NEW ZEALAND WOOD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 109, 4 June 1909, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND WOOD.

FOR AMERICAN I\SE. Washington, April :>l>. l'ui'-uir Xnv Zealand is the latest countvy to which forest experlti have lurued in scekiu<: sulbtilulcti for tin: valuable Ajiii-ik-aa wooils used In- Liu- J'urniture, cooperage, implement, and similar woodusing industries. ■Seven dill'ei'ent New Zealand hardwood trees have just been put through u series of teals by the United States' lornst service in co-operation with the University of California in tile timbertesting laboratory at iWrkeley. The trees showed up renin rkmbly well p.uison with white oak, which is one of the strongest 'woods in the United States, developing wider lest when in an air-dry condition a crushing s'lrejigth of SiUOH) per, s ipiare inch, and a bending strength of 19,1001b per square inch. •Aii idea of the true strength of these wood* k given in the technical .report, wlliidi shows that with white oak at I.UO, the compressive or crushiii" strength of the New Zealand woods is as follows: .lilack maire, 1.18 ; niatai, l.lb; and .puriri, 1.21. The woods' which developed ail equal or greater bending strength are a s follows:—Mattti l.£>silver pine, 1.11(1; puriri, 1.41; and black maire, l.ulj. The last iigure shows tliat Uliji wood has more than one and a-half times the bending strength of oak. I The woods tested with- fell below the strength of oalc (l.noj 'were riiuu, .08 lor ctinipressioii or crushing strength, and .81. lor .bending; kauri, .70 for com- | prwsion_ anil ,!14 f Ol . |,en,ling; and totara, ,o7 for compression and .70 for bending. The ~ll owi ng even for tile ]a« three woods is not bad when it is couliidered that the compression Is made with clear straight-grained white oak. 1 hese strength tests- of seven of New /-ea,binds most valuable timbers may prove of the greatest -benefit to certain Anroricaii manufacturing interests if expenment shows (Jiiat the woods can bo introduced. i;ito this country and planted w ;*t'i the same success as the eucalypts of New Zealand and Australia, or if it is found that tlie Ufcmds have enough to thL?oZtn-; l ' l ' ; ' , '' S a little

The United State* will not he to depend on imports to any .r l( , ut ~x . tent, for wood-users realise 'that there is an approaching shortage of thnl.t-r in other countries as -well lls this. nation must cultivate and prnleet its own forests. It is therefore Wl, .Jt planting experiments will 1,,. lml ,i;. wiU , man)' oi tile valnaiile foreign wood.-' in view of the siieews mnde with the eucalypts in California.