TUNG OIL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 30 July 1929, Page 9

TUNG OIL

POTENTIAL INDUSTRY CHINA'S FAMOUS TREE EXPERIMENTS PROVE .SUCCESSFUL Above Lho paling renco that surrounds an Epsom ipu-doii ca« be seen a < hiuose tuiigoil tree, one ol the oldest iu New Zealand (says the Auckland Slur j. It was planted by nil enthusiastic. foreßtei , wd h.-riiculLiuist, the late Mr J. \\. iCiituii S.M., who lived at the corner Road ami Epsmn Avenui', almost opposite the Iraimng Co leg .. To-daythe Lrou >s six years old, and is ve'garflcd by tl.o State Forest Service us a particularly good specimen. Une ~i..isoi for the attention attracted by it 'S Stateenterprise at the R verhead and Waiapoua. whore several hut die young tung trees arc...mv t.i their tl id year In 192& •'• q™' lU Wv «* "«« was brought to this country, and the icsuits of the first nursery experiments arc regarded with satisfaction. Nat many year, ago the tuny wa lii.il,, more than a show tree except in U native China ihr K. H. W,ta> „lanl collector ol the. Arnold Aiboicurn,, Harvard University, saw it growmV 'oil the hillsides o Central and Western China. Ai. f venturous Austvalian merchant penetrated heai of the Vuki country, on the yak Rive and collected some of the best seeds'available. Thanks to the tricild y ola brigand chiel he L take these out of China. _l\o ordinary travel was open to foreigners in |.' Vuki district, but tins intrepid adventurer won the gratitude of he outside world by his co-operation with lho famous brigand, leader Lu lis ngpang, a-kind ml Eukn.esc Rohu. Hood. INNUMERABLE USES What China would do without their tung oil trees one cannot imagine Ihe paint made from it is used on all outside work. Hundreds ~1 boats and junks are treated with it, candle-oil obtained from the seeds serves as a valuable illuminant, and tung oil is a regular ingredient in Chinese concrete Mixed with lime and bamboo, it is useU for caulking boats. In lacquer varnish it is a necessity. Lamp black produced by burning fruit husks, of the tung oil tree is an important material in the manufacture of Chinese ink. . In fact, for centuries the Chinese have used tung oil, or wood oil, for the commercial preservation of wood or paper. Those wonderful lacquers seen on pretty ornamental Chinese, boxes have it as a basis. Papers are painted with, it m toughness and moisture-resisting. Cloth--111" IS water-proofed, and a large amount of Ihe local product is used by the '.Chinese in, their own arts and industries. Heme, the amount exported has ' i never been very large.

AMERICA'S APPRECIATION American industry uses tung oil as a drier in fine varnishes and for putling a wonderful wear and water-re-sistant filler over floors and articles o furniture. A piece of wood covered with tung varnish may be soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes without changing colour or receiving any injury. Turn"oil varnishes are said to be about as scratch proof as a piece of polished steel. ..,.,. Chinese are as skilful m growing tung trees as in oilier departments of liorticultuie. In three or four years the tree begins to yield fruits. When lull grown, it seldom exceeds 25ft. in height, with a much-hranched Hal-topped head. The flowers, produced in much prolusion in April, are while, stained with pihk and yellow markings. Green, applelike fruits they yield, which ripen in September. Three to five seeds are in each fruit. "Gathered before, they are dead-ripe, they are placed in heaps or covered with straw. lermentation quickly disposes of the thin fleshy part, and the seeds are easily removed. V cry primitive methods the Chinese have of extracting the oil. First they crush the seeds by ox-power in a circular trough, under a heavy stone wheel. The. ground mass is sifted and then roasted in yellow pans, and is placed in a wooden vat for steaming over boiling water. In the form of circular cakes, it goes to the oil press, and there gives a brown. I heavy-smelling oil which is refined by filtration.

LOVER OF HIIXSIDES On the bleak slopes of those favexte,nding spurs of the Himalayas, away iu the heart of Southern China, the lung tree grows in its element, as a hillside plant. Rocky situations it loves, and the poorest soil. Several degrees ,pi frost do not affect it, and it, can withstand drought. That deep brown-ish-coloured earth, crumbling easily between the lingers, and with a good limbering of liunuis, is ideal for the tung plant. Plenty of moisture it insists on, but objects to' wet fed. It luxuriates in flic regions of the gorges and contiguous hill country up to 25C0fi. New Zealand is now added to the list of British countries in which the tung oil tree appears to be successfully established. Kenya Colony has so far proved most promising. In parts of the southern States of America it has also done exceedingly .well. Importations "of tung oil into this Dominion amount to 16,000 gallons a year. Australia has shown a greater appreciation of its value by imports of 110.000 gallons. The explanation may be that brick and cement buildings are painted iu the Commonwealth, but the painting of such surfaces is practically unknown iu Mew Zealand. Tung oil iias the property of resisting lime, and is an essential ingredient in all paints I'm' cement or brickwork. On the importance of lung oil in this connection is based the prediction that New Zealand's imports will increase iu the next decade to an annual amount of about 40,000 gallons. One of the best features of the oil is its quick-drying quality, when exposed lo air ami light. As a competitor to kauri gum, it does not eaufte industrial concern, because of its lack of copal qualities.