Timber from Japan

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 12, 2 October 1911, Page 850

Timber from Japan

The time may yet come when New Zealand, like Australia, will be importing timber from Japan. During the last few years the enterprising Japanese have been building up an export timber trade of considerable dimensions, and they have found in Australia a ready market for fairly substantial shipments, in .iC'O9 the Commonwealth received from Japan nearly seven million superficial feet of timber, valued at £28,723, and the importations are increasing. A few days ago a Japanese vessel arrived at Sydney with 2,500,000 ft. of hewn and sawn timber, comprising pine, oak, and ash. The timber industry of Japan flourishes in the northern island of Yezo, which is covered with dense forests. The main island of Japan has been almost denuded of tim-

ber, but planting is being pursued vigorously, and Yezo will provide all the timber that is required until the new plantations reach their full development. The work of felling trees is carried on in the winter, and while the snow is on the ground huge logs from the forests are conveyed to the coasts by sledges or floated down the rivers. Great rafts of timber are built, and are towed to the open ports to be picked up by ocean steamers. The timber is distributed to Europe, America, the China Coast, and Australia, and it has been stated that considerable quantities of Japanese oak and ash are imported every year by the United States and sent abroad as the product of American forests. "While the foreign trade is extensive, there is a very strong demand for timber in Japan and Korea, where the majority of the buildings are of wood. Large quantities of timber are required also for making furniture and for the manufacture of matches, which is one of the most important industries in Japan.