The Timber Industry.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 119, 18 November 1895, Page 2

The Timber Industry.

On Friday and Saturday last Mr James Freyberg, timber expert for the New Zealand Government, was a visitor to Feilding, collecting information relative to the timber industry in this district. Mr Freyberg brings with him a block of Russian fir timber, which is the kind used for paving the streets at Home. This block weighed (in London) 21bs 10£ozs, the size being 3in by 9in by 6in, the exact size used for paving purposes. A block of New Zealand rimu a .similar size would weigh 41bs sozs. The Russian wood is very porous, and compared with it New Zealand timber shows greater density, strength, and nou-absorbent qualities, which are in themselves very great advantages, and besides this after three weeks' rain the traffic on Russian timber pavements makes a pulp which, when dry, becomes a dust. It will thus be seen that this timber is a prolific source of disease. Again, the density of New Zealand timber does not necessitate the use of such large blocks for paving, and they need not be larger than 3in by 9in by 4in, which would be equal to a block of Russian fir 6in in depth. During 1891, 1892, and 1893, 460,000,000 was sent from England to Russia for timber, and now an attempt is being made to substitute West Australian jarrah and karri for it, but this timber cannot be obtained fa«t enough and all that can be supplied for the next nine months has been sold in advance and realises £1 2s 6d per 100 feet in London. It costs £10,000 a mile to pave narrow streets and £12,000 for wide streets, and this money is now going into Western Australia. Some of the New Zealand wood was far superior to the West Australian as it was not so slippery, for where the jarrah and karri was used it had to be sanded on wet days. The furniture trade in London also required an immense quantity of timber and rimu, all fancy kinds of kauri, totara and white woods such as kahikatea aud hinau would do admirably for that purpose. Fine qualities of rimu was now worth £1 per 100 feet in London and rata was one of the finest woods in the world for paving purposes. When Mr Freyberg started the agitation in London half the mills in Auckland were either working half time or closed altogether, but now that New Zealand has been brought before the notice of English consumers all the mills are employed full time and the Kauri Timber Company recently gave one order to the Mercury Bay mills for twenty-six million cubic feet. Several ships are loading with timber for export and a large number of hands are employed. Mr Freyberg has also succeeded in his efforts to get freights to London reduced and they have been reduced from 7s 6d per 100 feet to 5s 3d or 6s 6d; also, landing charges have been reduced from 7 s to 2d and 4d, and an effort is to be made to secure a wharf in London for the use of the timber trade, a gentleman left New Zealand recently with that object in view. The vast importance of the timber trade to New Zealand is now becoming recognised after millions of pounds worth of valuable timber bave been destroyed.