A GIANT RATA

Forest and Bird, Issue 140, 1 May 1961, Page 9

A GIANT RATA

by

H. N. Murray

When you grow weary of the boasts of men, Go to a tree my friend — one that has stood Long patient years within a silent wood. Beneath its branches you will find again A thing long lost. Trees are content to be As God created them. No bough that turns Its golden thoughts to Autumn, ever yearns Beyond a hillside's immortality. — Anderson M. Scruggs

Not all men adopt the sentiment expressed in this verse, and a tree of great age can be destroyed in a day — whatever good reason may be applied to its destruction. The report of a giant rata felled in the process of clearing farm lands was told to me by the late George King of Hawera, who was in charge of the team employed thereon. The year was not recorded, but is presumed to be prior to 1900. The dimensions of the tree and other details were recorded when the story was related. A working party was engaged to clear a section of the forest on Mr. Moore Hunter’s property on Hunter Road, Taranaki, shortly after the land was taken up. Most likely, Hunter Road was named after this settler, and the period could possibly be traced by reference to old records. The location of the tree is understood to have been about a mile to the south of the Eltham-Opunake road. The team consisted of four men, and in the course of their work they came upon a huge rata which was prominent among other good specimens. It was a heavy-topped tree with a comparatively short trunk holding widespreading branches which appeared to dwarf the surrounding forest growth, and its height was estimated at 80 feet. Cutting commenced early one morning and continued for 10 hours, with four men wielding sharp axes. An unusual feature was that the men, in working a quarter each, were out of sight of one another. A deep scarf was necessary and involved substantially double cuts — at the top and bottom of the scarf, which was nearly six feet across at the circumference of the tree. Theoretically, the scarf would be cut to a point, but in actual working, the tree would fall shortly before that stage was reached. No saw was large enough for sawing the stump, and if used only shallow cuts could be made. Although mortally wounded after 10 hours’ cutting, the tree did not fall, and remained firmly in position.

Cutting continued during the next day with the men working in cramped positions within the scarf. At the end of a further nine hours of hard toil, the giant groaned and crashed to earth. Even the seasoned workmen felt something of the sadness attached to the destruction of a tree which so loudly protested and shook the earth as the last of its life lines were severed. The chain measure was placed across the stump, which was accurately measured at 16 feet in diameter. It did 'hot occur to the workmen to count the growth rings as a guide to age, which can be judged by possible comparison with other trees, b,ut it could be that more than a thousand years had elapsed since its first leaves appeared in the light of the sun. One could ponder long on the value of the single huge specimen of timber: slices of it held for exhibition purposes, or the tree being left as a live specimen for the benefit of future generations.

The rata was reported as being a good clean blue-heart' tree, the latter referring to the appearance of the timber or the sap draining from the cut surfaces. The trunk was clear of branches up to the main spread, and with only small taper. The volume of the - trunk (at 30 feet) would be approximately 6,000 cubic feet, or in timber parlance it would contain approximately 50,000 super feet. A store shed with 300 square feet of floor space could have been hollowed from it. The surface of the stump would be 200 square feet in area and 50 feet round. The weight of the trunk would exceed 200 tons, and no logging truck or rail wagon would be able to carry it. The chips from the scarf would be 750 cubic feet, or equal to six cords of wood. Mr. King did not know what finally happened to the tree. Shortly after completion of the work, the area was burnt over, and it was assumed that the big tree shared the same fate as its neighbours. However, he could not be sure on that point. One can readily visualise that the old warrior resisted fire as it had resisted the axe, and would burn for many days, perhaps weeks, before returning to the earth from which it arose. If used for building purposes, its timbers would endure beyond the lives of men. If fire did not demolish it, a black ghostly monument would lie for many years before it finally rotted away. Should the stump also have survived ■ the fire, it would have been an object of admiration for .many years. There ' may be some who remember them. . .... . -