The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1926. TIMBER SUPPLIES.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 August 1926, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1926. TIMBER SUPPLIES.

1 The theoretical analysis of timber I supplies was made again by a in Christchurch. As the question has local bearing we publish following a precis of the remarks: Canterbury’ is consuming 51,000,000 feet of timber a ’ year, Mr F. FI. Hutchison, Lecturer on Forestry at the Canterbury College School of Forestry, said, when he gave an address to the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. Of the timber used in building, 88 per cent., lie said, was practically rinui, some 40,750,000 feet of that timber being used, while the balance was ■ made up of American soft woods to the extent of 2,700,000 feet, kauri, nintai, totara. and other timbers being used in small quantities. The predominance of rimu was rapidly increas- ; ing. In Canterbury, the whole of the building practice was built up on the use of rimu. American soft woods wore used principally for joinery, sashes, doors and to a small degree, only for general building. They were in the main not used in competition with rimu. There probably’ was no country with a higher per capita consumption of timber than New Zealand, except Japan. There was every probability of a steady expansion of building activity in the Dominion. In Canterbury at present, building, overwhelmingly, was with timber. In the whole of Canterbury, over 90 per cent, of the dwellings were of wood. In Christchurch, the proportion was nearly 95 per cent. The reasons for the predominance of wooden buildings wore the intrinsic quality of wood, its abundance and its cheapness, compared with other materials. A well-built wooden dwelling would last for forty years. That, roughly, was the economic life of any’ house, as brick or stone in that time became obsolete in respect to inferior furnishing. The maintenance cost of wood was slightly higher, hut it was not as great as was commonly imagined. Canterbury’s source of supply of rimu was the West- Coast, which represented New Zealand’s greatest timber store house, but Wellington was ol>tainng more and more of her supplies from the West Coast, while Australia also obtained a considerable quantity from that source. The annual out of timber on the Coast was rapidly increasing, ns more of the centre of timber production shifted' to that district. From 1901 to 1922, production was very stable at 50,000,000 fey* year. With the opening of the Otira Tunnel, production jumped up to 62,000,000 feet in 1924 and to over 70.000.000 feet in 1925. As Westland would be more and more called on to supply the timlier needs of the greater part of New Zealand, and as population grew and the country developed the end of the reserves of virgin timber was within easy vision if the present per capita timber consumption was maintained. To look for relief abroad, was very speculative. It appeared that, if the present standards of timher usage were continued, in future practice, people could expect the price of timber to reach such heights that the purchasing power of the community would be seriously curtailed, with a consequent check on the country’s development. That was what was meant by the term fa- - mine,’’ commonly heard in these days. There was an avenue that promised -

some escape from the question of everrising timber costs. That was increasing the efficiency of consumption in timber. The way out of the difficulty was in the fact that the per capita consumption could be very largely reduced without any hardship on the community in the form of a scarcity of •timber. The use of timber in New Zealand was very, wasteful. Wastage took many forms. If, by cutting out the absolutely unnecessary consumption, the drain on the forests was materially lessened, the people would to all practical purposes, greatly increase the forest resources. That would go far to ensure plentiful supplies at a reasonable price for national development, until, by forestry, a full and adequate supply could be provided for the indefinite future, or for perpetuity. Mr Hutchison mentioned lines along which investigation is proceeding, in order to enlist the architects’ interest and support. The main lines, he said, were: (1) Seasoning practice; (2) improved grading practice; (3) the standardisation of sizes and patterns; (-1) improved technique in the use of timber in building, also more efficient manufacturing technique. He particularly asked architects to take advantage of the results of investigation when they were made available, and, when convinced of the soundness and economy of any proposal, to give earnest attention towards securing its adoption throughout the whole field of their activity.