THE NEW FORESTRY

Otago Witness, Issue 3609, 15 May 1923, Page 5

THE NEW FORESTRY

TO THE EDITOB. Sib, —In the early days of settlement in Otago timber was fairly plentiful from Waitati south, and new-comers cut trees wherever they liked for building, fencing, etc. At the onset pit-sawing had to be resorted to until sawmilling machinery was imported —mostly from America, from the sixties on ward. The circular saw, like the Yankee axe, came to Australia and New Zealand! after the discovery of gold in the fifties and sixties. Pit sawing vias practised in some parts of England until the fifties. Dunedin had small circular saw benches going in the sixties about the hush, where timber fit for milling was somewhat patchy. The demand for building stuff during the rushes to the diggings was largely met with imported Baltic boards and! later with pine from North America. During the golden period in the interior of Otago a fair sized bush on Taieri Plain was worked and another near Milton. A sawmill was started on the Molyneux, at Tuapeka Mouth, in the sixties. In 1863 pit-sawing was commenced at Tapanui and circular saws quickly followed, but it was not until 1869 that the big Victorian mills commenced operations, and supplied the goldfields and squatters. There was little farming in the interior in those days. A small mill was established a.t Waikaia, where a beautiful 30,000-acre forest existed, and another was started at Croydon, near Gore. Most of the birch, or beech, as it is now styled, was burned there and elsewhere. Birch in Whisky Gully, Tapanui, wa-s styled “silver beech” by the members of the

Forestry Commission in 1918. No silver beech has been seen by any one else, but the good old birch remains. Beech or birch —a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; therefore why bother about the name of a tree? Two distinct varieties of the birch exist at Tapanui and Rankleburn. In the gullies of the Blue Mountains was a soft red timber that early day settlers despised when pine was plentiful. Of recent years Victorian implement workers and furni-ture-makers discovered that this so-called soft timber (largely used for fencing rails in the early days with black pine posts) was most suitable for their purposes, and shipments are now sent from Southland to Melbourne. When properly seasoned, birch timber takes a beautiful polish. For flooring, if it is not allowed to warp, it is excellent, it does not splinter and is lasting. North-west from Tapanui is the Leithan birch forest of the hardwood birch which, as fencing, can be seen, remaining sound although put in the ground 50 years ago. The Leithan is inaccessible; otherwise it would have been cut out long ago. Rankleburn birch, on both banks of the Molyneux in Tuapeka County, has been worked since the early sixties, an-d still supports one small mill. The cream of the timber near the river has been cut and used long ago. A team of celebrated raftsmen once worked the river there, these including the Tyson Brothers (who were famous wrestlers), one Buchan (an expert North American lumber jack end boatman, who ferried a fls.tee during the height of the 1878 flood), “Jack” Boland, and others. The first Beaumont bridge over the big river was built of birch logs, axe and adzedressed out of this bush, some of the logs being magnificent specimens. Above the birch on the east side of the river once existed the Remarkable Patch, still marked on the district maps, although the timber was cut many years ago. This manuka, was of extraordinary size, being big enough for ships’ spars. Nothing equal to it in size has ever been recorded in Otago. The “patch” was only a few acres in extent, and the bulk of it went during the construction of the Tuapeka railway. After the Leithan and Waikaia birch one had to travel to the Lakes for any extent of forest. Wanaka and Hawea districts were well supplied, and Wakatipu Lake was once encircled by beautiful forest, but is now almost bare. The timber went during the gold fever, the fire stick as usual taking the largest toll. At Tapanui there were about a thousand acres of magnificent pine, mostly black. Sawmillers worked this forest for a quarter of a century, but it was estimated that fires destroyed more than a half of it. Forests were then under the control of the Lands Department, which extracted a small royalty by charging a few shillings per acre to millers, but the control was useless all the time, and the revenue was not enough to pay ranger’s salary. For fencing purposes the supply of goai (or kowhai), with broadleaf and black pine, filled the bill, and is still available in a few places. Totara was not plentiful, but there were a few beautiful specimens of the maple tree in Tapanui bush. Totara logs were found all over Otago ranges, in places by gold prospectors, evidencing the fact that centuries ago Otago must have been devastated by bush fires. When Sir Julius Vogel’s Public Works policy came into vogue further quantities of sawn timber were needed, and Dunedin sawmillers turned their eyes to the Gatlins bush, some 49 miles in length, towards Waikawa. Many mills went up in the seventies or eighties, and this bn3h will continue to export timber for many years to come. Many classes of timber were found and milled at Catlins, the river fiats yielding the better kinds. Between the Holyr.eux and Mataura River mouths the coastal ranges were a magnificent sight in old identity° days, and the pity of it is that the original supplies are fast disappearing and our Forestry Department i 3 doing nothing to remedy the less. Captain M'lntosh Ellis, the North American forester, was to start a system of sylviculture in Catlins, but it has not eventuated. The late Mr Matthews, first Chief Forester, condemned this principle of rejuvenation owing to the slow growth of New Zealand pines. It is estimated that black, white, and red pines need 400 years or longer to mature for, milling. Kauri has been felled in Auckland, the age of which was estimated at 3000 years. In the late seventies and eighties the timber trade in Dunedin boomed, and it was then that the old firm of Guthrie and Larnaeh erected the extensive wood factory in Princes street which afterwards was burned. The firm of Guthrie and Co. exploited not only the great Catlins, to "VThikaka bush, but also went into Southland for supplies, and did an immense trade for a time until the Vogel boom burst. The timber firms went under, carrying with them the fortune of at least one Dunedin man of prominence. The trade soon recovered, and Invercargill became the centre of operations for many years during the duration of the second boom, Mr H. A. Massey being the leader, whilst the great Seaward Bush, Longwood Ranges, and Winton, and other districts were being cut out of timber. New the centre of operations is at Tautapere. Near the latter place is Port Craig, where there is the most modern sawmill in New Zealand, controlled financially from Christchurch. Several sawmills are also working at Stewart Island, and in years to come, as easily obtained supplies are cut out, the West Coast Sounds will be exploited for timber. Much timber is to be seen on the West Const in rough country from Port Craig to Puysegur Point, and then northwards to Wostlancf, hut it will be an expansive task to take out- the logs. It will eventually be done by electricity and' modern appliances. Recently the newly created Foresty Department has raised the royalty on Crown timber to 3s per 100 ft. Thm means that the cost of a cottage will go up at least £3O. Yet another indirect tax for the people to pay! The department cost £13,000 last year. Hence more revenue must be obtained and taxpayers growl.—l am, etc., W. Quin.