THE RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2671, 24 May 1905, Page 17

THE RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.

j MR J. O. THOMSON'S ADDRESS.

The opening address in connection with the thirty-fifth annual session of the Otago Institute was given at the Museum on the 9th by the President (Mr J. C. Thomson). Mr Thomson, who took for subject , i "The Resources- of New Zealand," spoke 1 as follows : — ■ I The resources of \ the colony divide themselves naturally into two classes, these at ' present being utilised and those awaiting i development in the future, and in con- < sidering them we must ascertain their pre- : sent position and endeavour to estimate j their possible expansion and what conditions < are necessary to induce the bringing of our i dormant resources into use. The natural : features of the colony, particularly of the- : Middle Island, make it eminently suitable for agricultural and pastoral callings, and ' the vigorous prosecution of these renders : the products of the soil the most important i of our resources, compared with which our < manufacturing industries play a very ■ secondary part. You will e«e this at a ■ ! glaxice when I mention that out of a total : of exports of £14-,838,192, the produce of "the land, excluding gold and coal, was : £11,481,659. I quote now ancJ in other i instances from the " Year Book " of 1894. Although different parts of the colony show < different degrees of progress, the progress : of the whole can be considered little- short < of marvellous when we consider that at ■ the last census our total rural population numbered 417,596, from which would have " to be deducted the children, the aged and • infirm, and women engaged solely m < domestic duties. These results not only attest to the wonderful fertility and pro- : ' duotiveness of our soil, but also to the < indomitable pluck and industry of our i settlers. The accounts of this industry, ■ the unselfishness, the mutual helpfulness, • the frequent isclation of the early settlers, : amid the enormous difficulties they had to ■ face and overcome, will ever be one of the most luminous chapters of the colony's i history, and it is satisfactory to note that"": their descendants— certainly under entirely < - changed conditions — are worthily following : such a worthy example. Country life is a : stressful, busy one, with little leisure, and i the measure of work is not the hour, but i daylight. Notwithstanding this fertility ■ and productiveness of our soil, the colony : passed through a period of depression : when it was impossible to dispose of our I '. produce and surplus stock' owing to the want of means and methods to secure their ! safe transit to market, and no real relief ] came until ice was brought on the 'scene, i ' This not only relieved the pressure then, : but it nas been the chief stimulant in the _ expansion -of our agricultural and pastoral ; interests, and will continue its beneficent ; work as time goes on. Many of you will recall the condition of tilings existing be- ■ fore refrigerating became a pronounced ; success, how it passed through the experimental stages, when repeated" failures ; ocourred causing enormous losses, until we ] reached the cargo boats of to-day with their thorough insulation and great carrying oapa- 1 oity, attesting to what scientific skill can ' attain You will also remember that prior to the advent of ice attempts were made '. to dispose of surplus stock by the establishment of meat-preserving works and boiling- ' down establishments, to which stock was ' sold at merely nominal and ruinous prices, : and in many cares, where it would not pay to drive them, they were destroyed. Re- I : peated experiments made with secret preservatives and methods failed, either in- I herently or owing to excessive expense. • Again, butter of ' unequal quality, salted and packed in the old-fashioned firkins, j never satisfactorily survived the vicissitudes of temperature to which it was submitted and the conditions of s>towing existing in the steamers thc-n employed. By no means satisfactory results were obtained when tho ' firkin gave place to tho butter boxes, the inner surfaces of which were covered with various preparations of shellac and paraffin, and it was only when the present boxea with their parchment iininge displaced them I that trouble disappeared A word of praise must be given to the Government for the solid benefits resulting from its enlighten 3d assistance given to the dairying industry and by the employment of experts to raise it to a, position to compete successfully in the markets of the world. Ido not propose to deal specially with our production of wool, cheese, or gra^n. You are probably fairly familiar with the figures relating to them, and are they not set down j annually in our "Year Books"? A com- - I parisoa, however, betwee.i the yields of this colony relative to area with those of the rest of Australasia are enormously in our favour. In connection with the prices of iall our produce we cannot too often reiterate the fact that they are all regulated by prices current in Lonaon, and that what-

ever improvements are made in transport are just as available to our competitors as to ourselves, that wo suffer by our insulation and our extreme distance from our market, and that the main factor in our success must lie in the quality of our products, their evenness, and their presentation in an attractive form. The preparation of pho^-mium fibre commercially commenced mariy years ago, and the same mechanical difficulties, owinsr to the tapering of the leaves, which attended the preparation then have not yet been satisfactorily got over. Th<> industry has seen many vicissitudes, at on time having come almost to a standstill owing to the low prices ruling, and largely accentuated by careless preparation and dishonest baling. With improvements of machinery and the exercise of greater care a much higher class of fibre is being turned out, and this, witii attention to grading, has created a much brisker demand, with tho inevitable rise in price. It is singular that no process has ye-t been found to produce commercially that lustrous, soft fibre so laboriously prepared by the natives. Here is a field calling for experiment, and the successful solution of this problem will not only enrich its discoverer, but would probably at least treble the value of this staple over the whole colony. At present flaxmillers are peripatetic, they settle down in an area, and dear it straight ahead, making no atempt to separate the different qualities, such as swamp, alluvial flat, or terrace grown. We are to-day rapidly consuming our capital, which shows the necessity for the selection and propagation of varieties which produce the finest fibre. For the present very little attention is being given to this matter, but it is one which will require it promptly, otherwise ere long our flax industry will be a thing of the past. Kauri gum has long been, and still is, a most important industry in the Auckland district. The output in 1903 reached the satisfactory figure of 9357 tons, of a value of £631,102. Many areas where it is known to exist are unwoi'kable by the usual method owing to the swampy and deep nature of the ground, and it is now proposed to apply the principle of dredging ,fco them. A company is at present erecting a dredge for the purpose, and are sanguine of getting very fine returns. Should this method be successful, and tliere is no reason why ie should not be, very considerable expansion will take place, and that without displacing the large number of men now engaged in this industry. The fruit industry has been very much in evidence of late*, so I shall not take up ,piuch of your time with it. The most important matters in connection with it are that it should be taken up by trained men, and that attention should be confined to a few varieties, which are found by experience to be most suitable for each particular district. The- disposal of the fruit, whether as fresh, canned, or dried, is a detail which can be decided' on when proper access to market or port is available. It is very doubtful if we shall ever be able to compete with Australia and Tasmania in the export of apples and pears owing to late frosts in both islands making crops uncertain. In all nrobabilitv we shall have to rely on canning chiefly, and also to drying. With the exception of two or three varieties of sub-tropical and tropical fruits we should be entirely self-supporting. In 1903 we imported fresh fruits, such as we can raise ourselves, to the value of £24,227, dried fruits £94.012, and bottled and preserved fruits £19.974 ; in all £138,213. The displacing of these imports alone would mean very considerable employment. Thei'e is no doubt tliat fruit-ETOwingf is an interesting? healthy, and pleasant occupation, and to those who understand their business will yield a good competency. The cultivation of small fruit ought to prove remunerai tlve but at present the comfortable conditions of the community are against it ; few places are more suitable than the neighbourhood of Dunedin. vjt it cannot be carried on on. a sufficient scale owing to the want pf labour required at the time of ingathering. Children take this up casually for th(3 sake of pocket money, but they are not i ceriouslv set to It. I Our fishinef industry is still in its infancy, but is certain to become one of great importance. The introduction of steam trawlers on a small scale has already added new varieties of excellent quality, and has largely increased the supply of fish, which consequently. is cheaper in price. Its more general consumption by the community at large will result, as better means of distribution arp adopted — at nresent; they hardly exist. Refrifferatine- nlavs a very important part in assisting the development of this industry, and curing and canninc are being in^reasinglv gone into. In 1903 we imported fish to the value of £18,887 : now, although this item may be reduced, it is not_ likely to be much affected as ponulation increases, owing to its consisting of varieties which do not exist here, and we may naturally expect it will not increase as

our own productions become better known and appreciated. In connection with our fishing there is a waste product, the utilisation of which will add largely to our wealth both directly and indirectly, and that is the fish caught, but unfit for food, and which at present have to be thrown away for want of appliances to digest it for the purpose of extracting an abundant supply of oil, and of disposing of the residue aa a manure of the very highest quality. _ Here we have a means of displacing im-' ported artificial manures, supply our own wants and so ivoid thf introduction of

''iseas-' mthrax. ' fvery centre vvhore trawling is carried on thousands of tons of this class of fish are annually thrown, away. I cannot leave this subject without; expressing satisfaction at the establishment; of the Marine Hatchery at Portobello. As ' members of the institute we have a special interest in ite welfare and it is to tho credit of the Government that it t>'ipreciated the value of the industry to wh it may be considered an adjunct, as v.c ' as its potentiality to the cause of biological science. Of mineral resources we have consider able variety, and you will naturally at one* think of gold as the most important. Th^ application of engineering and ohemica* science to this industry has brought about wonderful changes, and it is to be hoped that the careful geological examination oi our auriferous strata and areas will lead tc steady and increased returns. With fe-rt exceptions quartz mining has been very unsatisfactory, owing to the varying nature of the reefs, the general average quality ol the stone being on the side of poverty, and the 'o's o' gold through incomplete treatment. In many cases failure has resulted from insufficient capital. A remarkable instance of this is to be found in the Waihi mine. Little more than 10 years ago its shares could be bought at 2s 6d. and were then only bought speculatively for a rise. Its value to-day is due to reconstruction, with a sufficiency of capital to carry on operations with ample appliances, and the adoption of scientific methods by which practically the whole of the gold is recovered. An instance of the varying nature of our reefs is that of the Bendigo Company, above Cromwell, which for a time proved exceptionally rich, and gave very handsome returns. Unfortunately, a faulfc was met with and the reef lost, and it has since baffled repeated search, made at considerable expense, and which is still going on ; probably a careful examination of the strata and country rock would indicate the advisability of further search or otherwise. The application of the system used in dredging harbours to gold mining brought a large arf>a under contribution, and will beneficially affect the industry within and outside of the colony. The principle is a. sound one; the numerous failures following its adoption had nothing to do with its merits, but we are learning from these failures that larger and more powerful machines are required to do much of the work that is still untouched, and that larger areas will have to be granted to induee v the investment of the additional capital needed. Sluicing, always an important branch, . is being carried on satisfactorily, and receiving more attention..

Silver is produced in the colony to a small extent as a waste product of tho Auckland goldfields, being separated by chlorination during the refining of the nobler metal with which it is closely combined.

Coal is frhe next mineral in importance. It is very fortunate for the colony that coal is so generally distributed, and it is particularly fortunate for those centres in which manufactures are carried on that motive power has been made available so cheaply ; without it dredging could nevei* have been carried on. Many deposits are known that cannot yet be worked, and systematic search will locate many more. Our deposits of iron ore are enormous-, but the day of their development is still a good way off. It is claimed that the electrical furnace will solve the problem of reducing our ironsands, which have hitherto defied all efforts to treat them commercially — a fact known to the sorrow of many a resident here. Theoretically, the principle seoms a sound one, and if successful it by