lo March, 1910.] 



TJic Supply of Butter Boxes. 



^79 



General Remarks. — At the present time, the building industry in Bris- 

 bane and in many of the Queensland towns is very prosperous. The exist- 

 ing sawmills are, therefore, fully taxed, and it is not easv for them to 

 supply the demand for timter, but I believe the erection of several new 

 mills is projected. I might mention that Wages Boards are continually 

 extending in (Queensland, and these mav have an influence on the price 

 of timber. 



I also inquired as to the practicability of obtaining timber in the log 

 shipp>ed to ]\Ielbourne, but was informed that the Go\ernment will pro- 

 babl\- prohibit the exportation of timber in the log, in order that the work 

 of cutting up may be provided within the State. It might be advisable, 

 however, to make sure whether such prohibition would be allowed under 

 Commonwealth law. 



SCENE AT A QUEENSLAND .MILL. 



While in Brisbane I was impressed with the possibility of our producers 

 co-operating and erecting their own mills, as was intended bv the Queens- 

 land producers some time ago, but on further inquirv some difficulties pre- 

 sented themselves. Still, it is a matter for you to decide as to what action 

 you will recommend the producers to take, and perhaps the following in- 

 formation may be of use to you in arri\'ing at a decision. 



The very best part of a tree is necessary for butter box purposes, and 

 I was given an estimate that onlv ^2, per cent., at most, of marketable 

 timber could be used for boxes. The co-operative millers might not always 

 find it easy to dispo'se of the balance of the timber, and in that case the 

 boxes might cost much more than they anticipate. 



In some cases, when the Government sells a quantity of timber it is 

 required that wood distillation works shall be erected in addition to saw- 

 mills. The producers may not consider it advisable to associate themselves 

 with the manufacture of naphtha, c*fec. 



It should also be remembered that, in wet weather, the state of the 

 roads is sometimes so bad that bullock teams and traction engines, used 

 for carting ti/.iber to the mills, are often idle for a long time, during 

 which period no haulage can be done, but this of course would apply to 

 all mills. Further, it might be necessarv to erect more than one mill, for 



