Silverpine Fence Posts in Demand

Chronicle (Levin), 7 December 1948, Page 6

Silverpine Fence Posts in Demand

Indieative of the va,lue to Westland . : of the timber-splitting industry, which is generally conducted indejiendently ,of timber milling, is the. fact that last month the export of fenco posts froin •Greymouth to North Island poi'ts was valued at over £4000. This did not represent a typicai month, as the posts had accumulated for a period awaiting shipment, but the fa'ct* tliat almost 22,000 posts, chiefly silverpine, were exported to the North Island gives an idea of the flourisliing v nature of the. trade. ' It is estimated that about 100/100 pieces of silverpine were cut in M est-. land last year, of . which probably 80 per c,ent. would be post sizes) valped nt betvveen £15 and £17 'a hundred to the eutters, lesfe royalty charges. Although few new areas have been aiiotted, present indications are that this year's cut will be slightly larger. The demand for silverpine posts, the the most durable New Zealand timber, from certain a,reas in the North Island is injsistent and the priee factor does not appear to vveigh heavily. There are about 150 timber spiitters operating under iicence in Westland, but it is estimated that about 80 per cent. of them are worldng only .part time. in what are known as "scragging" areas — sections of silverpine country which have previously been cut over5 but wliich still 1 carrv the valuable timber, particularly in the sma'ller .sizes. Shipments Last Month. - The November shipments of posts

from Greyiuouth were all to* North Island porLs. The Karepo took almost 8000 posts to Gisborne, the Kakapo/ 8o.)0 to Napier, and the Gabriella 5000 to Wellington. A small qiiantity ot birch and kawhaka j'osls were influded in the total of 21,500, but it is estimated that over 90 • per cent. were silveTpine. Ilawke's Bay, Masterton, and West Coast (North Island) farmers are all substantial buyers of silverpine. ' , The rapidly diminisl>ing reservcs of silverpine in Westland, apart from the far south, which is at present closod to eutters, are causing concern in some quarters. It is feared that it may not be many vears before West Coast farmers ti ml tiieniselves in the same positiou as the North Island farmers are today —forced to pay very high prices for fence oosts which are not .obtainable near at hand. The suggestion has al ready been made by farmers' organisations that in each district areas of silverpine busli should be reserved for use in that district. „ West Coast farmers generally are not big bayers of silverpine today. Tlie priee being paid for posts iji the Nortli Island has e'li'ectively renioved competiti.on from potential West Coast buvers. In addition, many West Coast farmers are self-supporting in regard to fence posts, having small areas of trees on their own properties. " With ample supplrpabf* suHal^c gra V.9I, neaijby , there has beeiPaii lh/feasedSlsbJCfNfcbncrete posts in this distrU'f. Beech a Good Substitute. Although it is generally accepted

that for durability, particularly in wet ground, there is no timber post to com•pal'b 'Hfith silv(li''pi|ufc>, ' sohle' "Westf ' Coast' farmers consider that certain varieties of the more common beech (commonly known as birch) are a good substitute. The r'uling priee for •silverpine posts is now between £15 and £20 per 100, depending on siKo ,and quality, f.o.r. West Coast sidings, which means that they are an expensive item for North Island -a-iid- East Coast farmers, . but there is ho sigu of the demand slackening. The beech posts are much cheaper, btinging about £12 10s for good average quality.' As about two-thirds of the silverpine now conics from Htate forest areas thc revenue accruing to the Btate is considerable.'