OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 221, 12 January 1911, Page 3

OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

RURAL NEW ZEALAND UNDER REVIEW No. 12. [All Rights Reserved.] (By R. J. KAMES). AUCKLAND: A PROVINCE OF PROMISE. THE LAND DISTRICT AREA. When it is stilted that the Auckland Land District embraces an area of 13,858.000 acres, has 305 miles, as its greatest lenjrth and ISO miles as its greatest width, it will be immediately obvious, without any apology, that the writer in the present articles must present a necessarily imperfect picture of this great province.

THE TIMBER INDUSTRY. There are so many things that might be described. The effect of such undertakings as the drainage of the Piako Swamp, for instance. Or the conversion of vast areas, which for years have been regarded as barren stretches, into profitable holdings. The forest lands of the province are 2% per cent, less in area than thev were last year, and the ringing axe of the pioneer, anl the operations of th" sawmills, to that extent have changed the face of the country. Farmers are not concerning themselves afiout the protests against the denudation of the forests: they simply cannot grow trees and wool and butter-fat, so the trees must go wherever the soil i< suitable for the production of foodstuffs. It has been said of the soils of Auckland that "nowhere in New Zealand within such short distance- is there such diversity of quality—a distance of half-a-mile often makes all tile difference between rich alluvial and barren pipe-clay." Many farms have realised Iha t to their cost, and it is a well-known fact that many would-be purchasers are now very shy of scrub country, notwithstanding tha,t the farmer just across the road produces such splendid grass. Incoming speculators appear to prefer the certainty of a proved holding to the possibility of drawing a blank in buying untested land. There a. " several industries, of past and present ':::portance, to which attention cannot U .given. There is a wealth of ' romance in Auckland's extensive timber forests in which that king of trees, the kauri, nourishes. There are something j over 2000 hands employed in the 13G mills of Auckland district. But timbermilling, unlike agricultural and pastoral pursuits, has the somewhat severe limitation of quantity set upon its existence. Sooner or later New Zealand will be commercially timberies/.' notwithstanding that the problem of re-afforestation occupies so much of the time of those who see disaster in the destruction and consumption of our timber resources. Of course lands which can be put to no more profitable use ought to be made timberproducing; but that is a national concern. Individual farmers cannot live by growing trees. For these several reasons the writer has jettisoned the timber industry from the scope of his enquiry.

KAURI GUM. Then there is that important ail! unique product, kauri gum. It is found only in the Auckland district. As showing the extent of the industrial activity for which this article was responsible it should be mentioned that the exportations during 1900, to America, the United Kingdom, and other parts of Europe, totalled 8250 tons, of the value of £552,01)8. Besides this, there is a good deal of gum used locally in the manufacture of varnish, in which occupation about 100 persons are .engaged. Altogether, several thousand men are employed in digging, scraping, sorting and packing kauri gum for export, but with the inevitable destruction of the kauri forests the gum industry will die its natural death.

FLAX. With flax (phormium teiiax) the position is somewhat different, for the swamp lands produce such magnificent crops of this valuable article that the industry, now firmly established, is calculated to llourish. Besides the rope, twine and cordage manufactured locally from flax, the quantity exported from Auckland! during the year ended 190!) was 2845 tons, valued at £58,747. It will thus be seen that the business of flaxgrowing and flax-dressing is one of some importance.

MINERALS. The mineral world does not come within the sphere of the present investigation, but it means so much to the employment of capital and labor that the shipments from Auckland during 1909 ought to be mentioned: £ Gold 1,142,001 Silver ISO.SJ2 Other minerals 4,341 Coal 10,748 The coal exported was only 10,053 tons of the, 190,000 tons mined, the bulk of which is for local consumption. All the foregoing would very well serve as splendid material upon which the journalistic pen might profitably operate, but time and space forbid it: in this place. WOOL VERSUS BUTTER-FAT. We have already remarked upon the march of the cow. which is displacing the sheep wherever the land is suitable for dairying. The advance sheets of the 1 Year Book for 1910 say: "As the forest lands become denuded larger areas will be available for sheep-grazing. This will no doubt result in the wool industry being found within a few years in the front rank of importance." With which opinion the writer ventures to disagree entirely. The experience of the whole province goes to show that sheep and dry cattle are merely the pioneers which clear the way for the producers of but-ter-fat. Certainly, the cleared forests will be put under sheep, but just as certainly, if the lan 1 prove suitable and the experience of other districts is to be repeated, the sheep will quickly give way to the cow. Last year the sheep contributed the following to Auckland's exports:—

Wool 251.497 Mutton 3.828 Lamb 05.013 320,33S Butter alone was valued at £480,038. and cheese at £32,492. making a total of £512,530. Judging from the present evidences, those figures will be largcly cxcecded this year. Unless relative values of wool and bnl!er-f:it alter the sheep is altogether unlikely to regain ascendancy. The Cow appears to be the pastoral destiny of tin l Auckland province. and the sooner that is realised and every effort is made hi improve the dairy breeds ami strains the better it will be fur the industry. It is perilous to play the role of a prophet, but men on the land, who watch the trend of events, predict the not distant arrival of the day when Auckland sheep [ will lose the position of prestige they occupy to-day.