KAURI GUM INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 5

KAURI GUM INDUSTRY.

FROM TREE TO VARNISS-jL

A BIG BUSINESS. I

In unpretentious offices and factories in the neighbourhood of Custom and Gore' Streets thero is carried on an important branch of one of the principal industries of the Auckland province. It is here hatnearly the whole of the world's supply of kauri gum is sorted, graded, and packed for export, and kauri gum is one of the most valuable of the resins from which varnish is made. The kauri gum industry is one of the oldest in New Zealand, having been started in 1847; and as the total export averages over 7000 tons per annum, and the gum is worth from £50 to £60 per ton, the value of the trade to the Dominion can be gauged without reference to exact figures.

There is no product of Now Zealand which has more romance in its history. ] The age of much of the gum is a matter j of speculation, as most of it, including j all the valuable grades, is dug from longburied deposits, that have lain in the ground for centuries, the trees that gave the gum having long since disappeared; indeed, over much of the gum land there is no visible trace of the primeval forests. So slow-growing is the kauri forest that it is believed the trees which have produced the buried gum lived perhaps 1000 years, and it is possible that they have disappeared as long ago. The gum in such old forest land is found by prospecting with spear and spade, the former being a long steel rod used for probing the ground and feeling for the gum, which is afterwards dug out. The fact that frequently two or three separate layers ot gum are found at different depths indicates that two or three successive longlived forests have occupied the same ground. The supply of gum is only in part, drawn from tho ground. By climbing the lofty trees, quantities of new gum, exuded from the branches in the course of years, is found, and though this fresh resin is clean, it is of less value than the harder material that is dug from the ground Gumdigging, as is well known, gives, employment to several thousand people, who lead a life of considerable hardship among the inconveniences of an area which is as truly " back blocky " as any part of the Dominion. There are but scanty provisions for transit, the roading and bridging of the country being very imperfect, and the system of housing adopted is as primitive as the other features of the life. Generally, the attractions of the gumdiggers' life are few and its rewards small; and the industry is often a last resort. The gum as procured from the ground is outwardly decayed and crusted with dirt, and the diggers or their womenfolk scrape it fairly clean before sending it. in to town. In the city stores it is sifted and graded by men who become very expert in handling the material, and is packed for export. Mr. G. W. S. Patterson, one of tha leading gum merchants of Auckland, has given much attention to the various phases of the industry, and in the course of one of his numerous contributions to the literature on the subject, he shows that by far the greater part of the kauri gum is exported to America for conversion into varnish. An idea of its value for the purpose is shown by tho relative consumption of gums in America, which a few years ago was estimated by him as follows—Kauri, 40,000 to 50,000 cases; Manila, 5000 to 8000; Damar, 2000 to 5000; Zanzibar, 500 to 1000; Sierra Leone, 100 to 200; copal (Benguela), 25 to 50; North Coast Africa, 25 to 50; Egyptian asphalt-urn, 3000 to 5000 bags Cuban asphalt urn, 1000 to 3000 bags; Indian shellac, 4000 to 6000 cases. These quantities are not quite representative now, but they indicate the high utility of the kauri gum. It is commonly supposed that this country grows the only kauris in the world, but they are found in a good many other places, where gum, is also to be found ; but. the gum exported from those places is as yet insignificant in quantity. The process of making varnish from kauri gum is simple in its essentials. The resin, - thoroughly cleaned, is broken into pieces of suitable sizes and placed jn boilers, which are supported on wheels, and which, when full, are run over coke fires, by the heat of which the gum. is carefully melted. Mechanical stirrers keep the fluid continually moving, and linseed oil, which is the other chief constituent of the varnish, is poured slowly in, with turpentine. driers, and such other ingredients as the maker requires. The mixture is watched with much care to ensure perfect mixture, and on the exactness of the compounding, of course, the excellence of the varnish depends. Then it is suitably stored, and subjected to a ripening process, which allows it to settle thoroughly before it is put on the market.