TIMBER INDUSTRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19682, 27 December 1933, Page 4

TIMBER INDUSTRY

GREAT BARRIER KAURI ANOTHER BLOCK TO BE CUT The large-scale felling of kauri, in spite of the slackness in the timber trade, is indicated by the calling of tenders by the Kauri Timber Company for the construction of a tramway and the handling of 4,000.000 feet of logs, For some years the company has been working out the large stand of kauri between Whangaparapara Harbour and the east coast of Great Barrier Island. The forests on the western slope have been felled and the block now being dealt with lies on the eastern slope, the estimated stand being about 30,000,000 feet. The task of getting the huge logs to the shore of the harbour involves raising them to the summits of four high ridges and lowering them on the other side. This work is done by four hauling engines and two other locomotives, the total Journey being some six miles. With the completion of the utilisation of the kauri on the Great Barrier few large blocks will remain in New Zealand. The fine stands of Walpoua and the Trounson Park are reserves. Throughout North Auckland there are here and there blocks of kauri. The forests surrounding Whangaroa Harbour have now been cut, but there still remain two fair-sized stands in the Hoklanga district. An official of a leading Auckland timber company said recently that it would be difficult to say in how many years the marketable kauri in New Zealand would be exhausted. Much depended on the use of substitutes for timbers of this class, and on the restrictions of local bodies as to what timbers should be used in building. The second-growth trees would take too many years to mature to influence the future of the industry. The kauri from the Fiji Islands was being shipped direct to Melbourne, where a large mill had been erected to deal with it. A number of timber merchants, in discussing the prospects in the trade, said that, following Increased business due to the building subsidy, slack conditions again existed. In house building- a number of substitutes for timber were being used, particularly for walls and ceilings. The increased demand of some time ago, when milking sheds were being erected in large numbers, had not been sustained, but country business was still the main source of revenue. In some parts of the country notably in the King Country, there was more employment. Some activity was anticipated following the increased wool prices, but this was not to be expected until after the holidays.