EXPORT OF TIMBER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2151, 16 May 1895, Page 11

EXPORT OF TIMBER.

Wellington, May 13. The ludustrU-s department telcgrfphed to the Agent-general for infoimotion as to the sizes that timber ehauld bo out for furniture purposes, and received a reply :— " Furnitura flitchei, 3£in thick ; as wide and long as possible. Width very important. Figured honeyBuckle is very much wanted." (Fkosi Our Own Corhesfokdent.) London, March 29. Mr Freyberg tells me that Ntw Ze*l»nd timber is by r.o means quiet, that, on the contrary, it is making more and more stir in the London market. " There is a splendid demand for New Zealand wood jatt now," he said to m°, a few houis ago, "if it can be placid on the market at £6 per load, but it is useless sending it for paviDg purposes at a higher price, because then it will compete with jarrah, which already has made good its tooting in the market, and holds tte market at £6 12s 6d." "It will take time," continued Mr Freyberg, " for New Zealand wood to get well into the market, bat if it could be sold now at £6 per load, it would make a market for itself, and get into the running at once. And it mu«t come by sailing vessels, so as to c ave cost of carriage. It is too expensive to bring it by steamer, but if conveyed by sailing ship and sold here at £6, there would be a large profit for the New Zealand sawmillers." "Now, to show you what mijiht bs done," Mr Freyberg proceeded to say, "let me tell ycu that one shoit street in the London suburbs ia bsing laid with jivrah paving. This will take 6000 loads at £6 12s 6d, go the wood alone will cost £39,756. If tbat ntreit could have been laid instead with New Zealand wood ib would have meant a clear profit of £6000 to the New Zealand eawinillers." "And that is not all that h«s to be ssid," added the Now Zealand expert. " I inspected those jarrah blocks, and found them short length by a sixteenth of an inch, due to waste in the cut of the saw, which was not

allowed for, though tho blocks should have been siu long each. Now this means a loss lo the paving tulhoiities of tho ytav'B w^ar ia the wood, Mid of timber to the segregate value of £419 17a 6d. If, however, New Zealand adopts my proposed eUndard of dimension*, including a length of 6ft 4^ ; n, wo can cut 15 sin blocks out of each length, allowirg l^in for 15 saw cuta. If the timber is suj plied in New 7r aland at 10s per 100 ft, aud the expense of fivight 5s 6d, lauding Is, and fft^e txpei.seß 91 bo added, makiug 170 3-1 per 100 ft in all, that would give 2s 9d per lOO'.t profit to the eawmiller in New Zealai.d, geJlirg ifc ftt £1 per 100, equal to £6 per load." •' Wg ought to secure the maiket," concluded Mr I?) ey berg. " Lnok at the jarrah timber, in 1087 it had to be given away, ko otic would touch it, and now it6tlbet£6l2e6dper load, and has to bo conttauted for eight monthn beforehand to ensure a oupply, so great is the demand." Tbe-:e ehculd bo Borne useful hiuts for your timber owners atd sawmillera. Oh, by-the-bye, I was to tell you that timber for paving ought lo be sent Hems wet."