OUR TIMBER TRADE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5461, 13 January 1896, Page 2

OUR TIMBER TRADE.

Our London correspondent has kept our readers pretty well acquainted with the efforts that have been made by the Government during the past year or two to find a profitable opening for New Zealand tirubor' in the English market; but Mr James Freyberg, who arrived from Wellington by the Manapouri yesterday, has very courteously made a considerable addition to our stock of information on this important subject. Mr Freyberg, it will be remembered, ' is the gentleman who was selected by Mr Seddon nearly two years ago to promote the interests of our timber industry by bringing; the merits of various New Zealand woods under the notice of the English consumers. He spent a" year at Home, chiefly in the Metropolis, and during that time managed, with the enthusiastic assist; ance of Sir Wostby Perceval, to interest a large number of manufacturers in the products of our forests. As an instance of the practical results of his efforts lie points out that the sawmills in> the North Island, which were' working not more thjin half-time when ho received his present appointment, are now fully employed, some of them working day and night. This is 'mainly due to the increased demand for kaurii which was the only timber MrFreyberghad an opportunity to fairly intro duce to the British public. Unfortunately the expansion of this particular trade does not benefit New Zealand so largely as it would have done some years ago. The bulk of. the kauri forests, which are confined to a comparatively narrow : belt of the North Island, are • held by . a Melbourne company, and, as a consequence, much of Mr Freyberg*s labour has gone •to improve the position of Australian capitalists. But, of course, the renewed activity of the saw-mills has a direct effect upon the labour market, and the success of ,one enterprise must ultimately lead, to.., the development of others. Mr' Freyberg has no doubt that the demand for .kauri will continue to grow, and that within twenty years or so we shall se,e. the exhaustion of the supply. The kauri pine is a very slow -growing tree — ->. by far the slowest of any of the New Zealand timber trees— and T f or, that Reason is, not, likely to enter very largely into any. scheme of afforestation. V Mr Freyberg,' by the way, like every other prudent man who has any concern at all for the welfare of posterity, holds strong opinions on the question of tree-planting. There are thousands of acres in the colony, he says, that. might be devoted to this purpose without any great cost to the present generation, and with immense advantage to those by which it will be succeeded.

But Mr' Freyberg is more interested just now in the present than in' the future. During his sojourn in London he watched the application of wood to> street-paving, and realised that thiß would create an enormous demand for hard, closegrained timber. In London alone there aresome 2700 miles of streets to ha covered, while all the other largo cities are adopting the same method of paving. It is difficult to estimate how much this means to these colonies. The European and American *mpplies of suitable timber are already totally inadequate 1 to meet the demand, and the consumers aro all looking towards Australasia. The .£20,000 worth ofr' stringy bar!: ordered by the Marylebonevestry frr.:u Tasmania, and which was mentioned i- our cablegrams on Friday, willbe » •.. / sufficient to cover about two n; i.j of streets, and we understand that another of the metropolitan vestries has exhausted the immediate Kupply of timber from West Australia. Probably Tasmania owes the order from the Marylebone Testry to the activity of Sir Robert Hamilton, the Agent-General for the colony, who' has always cordially co-operated with the' New Zealand expert, and shares his confldtnee as to the future of the trade. When Mr Freyberg had gathered all possible information concerning the new business he was recalled to the colony for the purpose of advising the Government at this end. He has just completed an exhaustive examination of the forests of the North Island, and to-day will leave Christchurch for the purpose' of making a similar examination of the forests in this island. The results of his observations will bo embodied in a report to the Government, which we are not at liberty to anticipate, but it is safe to predict that it will contain important recommendations for the conservation and -marketing of native timber. Mr Freyberg believes that rimu and matai are better suited than any of the Australian or European timbers for street-paving, and that if they can bo supplied in large quantities at a reasonable price, they will be given the preference by all the Ene-lish civic authorities. Ho urges, however, that a thoroughly qualified agent shou d bo stationed in, London to press their advantages upon the local vestries. Wood-paving, he contends, has come to stay ; it is infinitely superior to any other street covering, and while it can be obtained at. anything short of an extravagant cost will bo generally employed. The average "wearing-life" of the wood blocks is estimated at twelve years, so that London, even with its present length of streets, will have to spend a*good deal more than two millions a year in maintaining its thoroughfares. Surely the prospects of such a inarkot, to say nothing of the requirements of other great cities, will justify the Government's efforts to cultivato the trade.