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ordinary spade-handle. The pikau is simply the bag used to carry the gum to the camp. It is made of an ordinary sack cut down, with shoulder-straps attached for carrying it. The digger when he works in the swamps uses a hook. This is made out of galvanized piping, 1 in. in diameter. At one end of the hook there is attached an ordinary spade-handle; at the other end a steel toe about in. long is welded on to the spear and forms what is really the hook. Prior to commencing his hooking operations the hooker usually locates the gum by means of his spear. The experienced hooker becomes very expert at his work, and is able to bring up from a great depth pieces of gum the size of a walnut. The work of digging " on a face " is generally carried out by parties of men, either co-operating or in some one's employ. Under this system the ground is all turned over to the full depth the gum lies, all roots, stumps, and timber of every description being thrown upon the surface, and as the " facing " proceeds the land is left with a fairly even surface. By this method all the gum is recovered from the land, even to the small chips, and the timber recovered is valuable for firewood and fencing purposes (see illustration). The Importance and Value of the Kauri-gum Industry. It would appear to your Commissioners that the importance and value of the kauri-gum industry is not correctly appreciated by the people of New Zealand. Even the most casual glance through the Official Year-book supports such a conclusion. In the Year-book of 1913 only twenty lines are devoted to the kauri-gum industry, which in that year gave employment to six thousand workers, and produced an export to the value of £549,106. The coalmining industry, which employed 4,328 workers, is given 174 lines. The total value of the kauri-gum exported up to the end of 1912, according to the Yearbook, was £16,210,457, while the actual value of coal and coke produced amounted to £19,051,302. And yet in the Year-book of 1912 there are only twelve lines of space given to the kauri-gum industry, while 166 lines are given to the coal industry. From the following table, which gives the annual value of the export of kauri-gum from the year 1891 to the end of 1913, it will be seen that the average annual value of the gum exported over the period of twenty-three years amounts to £494,126.

Return of Kauri-gum exported from Dominion for Years 1891 to 1913.

Year. Quantity. Value. Total Value of all Average per Ton. Exports for Dominion. . I .891 .. .892 .. .893 .. .894 .. .895 .. .896 .. .897 .. .898 .. .899 .. .900 .. 901 .. 902 .. .903 .. .904 .. .905 ... 906 .. .907 .. .908 .. .909 .. .910 .. .911 .. 912 .. 913 .. Ton-. 8,388 8,705 8,317 8,338 7,425 7,126 6,641 9,905 11,116 10,159 7,541 7,430 9,357 9,203 10,883 9.154 8,708 5,531 8,249 8,693 7,587 7,908 8,780 £ 437,056 517,678 510,775 404,567 418,766 431,323' 398,010 586,767 607,919 622,293 446,114 450,233 631,102 501,817 561,444 522,486 579,888 372,798 552,698 465,044 395,707 401,305 549,106 £ s. d. 52 2 1 59 9 4 61 8 3 48 10 5 56 8 0 60 10 7 59 18 8 59 4 9 54 13 9 61 5 0 59 3 0 60 12 0 67 9 0 54 10 6 51 12 0 57 1 0 66 12 0 67 8 0 67 0 0 53 10 0 52 3 0 50 15 0 62 11 0 £ 9,400,094 9,177,333 12,690,460 15,503,530 21,272,405