BEECH INDUSTRY IN SOUTHLAND

Southland Times, Issue 24596, 19 November 1941, Page 7

BEECH INDUSTRY IN SOUTHLAND

STRIKING PROGRESS IN FORTY YEARS MR D. J. WESNEY’S TALK “Whereas 40 years ago the milling of silver beech was in its infancy and the timber was used only for fencing posts, draining boards, farm outbuildings and firewood, production in 1939 (the last year for which figures are available) totalled more than 9,000,000 feet. The vision of the pioneers has been amply rewarded, and, under the sound management of the Southland Beech Marketing Authority, the maintenance and development of the flourishing industry of today should be assured.” With these words Mr D. J. Wesney concluded a comprehensive review of the Southland beech industry which he gave to members of the Invercargill Rotary Club yesterday. Mr Wesney, who is managing director of William Smith and Co., Ltd., timber merchants, has been clos'ely asociated with the development of the industry. He began by describing the five different varieties of beech found in New Zealand, of which silver beech is at once the most common and the most important. The silver beech tree varied in height from 60ft to 80ft. It had a clean, straight bole, often exceeding 40 feet in length, and produced, on the average, a log 36ft long by 2ft diameter. It was typically an inland tree and thrived on poor land, favouring dry soil. It regenerated extremely well, and was the dominant tree in many parts of Otago and Southland, though it was not found on Stewart Island. Under proper management, the available supplies of the timber would last indefinitely. INSECT PEST The beech was subject to attack by the Platypus beetle, which bored into the exposed wood when a tree was wounded by fire or other - means, and produced a pinhole effect in the timber. The central portion of the trunk of large trees was also liable to fungal attack, which sometimes made it hollow, and it had been estimated that 30 per cent, of the trees in the Southland region suffered from this defect. The bulk of the silver beech production of Southland and Otago was used locally, only about 25 to 30 per cent, being exported, mainly to Australia, continued Mr Wesney. An analysis of the sales of silver beech in recent years showed that 44 per cent, was used for case and box manufacture, 14 per cent, for motor body building, 12 per cent, for furniture, 10 per cent, for brushware, 4 per cent, for turnery, 3 per cent, for shoe heels and 13 per cent, for other items. At present there was an unlimited demand for silver - beech and no other timber in the Dominion was being put to so many and such diversified uses.

Mr Wesney dealt with the methods of seasoning silver beech and went on to describe its principal properties. Its ability to wear smooth with use, the ease with which it could be worked, machined and bent, and its ability to “stay put” were especially valuable features. The timber was not, however, durable in the ground. EARLY DEVELOPMENT “It was in the early days of 'he present century that “birch,” as it was then termed, was first recognized as a timber of commercial value,” Mr Wesney continued. “The first Southland sawmiller to realize its possibilities was Mr Alex Macpherson, of Invercargill, who in 1907 visited Australia to introduce the timber, with the confident expectation that its special qualities would ensure a market there. He was successful in securing a most enthusiastic and energetic representative, and his first customer was Mr A. Gerbes, of Richmond, Melbourne, who in the early days, with his father, was engaged in the furniture trade in. Invercargill, where he had experimented with beech timber and appreciated its value. The merchants, however, were prejudiced against a new timber, and the agent approached the manufacturers, among them being the H. V. McKay Harvester Works at Sunshine, to whom A. and D. Macpherson shipped in 1911 a full cargo of 400,000 super feet. Mr McKay was most favourably impressed, and even to the present day is a large consumer. The Sunshine Harvester Company has a world market and even in those earlier years its machines, the timber of which was Southland silver beech, found their way to the Argentine, Black Sea ports, the Persian Gulf, and even to the Tigris Valley in the Valley of the Euphrates, near the Garden of Eden.” STRENGTH OF TIMBER In 1915 the University of Melbourne Engineering School had conducted tests of the breaking strain of four timbers, namely, Southland silver beech, Victorian yellow stringy bark, Tasmanian bluegum and Victoria mountain gum. The beech showed a modulus of rupture of 18,7551 b per sq. in., as against 16,650, 14.500 and 13,8801 b per sq. in. respectively for the Australian timbers. The first real effort to develop the export trade was made in February 1917, when a delegation visited Australia and appointed agents in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, the foundations being then firmly laid. When Mr Wesney was in England in 1928, he tried to interest the English market and was introduced to a number of London timber merchants and finally the Imperial Institute. A small order for gunstocks was received and supplied. It was fully realized by the trade that since the English trade had small timber resources of its own and was within easy reach of Scandinavian, Finnish, Austrian and French supplies, the price factor alone would be a difficult problem. Holdens Motors, Ltd., in Adelaide, which had been using large quantities of Southland silver beech, purchased a shipment of European beech at a lower price, but the screw-holding properties of Southland beech were non-existent in the foreign article, which was found almost useless to the manufacturers. DEMAND IN ENGLAND “Probably as a result of the interviews in 1928, and a visit by the managing director of Holdens, Ltd., to England about 1931, the name of Southland silver beech began to loom large in the manufacturing centres of England,” Mr Wesney went on. “In 1932 a cable was received from tire New Zealand High Commissioner’s Office in London requesting a quotation for 9,000,000 feet of Southland silver beech, suitable for motor body manufacture. Southland millers then recognized that a vast field of export was awaiting exploration, and as the result of a conference between the Government authority and the beech millers, arrangements were made to send a delegation to London. Success crowned its efforts and many large orders were received. The prices were low, and in order to cope financially with the additional demand, co-operative action was necessary. Accordingly, the beech millers in Southland and Otago, cooperating with the Government, formed a central selling organization in 1933, and improved their grading and marketing in keeping with English requirements.”

On the motion of Mr J. L. Sutton, Mr Wesney was warmly thanked for his talk.