THE KAURI GUM.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1143, 3 April 1872, Page 4

THE KAURI GUM.

A correspondent of the Aitstralasian, in an article upon the forests of New Zealand, writes as follows regarding the kauri of the North Island : — " Formerly, immense forests of kauri covered a large portion of the North Island, which, in course of time, have been largely consumed by fire, and the rosin or gum of the kauri, in a liquid state, having previously descended annually for centuries to tho roots of the trees deep in the ground, where it has remained buried for ages, is now dug up in large quantities. This article as a varnish is in great demand, and is as valuable as copal—extreme fine quality fetching as high as Ll2O per ton in the London market. For some years the kauri gum trade has been one of tho most important and prosperous of our local industries, and as a source of wealth little inferior to a gold field. A royalty of L 2 per ton is frequently given for permission to dig gum on private property, and large tracts of land of a very iuferior description as to quality of soil are now rendered valuable from the quantity of gum which it is supposed to contain. The quantity taken out of the ground in some places is so great as to appear marvellous, and some of the specimens are beautifully transparent and amber-colored. Except to a very limited extent, and for an inferior description of ornaments, tho gum is not used for any purpose in the Colony, and is only valuable as an article of export. The quantity exported from time to time is so great as to appear mysterious, but the sap or gum of the kauri descends annually in a liquid state under the bark of the healthy, living tree, and penetrating to the roots under ground, escapes from its original habitation and is lodged in the earth, where it soon undergoes a chango, and is, from the action of the cold ground, converted into gum. Iv this way a continual supply of gum is in progress of formation, which can never be exhausted until the forests ceaso to exist. It is therefore of great importance that forests of young kauri trees should be planted, in order to preserve a tree so valuable, not for its timber only, but from the annual supply of gum which it produces. It is no exaggeration to state that there are 5,000,000 of kauri trees growing in a health condition in our foveits, and each tree on an average will produca 21b weight of gum annually, or 5G30 tons collectively, which, valued at LSO per ton, would amount to L 250,000."