EMPIRE TIMBER RESOURCES

Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1920, Page 4

EMPIRE TIMBER RESOURCES

~ London Journal of Commerce)

'llio following tabl'd shows the Imports of wood and timber into the United Kingdom during 1918 and 1919: • llewn: Kir, oak, teak; 'dtov 1918. — 49,610 loads, ,E 1,092,210 j 1919-253,695 loads, £5,1)55,446. Pit props or pit wood. —-703,019 loads, £2,947,994; 1919, 1,451,733 loads', £7,309,933. t Sawn or split: Pir, 1918.—,1,372,779 loads, £18,559,917; 1919, 4,295,469 loads, £40,482,595. , , Planed or dressecf: Fir, 1918 —165,295 loads, £2,216,3361919, 272,258 loads, £3,201,275. Sawn or split, planed or. dressed: Unremunerated, 1918. —37,450 loads, £674,998; 1919, 89,146 loads, £1,314,212 Sleepers, 1918. —4,551 loads, £50,491; 1919, 171,277 loads, £1,659,930. Staves, 1918.-36,384 loads, .£680,049; 1919, 84,802 loads, £1,363,216. Furniture woods, liard-woods and veneers: Mahogany, 1918.—42,597 tons, £765,945; 1919, 66,396 tons, £1 ; 129,867. Unenumerated, 1918.—07,376 tons, £2,168,857; 1919, 181,475 tons, £4,192,802. Total value of timber, 1918. £29,156,803; 1919, £72,309,276. The most important and commercially valuable of the forest trees in Canada is the white pine, the wood of which is soft and easily worked. A harder and more .resinous wood is that of the red pine, while the spruces yield the best paper pulp. The most valuable of tlfe various trees of British Columbia is the Douglas fir. The hemlock is an important tree in the Maritime Provinces of Canada and in Quebec and Ontario, where the wood is much used and the .bark finds a market for tanning and for the manufacture of hemlock tanning extract. The aspen and balsam poplars are widely distributed, their timber being useful for general purposes and for wood pulp. The red cedar of British Columbia is now largely used for furniture and interior decorative work. For special purposes ash, elm, birch and bccc.li arc used, whilst oak, bass-wood and maple have also an important place among the commercial woods of Canada With her immense resources of timber, Canada not only possesses a vast lumber arid saw-milling industry, but is also the field of important wood-work-ing industries, in the development of which there is wide scope for the employment of further capital.

In Ontario the timber, most largely cut into lumber is white pine, with hemlock, red pifie, spruce and maple following in order or quantities. In Quebec province spruce leads, with white pine, hemlock, birch and balsam fir following, while in the Maritime Provinces spruce ranks first, with hemlock, ire pine, balsam lie and birch following. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta spruce leads, with tamarack and jack pine following. In British Columbia the cut of Douglas fir exceeds that of all other woods combined. The largest saw-ini lb; in Canada are located in British Columbia. In all the provinces excepting Ontario and British Columbia the cut of -spruce exceeds the cut of all other woods. Timber of Douglas fir can he obtained in larger dimensions than of any otlier Canadian species. The tree lias been misnamed, as it is not a fir (Abies), but belongs to a distinct genus of which there are no other species in Canada. The wood is sold under many wrong names,, the commonest being “Douglas spruce” and ‘.‘Oregon pine,!’ which have resulted from attempts made to classify it with the woods of the east. The northern range of the tree in British Columbia is imperfectly known. It crosses the Rocky. Mountains and is cut in small quantities in Alberta. The largest trees, producing the finest lumber, are cut in the Puget' Sound district of the' coast region. The following table shows the total value of the exports of unmanufactured wood from the Dominion of Canada and the value of the exports of the principal categories under that heading during the years ended March, 1918 and 1919: ’

1918 1919 $ $ Pine deals ... 610,841 814,072 Spruce &■ other deals ... 3,159,110 4,694,131 Laths 1,714,402 1,023,588 Planks 1 and _ boards ... 28,305,458 34,057,271 Scantling ... 1,472,558 1,100,899 Shingles ... 5,292,306 5,995,353 Pulp wood ... 8,339,278 15,386,600 Other kinds ... 2,945,168 7,415,374 Total ... 51,839,121 70,487,288 The. kauri pine is the most important timber tree of New Zealand, and constitutes tlic greatest part of the wood exported from that country. The great length and width of the planks ,their soundness, uniformity, freedom from knots and faults, and the durability and good working qualities of the wood make kauri a-most valuable timber. The exports of timber from New Zealand are unduly to Australia, and consist principally of white pine, red pine and kauri. The greatest use of white pine is for making butter boxes, and large quantities are exported to Australia for this purpose, lied pine is used for building, joinery, etc. It is not equal in quality to kauri, but, being cheaper, is more largely used. Kauri pine is used for joinery-, furniture, house and ship building, wharves, bridges, etc. There is no pine in the world superior to kauri pine for allround use. The exports of timber from New Zealand in 1919 were valued at 41439,935, as compared with £556,309 in 1918.

A great variety of timber isi available in India, far larger than is generally realised. The most valuable is undoubtedly teak, but to .grade the other timbers according to their values is hardly possible. In the first class would he included: Sal, Sandal, Sissoo, Blackwood, Deodar, Sundri, Andaman, and Burma Padauk, In or Eng, Ironwood, Red Sanders, Khair and Babul, j It would be easy to name fifteen or twenty more whose claims as useful timbers might lx? put forward with justice. Information as to these timbers and other Indian forest products is given in “Commercial Guide to the ! Forest Economic Products 'of India,” by R. S. Pearson, F.L.S., issued from I the Government Printing Office, Calcutta. The exports of teak wood from j India during the year 1919 wore 47,493 ! cubic tons, valued at £759,849. I

’The exports of lumber front the Gold Coast during 1918 amounted to 14,680,823 Blip, ft., valued at £137,649, as against 7,481,468 sup. ft., valuo £69,128 in 1917. j Rhodesia possesses in parts much valuable native timber, which, so far, 1 lias been little exploited. Rhodesian teak and mahogany are fairly well known, and a great deal of excellent and handsome furniture has been made from these woods, and some really firstclass results can ho seen in Bulawayo. The uses of the more important Australian timbers are many and various. There are four varieties of iron-bark which are used extensively in the building of bridges and culverts, for railway sleepers and fencing posts, and for framing, naves, spokes, poles and shafts in carriage and wagon building. Iron-bark beams are of great strength; hence tho timber is largely employed for girders and joints of upper floors, especially , in stores for heavy goods. From the Commonwealth of Australia during 1918-19 timber to the value of £236,518 was exported. Queensland possesses a- very wide range of useful timbers, both in hard woods and soft woods. The Darling Downs, Wide Bay, Logan and Albert districts, and the Cairns hinterland, are exceptionally ricli in marketable .. timbers, and produce one-fourth of the Australian timber output- and nearly all the 25,000,000 superficial feet of timber annually required by the Australian dairying industry for butter boxes. The timber cut, however, has decreased during the past few years. Only 31,082 cubic feet of timber of all kinds were exported from British Guiana during 1918, owing to lack of shipping facilities. , In addition to the timber, 7,260 tons of firewood and 2,300 tons of charcoal were exported. Royalty was paid, however, on 679,043 cubic feet of timber, 4,020 tons of charcoal and, 82,270 tons of" firewood, which were declared as having been removed from licensed Crown lands.

The exportable surplus of mangrove polos in the East Africa Protectorate increased from 757,487,. of the value of £14,224, in 1016-17, to 934,955, of. the value of £14,400, in 1917-18.