KAURI GUM DEPOSITS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 779, 18 April 1870, Page 4

KAURI GUM DEPOSITS.

fFrom i' Historical Sketches m New Zealand."] immense forests of kauri covered a large portion of the northern part of the North Island, which, in course of time, have been largely consuined by fire, and the rosin, or gum of f,he kauri, in a liquid state, descended to the roots of the trees, deep in the ground, where it has, remained buried for ages, and is now dug up in large quantities. This article, as a varnish, is in great demand, and as valuable as copal, extreme fine quality fetchiug jis high as .£l2O per ton in the London market. For some years the kauri gum trade lias been one of the most important and prosperous of our local industries and as a source of wealth little inferior to a goldfield. A large native population is employed in digging gum, who are, from their indigenous habits, pursuits, and local experience, very expert in perceiving where this undeveloped wealth is to be obtained, and are more dexterous than the settlers in digging it out of the ground, A royalty of £2 per ton is frequently given for permission to dig gum on private property, and large tracts of land of a very inferior description are now rendered valuable from the quantity of gum which it is supposed to contain. 1 The quantity taken out of the ground in some places is so large as to appear marvellous, and some of the specimens are beautifully transparent and ambercolored. Except to a very limited extent, and for a certain description of ornaments, the gum is not used for any purpose in the colony, and is only valuable as an article of export. The large quantity exported from time to time appears mysterious, but the sap or gum of the kauri descends in a liquid state under the bark of the healthy living tree, and, penetrating to the roots under ground, escapes from its original habitation in the tree, and is lodged in the earth, where it soon, by some process, undergoes a phange. and is from the action of the cold ground condensed into gum. In this way a continual supply of gum is in progress of formation, which can never be exhausted until the forests cease to exist. It is therefore of great importance that forests of young kauri trees should be planted occasionally, iu order to preserve a tree so valuable, not for its timber only, but for the annual supply of gum which it produces: It is no exaggeration to state that there are ten millions of kauri trees growing in a healthy condition in our forest, and each tree in an average will produce lftj weight of gum annually, which would be 5,000 tons collectively, and, valued at .£SO per ton, would amount to £250,000. It would thus appear that, from this source alone, a quarter of a million sterling is added to the wealth of the colony every year without any cost of production, anxiety, or labor on our part, and without in any way exhausting the source from whence such boundless wealth is derived.