NEW ZEALAND TIMBER.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 291, 3 August 1860, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND TIMBER.

If the New Zealand Islands were as near Englaud as the United States of America, the tide of emigration would flow towards them, because land is to be had there cheaply, and the climate is salubrious. It is the Italy of the Pacific, and Dr. Thompson, whose valuable work on New Zealand has just been published, acoouuls for the beneficial effects which the climate exerts on the constitution- of Anglo-Saxons, from the evenness of the temperature of all seasons, the constant agitation which the wind produces in the atmostphere, and the circumstance that from whatever quarter, the wind blows, it passes over a wide expanse, of ocean ; iv addition to which the country contains few physical sources of disease. . , All that is required to make such an island prosperous is the settlement in its Ports and on its lands of half a miiliou of emigrants from the mother country. the past six years more progress has been made in New Zealand colonisation than in the previous half century; and if there were a line of Steamships established to connect the colony with North and South America, via Panama, an impetus would be given tp the trade of the Islands which would attract thither men of capital from Europe, and open up an interchange .with the United States, Canada and British Columbia. Three'of the most urgent wants of England are to be found in New Zealand; it produces timber, flax, and wool. The first of these can at I present be procured, in quantities, with difficulty, because of the uncleared state of the ground. The largest trees grow: in. deepest ravines, and the underwood is so strong, and the n»tan, or supple-jaok, so netted between the kanphes, as to prevent either ingress or egress, until pioneers have cleared a way. Slowly the valleys are getting penetrated and the wood felledj bat it will take centuries to cut down the' almost exhauatless timber o£ the SQtmtryL

The drawbacks of the Shipping Trade with New Zealand, at present'; is the stb^ll aMottnt:of homeward oargo, although this ia on the inorease. If the duties were taken off timber, it would pay to bring to England part cargoes of the different sorts grown in the New. Zealand Islands, which would be a great boon to the Shipping Interest. ' v The trees best fitted for exportation from the Colony are :— The Kauri (Dammari Austrolis or Pinus Kauri). This tree grows in the forests of New Zealand, from eighty-five feet high without a branch. The trunk of the tree is of immense.girth, being sometimes twelve feet in diameter; and when the sap and bark are removed, the circamfarmice of the solid heart of the log is thirty-three feet, or a diameter of eleven feet. It answers every purpose of house building, and it is used very oommouly for the topmasts and bowsprits of large ships. The wood is very light in its color, planes up smoothly, and works well. , The gum and resin of the kauri, are also valuable. The next tree deserving of notice is the Tanekaha (Poiocarpus asplenifolius), a regular, beautiful, and high ornamental tree. _It averages forty-five feet in height, with a girth often feet. The wood is a shade darker than the kauri, but closer grained, and less affected by wet than any other pine. It is used for all exposed work, such as posts, verandahs, and. decks of vessels. Small craft are fitted with spars from the tanekaha. Very little of this wood finds its way to Europe, but were our ports open for the introduction of wood without duty, the merchants of New Zealand would speculate in forwarding this and other trees of the colony. The Totara (Taxus), when full grown, measures about twenty feet in circumference, and stands fifty to sixty feet high. The wood inclines to red, splits freely, is very hard, but works well. Another tree, the Kahitatea fTrenipus or Dacidium excelsum), absorbs so much wet that it is unfitted for building purposes; it is cut down for firewood. The Mairi, of the Podocarpus species, is too hard and brittle for manipulation, and is very heavy. Its resemblance to mahogany has caused it to be worked up by good mechanics into handsome articles of household furniture. The Puriii (Vitexlittoralis), has been denominated the New Zealand oak. It is a valuable tree from its durability, splits freely, and does not injure from exposure to damp. For shipbuilding it is an excellent wood, as it works well into timbers for knees. It has been thoughtlessly rejected from its appearance, being perforated in some parts by worm holes; but as these holes do not proceed from rot, the .timber is thoroughly sound. It grows from fifteea to thirty feet without a brauch, and varies from twelve to twenty feet in circumference The Kawaka (Dacrydium plumosurn) grows about thirty feet high, with a diameter of three feet. From its beautiful grain, and deep stain, it is admirably adapted for picture frames. Another of the pine family is the Miro Podccarpus freruginea), a plant which grows sixty feet in height, and thirty-six inches diameter. It is the hardest of the pines, and the most durable. For elegant tables, and small cabinet articles generally, the Aki (or Lignum vitce, of New Zealand) is much sought after. For common household furniture, the Kohehohe, producing a fine grained red wood, closer than cedar, would be an acquisition to our workshops. The Hinaii (Dicera dentata) is a large tree, but its wood is only fit for dyeing. It makes an excellent light brown or puce color, or deep black, which are not removable by washing. A plant with a yew tree leaf, called the Matai (Taxus Matai), yields a durable wood, which is easily worked. The Rata is a large tree, but from its curves it is more particularly valuable to the shipbuilder. There are raauy other trees fit for building and other purposes in the several islands; but as furniture woods and dyewoods only are duty free from New Zealand, and as ash, beech, birch, elm, fir, oak, and wainscot are not deemed to be fnrniture woods, the Colonial woods have not yet received a full consideration and classification} aod, so long as the billet, or bushwood, used for stowage, is taxed with a 5 per cent, duty, no more of this dunnage will be brought to England than is required for the security of the cargo. Liberate all timber and woods from the many Treasury general orders relating to their measurement and introduction, and new sorts of wood would be used for stowage, which would pay to sell here for building and other purposes, and would be advantageous to our Carrying Trade. Regular Steam services, whenever established, have increased the employment of sailing ships, and doubled the Customs receipts of the Port from whence they depart. Let there be a well appointed line to New Zealand via Panama, and we shall find that the Trade of that Colony with the mother couutry will be quintupled in a few years. We can never have too much of .the produce of those islands. As.it takes 4,200 loads of timber, according co Mr. Cbatneld's estimate, occupying seventy acres of ground eighty years for its growth, to construct a line-of-battle ship, which is equal to 5,600 acres for one year, there will always be a demand for this necessary production; and a freer intercourse with New Zealand will attract hands there to dear the ground, and send down timbering trees to the Seaports for shipment. The Overland route via Egypt will not satisfy the requirements of the New Zealand Colonists, and the people of New South Wales are growing impatient at the long delay in taking up the Panama route.— Shipping Gazette.

French Treaty.—The Customs Bill is passing rapidly through the House of Lords; Lord Derby, through disapproving of the policy which it represents, and of the French Treaty, not wishing to disturb the financial arrangements of Government in that respect. According to the EcoriomisU Mn Oobden'sr commercial treaty is likely to prove a complete failure as under the treaty a duty of 30 percent, "ad valorem" would amount to a prohibition on those manufactures which we could only expect .the .French would consume. The 'Economist further says, "We are entirely in the hands of the French Government; that Government can say whether, as far as regards, our, manufactures, the treaty shall be a reality. We hope it will be a reality.'' ; This hope reads, very naiicht lite a, <^>o6t.

DISTRESS.IN_ SYDNEY. T*HE distress- whicliprejails-amoug the laboring classesTiu. Sy"dney,~it;lia^ ia nothing more than might be expeoted in a oity of like population. This |is a comfortable doctrine for selfishness;lto wrap itself up in, yet it is a fase cloak after all. It is wholly untrue that in cities equally populated there is always to be found a large amount of misery. There are many cities in the United Spates wbioh contain a far more numerous and hereto-generous population than Sydney, in which the spectacle of hundreds of strong healthy working men in deep distresa for want of employment has never been witnessed. We may instance the cities of Chicago and Cincinnati—the first with more than double, and the second containing at least four fold the population of Syduey. In Cincinnati, in the year 1853, out .of a population of 115,000 there were 51,000, or nearly one half, immigrants from other countries. If the accounts of all travellers may be relied on, this city presents, in common with others of a similar kind in America, a scene of universal industry and prosperity. Imbecility of mind or bodily infirmity may create—as they will everywhere create—a certain degree of pauperism, yet it is so slight as not to constitute a distinct ; feature in the aspect of society. These facts I dispose of the assertion that the destitution exlisting in Sydney is no more than might be expected, and not greater than could everywhere be met with in cities of a similar size. Dr. Lang with that regard to truth and charity which now more than ever distinguishes him, hit upon the real cause of the periodical distress in Sydney, namely, the cooping up within its barren precints of one-fourth of the entire population of the colony. As the Doctor remarked there is no other instance on record or in existence of the population of the capital city bearing anything like a similar proportion to the entire population of the country. The population of London, the highest, on the scale, is in the proportion of a tenth to the entire population of Great Britain. But what shall be thought of a city like ours in which manufactures are almost unknown, and the products of handicraft are imported at a rate so low as lo undersell the resident operatives, and in which, notwithstanding all this, one-fourth of the entire population of the country find a subsistence as non-producers. Under such circumstances the amount of suffering is not to be wondered at. It is the freedom from suffering-the de gree of positive comfort we behold arouud. us that excites astonishment. Nothing places in so strong a light the splendid resources of the colony, as the ability of so many non-producers to make a living at all in Sydney. There is, however, much suffering and hopelessness in this metropolis that shun the public eye, and shrink from the humiliation of exposure. The full extent of the pressure that weighs down the more independent-minded of the poor amongst us can only be guessed at. They are relieved to some extent by their fellows—the poor succour the poor—and their story is never told. We have some reason to believe that, if all which is really endured were fully made known, the mass of wretchedness in the midst of us would be acknowledged by all to be appalling. The remote cause of all this, in our opinion, must be looked for in the land monopoly. But for that monopoly there would be no more privation and misery in Sydney* than there is in Chicago or in Cincinnati. Throw the lands open,—equalise taxation—remove every restriction upon trade and industry, and in seven years' time every vestige of distress will disappear from the Australians! Vain would be the endeavor to effect this grand object by having recourse to what is called the protective system. The movement in favor of that system may be regarded only as a sympton of the complaint the body politic is laboring uuder. At a more advanced stage of the desease, socialism, communism, or some other ism, in which hearts full of anguish and discontent find a hope of relief, might be expected. to make its appearance. Happily* however, the true remedy is not far off. It cannot be distant when manhood suffrage is in the hands of the peopled In the power which the great body of the people now possess to influence their 'political destinies we place great reliance. With a new country before us of unbounded natural resources—the true description of which would be almost too gorgeous for belief in other countries —why have we hundreds of stalwart men pining for lack of employment? Simply because the people at large have not hitherto enjoyed a voice in the making of the laws that regulate their material interests. All the advantages of a new couutry have been monopolised by a few. The unparalleled, facilities for colonisation presented by this colony have been, indeed, made the very groundwork of monopoly. Had the climate been so severe as to necssitate the laying up of winter provender for stock; —had there been a formidable race of aboriginal inhabitants to make head against; or had the country been at all infested with beasts of prey, it would have been given up from the first to the hardy sons of toil and poverty. Our squatters in such a case would have been men of a very different description from those who now, bear that appellation amongst us. But .even as things are, it is something to enjoy the hope that, by constitutional means, the people at large "will be enabled, before long, to retrieve the position they have lost. In this will consist the true cure for the want of wonc and food experienced from time.to time by so many of our working men in this metropolis.— Sydney Empire.

The Eyes.—A Secret worth Knowing.—An old traveller in the last five years assures us that the following two simple ingredients have been infallible in effecting an easy cure of sore, bad eyes—a complaint but too general in this part of the world:— £o'z. .saltpetre dissolved in £ pint of the best wfiite vinegar. Mode of application—ln the morning, when the eyelids are gummy, wipe them with a piqce of" clean w^ite rag, about the size of your little finger, after you have soked it in the liquid} haying first shooXit well up; This will cleanse your eyelids in an instant; then let a drop fall in each eye, if both are affected. Do not drink wine, spirits, or malt liquor. Keep the bottle we,U corked. Do not smoke, and take a simple aperient; and if you have the misfortune to have your eyes full of inflammation and bad humours before the first application, iv three weeks, at the farthest, jou will have cause gracefully to rejoice having heard of this paragraph in the tll&* wana Mercury*

"A Mis'abliE Nigger."—My friend asked4P.tM^ on theMMy^TKo^.hscaS>eto ptlr£§J "My, .Massa"YinP<^ "&y' ,|p%l^ ; .;,was berry bail when T '"was in I couldn't do no kind of work | I w^a's JQWW feeble y 'tv?a? jes as much-as/I coulcj.. cjq to hoe my own garden an f d eat dje^ sass; and die missus what owned me see, dat, I wasj a mis'able nigger—one of de mis'ablest kind. So I said to her, 'Missus, I'm a mis'able nigger, and I ant worth nothing, and I tink you'd better sell me, : I'm such a mis'able nigger.' Now, Massa Vincent, I was such a poor nigger, that missus 'greed to sell me for a hundred dollars, and I 'greed to try to work and earn die money to pay her, and I did, and my .health has been gittin' better eber since, acid I 'specks I made 'bout nine hundred dollars dat time out of dat nigger.— American Paper.