, not decendiug south of 38 degrees. Although its fossil resin has been found in tho Waikato, tho kauri only grew there when the climajte of New Zealand was' warmer than it is now. Even at the present time a few clumps of this greatest of forest trees may be found south of Auckland, as far south as 40 degrees, but it will be observed that there are.no young ones amongt them —none to carry on the lace of forest giants. It is in the country lying betwen the North Cape and Auckland that the kauri thrives now and did thrive in the far distant prehistoric past in the Tertiary period when coal was in tho making and strange monsters roamed the earth. On steep banks of clay soil the kauri Xaises its proud head, its foot encased with tho fronds of stately tree ferns. .Thus it was that tho kauri forests of thousands of years ago grew and flourished. Some stand to this day, but with "change and flecay in all around" many have left no visible trace on the surface. But delve beneath the denuded surfaco of tho uninviting looking gumfields and one finds relics of the forests' departed glory—tho fossil resin or gum exuded from the trees countless generations ago.

Certainly the kauri is a king amongst trees. He rears his stately trunk to a height of 150 feet or more; and what a trunk it is, straight and unbranehing for 80 feet or even 100, and having a diameter up to 20 feet at its base. 'A forest of these giants is worth a long trip to see, and fortunately there are some reserved for all time.. No wonder it was that skippers of tho early days saw in the kauri tree practically readyjhado masts and spars, and during the days of sailing vessels tho kauri was held in high reputo for these purposes. Then, too, it was not long before the ■white man discovered in it a valuable timber of a grain and durability second to none; houses and furniture of kauri were in demand. Thus the ruthless ■work of destruction went on and now the kauri forests cover but a fraction of the area they did before tho white man settled in New Zealand. The durability of kauri is well illustrated by the fact that buried logs at Papakura, near Auckland, which must have been in the ground for ages, were dug up and used as sleepers with every satisfaction on the early railway between Auckland and the Waikato. FIRST USE OF KAURI GUM. Tho Maori of old knew of and used kauri gum, both that exuding from tho living tree and that buried in the grouud. Tho former they used for chewing, thus anticipating tho modern American habit by many years, and both they used for fires and for some religious ceremonies. Tho first whito man to see in kauri gum a commercial asset was apparently a certain Mr. Busby, of Karorarika, in the Bay of Islands. It was ho who in 1841 arranged the first shipment of kauri gum to leave New Zealand shores:

several tons went to Sydney, where it fetched from £5 to £G a ton. In theso days twice that price is expected for a hundredweight, but Mr. Busby seems to havo been satisfied with his return, and thus may bo said to havo begun the kauri gum industry. ON THE GUM FIELDS. Maoris wore the first diggers to bo employed, but the fields soon attracted adventurers of all kinds as <i possiblo source of easily earned wealth. Amongst the early diggers wore even escaped convicts from New Caledonia, where the samo industry is carried on, although on a smaller scale and in rather a different manner, and in course of time with the the influx of Dalmatians and. others the most picturesque, if not the most desirable, <>t i-jurojicans at the Anlinodos v.-ji-e to be l'ound on the North Auckland gumfields. Why Dalmatians should laki; to tnia modo cv: making a living—a mode so different from anything pertaining to their r.ative land—is an unsolved problem; but tho f.ict reiH-ini v.i.".t the/ nay taken to it like ducks to water. It may be that the; iir.s,. ot tlui jJalmatiaiia to settle in ».v 7<-'.!.-"d found in the gumfields work which fhey could do unmolested. Ut.ncrs coming a> liiis country would naturally settle in parts where there were already some settlors ol their own nationality, and thus tho process would continuo until the gumlields had a population of their own. The gum lands are of so poor a nature as a rule that they will not support life in any other way.

Be that as it may, certainly the gumdigger is unique. Usually he hunts in pairs, one being armed with a pointed

iron rod about half an inch in diameter having a wooden cross as a handle. His mate, or if he is working single-handed, his other hand, will carry a shovel. Thrusting his lance into tho ground the experienced digger can toll by the sound whether buried gum or a more stone has been struck. If the former, the shovel is brought into play, tho spot is dug round in a circle, and tho lump of gum carefully brought to the surface.

The gum digger as a rule has no fixed abode or domicile; he will live in a tent or a hut on unsold Crown lands, moving hither or thither as the spirit or the stress of circumstances moves him. To his temporary abode he returns with the day's spoils in a oag; a rough washing and cleaning of the gum takes place, and tho spoil is handed over to an agent on the field or is dispatched direct to Auckland. There it is graded and packed and made generally presentable as a marketable product. VARIETIES OF GUM. Like copal, which is a Mexican resin, the fossil varieties of kauri gum are ,

preferred to others. The living tree also produces a rosin ■which flows abundantly from incisions, but this is white and soft. Then there is "bush" gum, that which is found in the soil about the roots when it has exuded. But the ' fossil gum, which gets its ambev colour from boipg buried deep in tho soil away from light and air, is what the. market wants. Tho deposits of this may be deep, in single lumps or in.' nests, and aiv of course most abundant on the sites oc ancient forpsts. That found on high and dry ground is of better quality than that from marshy areas. Big lumps, which aro nearly always streaky in appearance, may be froi 151b to 181b in weight and of varying colour, but there is on record that a single lump of 1201b in weight was exhibited in Paris in 1878. USED FOE VARNISHES. At one time only very hard copals were available for oil varnish making, and when tho first lots of kauri gum were put upon tho market purchasers were haid to find —hero was something new which must be tested. When, however, the value of kauri gum was recognised the price paid for it soared to higher levels than tTiat paid for Zanzibar copals, tho best then on the

market. In Great Britain it was much appreciated long before the Continent regarded it with favour. In 1870 the British Society of Arts devoted a learned discussion to the merits of kauri gum, and its good and bad qualities were thoroughly analysed, but the former outweighed the latter and kauri gum, as an ingredient for highgrade varnishes, made its mark. Of late, however, Continental varnishmakers have shown preference for Manila copal—a resin of similar botanical name to the kauri, although of different geographical origin; but the British manufacturers still prefer, as they liave in the past, kauri gum when it can bo obtained at a payable price. THE COST OP PRODUCTION. And herein lies the crux of the matter. In these days of keen competition the cost of production is a very important factor. Nativo labour in Africa, the East Indies, and elsewhere enables gums to be placed on the market at a cheaper price than kauri gum. They may not" bo quite as good, but they are good enough for commercial purposes, and thus it is that the market for kauri gum diminishes. Then, too, now kinds of lacquers aro used extensively to-day, and these have no high-class ingredients in then? of the nature of kauri gum. Of course, nothing can be done to increase the supply of kauri gum—that is bound to grow less as years go on—but the cost of placing it on the market might bo lessoned, and to this end in view experiments aro being made. Money has already been lost in unpaying propositions, but more has been forthcoming, and there seems to he a gleam of hope in processes which, after dissolving Hie gum and all its attendant impurities, will reprecipitate it in a pure and usable form. It may be that in its declining years the kauri gum industry will take on a new lease of life and still figure as one of New Zealand's most important industries.