488 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



robust, and tall totara pine, the glory of its forest) is selected, 

 felled, its big and stately trunk is cross-hand-sawn into two 

 or three lengths, as may be required. These logs are then 

 rolled on to a kind of sleigh or tram-cart by the help of screw- 

 jacks, and conveyed by horses to the mill. There they are soon 

 placed (by screw-jacks, as before) under the central powerful 

 vertical giant saw, and quickl}' cut up into clean squared tim- 

 ber of various large sizes, as beams, thick planks, &c. Smaller 

 circular saw^s are also used, revolving very rapidly, and all 

 working together at the same time and by the same steam- 

 power, to reduce the beams and planks in size and thickness, 

 to form them into boards, and to dress, and plane, and mould 

 them as wanted. These are plain and smoothly planed, their 

 edges " tongued-and-grooved," bevelled, moulded, &c. And all 

 these are finished so rapidly, though it may be in long lengths 

 (14ft., 20ft., 25ft.), as to keep men constantly and briskly 

 employed in taking them away from the benches, so tha^t the 

 operations may not be impeded. Other men are also kept 

 diligently at work removing the strippings or outer casings of 

 bark and sap-wood, and in clearing out the ever-accumulating 

 sawdust from the pits below under the saws. A j)rominent and 

 surprising feature is the immense size of those piles or hills of 

 outer sawn strippings in long lengths that are thrown away as 

 worthless ; and also of the sawdust that surrounds the mill on 

 every side, sometimes overtopping in height the mill itself, 

 and serving to embarrass the workmen ; besides wdiich there 

 is also great danger from fire, particularly in the hot and dry 

 summer months. 



A few days ago, while at the mill, I witnessed the placing 

 of the lower trunk of a handsome robust totara-tree, about 

 15ft. long and 4ft. in diameter, solid, perfect, and sym- 

 metrical, under the big vertical saw. It was soon fixed in 

 position, and I watched the progress. The first cut (as is 

 usually the case) was made down its centre longitudinally, 

 and the immense log W'as carried steadily onwards at the rate 

 of lOin. per minute, as timed by my watch. Another remark- 

 able feature is the smoothness and regularity of the surface 

 of the sawn green timber, especially when the largeness, the 

 coarseness, and the distance apart of the teeth of the saws are 

 considered. 



I believe it to be quite possible to fell a stately tree — the 

 giant monarch of the forest — to haul it to the mill, and to 

 cut it up into thin boards, "tongued-and-grooved," and ready 

 for use, within two hours. But, of course, all timber requires 

 more or less of seasoning before it is finally used by the car- 

 penter and joiner. Here the sap is seen gushing out of the 

 wood under the saws. At the same time, I do not think the 

 timber-trees of the New Zealand forests, being evergreen, 



