C. —3.

4. Industrial Technique. General. —In spite of the improved demand, most mills again operated at such a low percentage of capacity that few were able to invest in new or improved equipment. On the other hand, there is room for improvement in the adjustment and use of existing equipment to give more accurately and uniformly sawn timber, and officers of the Forest Service who were engaged in the supervision of the cutting and grading of timber for export to Great Britain report that a marked improvement was noticeable in both operations amongst sawmillers as they became familiar with buyers' requirements. The time is not far distant when the work of the Service should be reduced to the mere grademarking of the timber to be exported. Kiln Drying. —The value of artificial seasoning in producing well-dried, bright stock is being increasingly appreciated by the industry, and modern dry kilns were erected by Higgins and Fawcett, Hokitika, and Levett Bros., Harihari, for the drying of white-pine for box-manufacture, and by Wm. Smith and Co., Ltd., Invercargill, for the drying of building and furniture timbers. Although seven modern kilns are now in operation in New Zealand, only three concentrate on the drying of other than box timbers, and it is particularly desirable that further facilities be available for the kiln drying of building and furniture timbers. The use of local timbers could be considerably increased if adequate supplies of kiln-dried stock were readily available to consumers.

TABLE 5. Reported Production of Rough-sawn Timber, by Species.

TABLE 6. Reported Production of Rough-sawn Timber, by Provincial Districts.

12

(From information supplied by the Government Statistician. All figures refer to the years ended 31st March, 1931-1933.) 1931. 1932. 1933. Species. Percentage Percentage Percentage Quantity. of Total Quantity. of Total Quantity. of Total Quantity. Quantity. Quantity. Ft. b.m. Ft. b.m. Ft. b.m. Rimu .. .. 124,999,000 54-5 71,082,000 46-1 76,193,000 45-8 White-pine .. .. 49,009.000 21-3 43,161,000 28-0 47,998,000 28-9 Matai .. .. 13,917,000 6-1 7,475,000 4-8 8,161,000 4-9 Kauri .. .. 8,943,000 3-9 6,891,000 4-5 5,410,000 3-3 Totara .. .. 9,468,000 4-1 5,344,000 3-5 6,347,000 3-8 Beech .. .. 7,681,000 3-3 5,757,000 3-7 5,781,000 3-5 Insignia-pine .. .. 12,740,000 5-6 13,405,000 8-7 14,676,000 8-8 Miro .. .. 1,078,000 0-5 228,000 0-1 441,000 0-3 Tawa .. .. 455,000 0-2 163,000 0-1 290,000 0-2 Rata .. .. 294,000 0-1 122,000 0-1 72,000 Other .. .. 884,000 0-4 565,000 0-4 900,000 0-5 Totals .. .. 229,468,000 100-0 154,193,000 100-0 166,269,000 100-0 ' ' ' J

(From information supplied bv the Government Statistician. All figures refer to the years ended 31st March, 1931-1933.) 1931. 1932. 1933. Provincial District. t> t> t. Percentage Percentage Percentage Quantity. of Total Quantity. of Total Quantity. of Total Quantity. Quantity. Quantity. Ft. b.m. Ft. b.m. Ft. b.m. Auckland .. .. 89,924,000 39-2 63,222,000 41-0 74,261,000 44-7 Hawke'sBay.. .. 9,566,000 4-2 10.430,000 6-8 7,647,000 4-6 Taranaki .. .. 2,860,000 1-2 2,146,000 1-4 1,980,000 1-2 Wellington .. .. 25,495,000 1M 15,183,000 9-8 15,157,000 9-1 Marlborough.. .. 6,842,000 3-0 5,031,000 3-3 3,374,000 2-0 Nelson .. .. 5,747,000 2-5 4,833,000 3-1 5,651,000 3-4 Westland .. .. 50,785,000 22-2 34,256,000 22-2 38,773,000 23-3 Canterbury .. .. 3,033,000 1-3 2,854,000 1-9 2,817,000 1-7 Otago .. .. 8,290,000 3-6 4,017,000 2-6 2,969,000 1-8 Southland .. .. 26,926,000 11-7 12,221,000 7-9 13,640,000 8-2 Totals .. .. 229,468,000 100-0 154,193,000 100-0 166,269,000 100-0