422 



Proceedings. 



tion to the suggestion Mr. Bartley had made, that the durability of the 

 timber was affected by the time of year the kauri was cut down. After 

 inquiry, he had come to the conclusion that the season did not so much 

 affect a slow-growing tree like the kauri. That was the opinion of ex- 

 perienced persons. As to the statement that the timber was cut too young 

 — 2 feet 6 inches was mentioned by Mr. Bartley, which was the minimum 

 size contractors were allowed to cut — he thought the remark made as to 

 9 inches of sap was not applicable to all districts. He had seen young trees 

 cut, and the sap was only a couple of inches, and perhaps not that. He 

 thought the paper a valuable one, and further investigation might take 

 place in the same direction. 



Mr. John Buchanan was a little surprised to hear the wholesale con- 

 demnation of kahikatea. His observation on this matter extended over 

 twenty -four years. He knew one house built of kahikatea which had been 

 up for forty years — he referred to Mr. Thorpe's house in the Upper Thames. 

 The timber was decayed at certain parts, but only in those portions of the 

 building where other timbers would be, and certainly not more than other 

 timbers. He had used kahikatea, and had not found the dry rot take place. 

 He had made considerable inquiry from people at the Thames, where it was 

 almost universally used, and he had heard nothing of dry rot. He thought 

 the time would come when kahikatea would be a most valuable timber. 

 The kahikatea he referred to was that grown in swamps ; that from Bag- 

 nail's mill, for instance, and other parts of the Thames. From his know- 

 ledge of the subject, gained from various sources, he thought Mr. Bartley's 

 statement should have been somewhat qualified. 



The President (Mr. J. A. Pond) also took exception to Mr. Bartley's 

 statement about kahikatea, and could instance the same house as Mr. 

 Buchanan. From examinations he had made, the hardest kinds came from 

 the swamps. He might mention that a house only a short distance from 

 Thorpe's was bad with rot after standing only three or four years. The 

 property of absorption was very marked in some classes of this timber, and 

 was really the cause of the decay. In the case of one house at Te Aroha, 

 where decay had set in some parts, he blamed to a certain extent the too 

 early painting of the timber. He had given a good deal of time to the 

 subject of the cutting of timbers. He had been assured by mill-owners of 

 twenty and thirty years' experience that there was a great difference between 

 timber cut in winter and that cut in spring aud summer. He had verified 

 the fact of the very free discharge of sap in spring and summer. As to 

 totara, there was a house on the wharf where the whole sap and heart had 

 gone in one piece of wood, and this was only after three years, Mr. Bartley 

 had divided kauri into four classes. Whether that was so, or whether the 

 appearance was owing to the location, he was not able to decide, but he 

 rather favoured the theory of location. 



7. " The Survival of the Fittest," by E. A. Mackechnie. 



Annual Meeting. 22nd February, 1886. 

 J. A. Pond, President, in the chair. 

 New Member. — W. A. Graham. 



Abstract of Beport for 1885. 



Twenty new members have been elected during the year. The losses 

 have been 24 in all, and may be classified as follows : — From death, 5 ; from 

 resignation, 8 ; and from non-payment of subscription, 11. The number on 

 the roll of the Institute at the present time is 300. Regret is expressed at 



