FOREST PRODUCTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16530, 14 September 1921, Page 10

FOREST PRODUCTS.

POSSIBILITIES OF UTILISATION. An address on the utilisation of forest products was given by Mr A. R. Entrican, Engineer of Forest Products under the State Forest Service, in the hall of the Chamber of Commerce last night. Mr James Deans (president of j tho Canterbury Branch of the New j Zealand Forestry League) presided over j a fair attendance. The chairman said that the Govern- 1 merit’s policy of arranging for lectures on forestry was a very good one, and the public should support the Department’s efforts. Mr Entrican said that the idea was to increase the utilisation of forest production. The only country that was working her forests within the limits j of tlieir annual growth was Sweden, which would not have to call on her capital forest resources for many years. New Zealand, on the other hand, was working on her capital as far as her forests wer© concerned. The capital resources were being drained, and unless the process was stopped they j would disappear. The first step in j forest utilisation was when trees were fifteen or twenty years old, according to the species. In New Zealand there were losses from the growing tree to the sawn timber. Even in the mills there were losses. Timbers were ordered in five feet up to twenty feet lengths where they might be ordered in three feet lengths. Pieces sent to slabheaps in New Zealand mills were too large. The tendency in the mills was to burn for fuel slabs only. In America and Canada green sawdust was used, and slabs were saved for useful purposes. Last year £33,000 worth of handles—pick handles, broom handles, shovel handles and so oil —were imported into New Zealand. AH of them could have been made in this country ; not one of the American and Canadian handles need be imported. About £7OOO worth of shingles came into New Zenland every year, and they could be made in the country, as kawaka timber possessed all the properties required for shingles. The wood wool industry would deal with waste timber. Wood wool could be used for ail kinds of packing, and even for surgical dress- j mgs. The wood distillation industry j had not been established in New Zea- j land, but experiments had been made | ia the North Island to test its chances lie re. The overhead charges on a small plant were heavy, but if a market was found for the charcoal the industry ; could be carried on successfully in cer- ! lain suitable districts.' Inquiries had been made as to the production of turpentine from kauri tops, limbs and : stumps, and it was hoped that ulti- j ir.ately the whole of the Dominion’s j turpentine would be supplied locally. He explained the processes in the manufacture of wood pulp, and said ! that tests of New Zealand timber in England showed that they would pro- | duce a satisfactory paper. The econo- | rnical point of the experiment still had ! to be decided. The importations of veneers into New Zealand were large, j and inquiries had been made as to the possibility of making veneers in this country. More attention should Ix 3 given to seasoning and preserving timbei. In conclusion, Mr Entrican referred to the quantities of printing paper, furniture and other articles imported into New Zealand, and said that the total importations of forest products represented £1,055,786 a year. 1 In reply to a question in regard to pinus insignis. he said that it, in common with most of the best growing timbers in New Zealand, offered; many : difficulties as a building material. Some samples he had seen made excellent : building timber; other samples were j the poorest box timber. There waa no doubt that it was subject to borer, * and that it did not last well under ! ground. Black beech, Nothofagus fusea, lasted twenty years in the i ground, and Nothofagus solandri six- * teen years. In reply to Dr J. Stevenson, Air En- 1 trican said that the durability of white pine might be affected by the altitude at which the trees grew. Native beeches that grew at a high altitude had more durability than those that grew at a low altitude. A vote of thanks was passed to the lecturer, on the motion of the chairman.