THE PINE FAMILY 63 



round, two to three inches in diameter, and borne 

 near the tips of the branches. Each scale of the cone 

 bears a single ovule. The seeds are wedge-shaped and 

 brown, bearing at the top on one side a thin, transparent wing, 

 which enables the wind to carry them readily. The kauri is 

 noted for its sound timber — hollow and defective trees being 

 rarely found. The price of the timber is usually ten shillings 

 for one hundred feet. The wood takes a fine polish, and is 

 generally wavy in grain, but a mottled variety is found which 

 is especially valuable in cabinet work. This mottled variety is 

 most frequent in rocky situations, and is sometimes caused by 

 the excessive development of small branchlets, but in many 

 cases the bark cannot keep pace in speed of growth with the 

 woody tissue. Flakes of bark thereupon become enclosed in 

 the sapwood, and under the tremendous pressure form dark 

 patches on a light ground. Occasionally thin films of clear 

 resin are also enclosed, which add to the colour and beauty of 

 the markings. 



When the kauri trees are felled, it is a work of some 

 difficulty to transport them, as the country north of Auckland, 

 the special home of the kauri, is exceedingly rough and broken. 

 If the trees are growing on the banks of some stream, they are 

 felled, cut into suitable lengths by means of cross-cut saws, 

 worked by two men, and the logs rolled into the water. Here 

 they lie until a "fresh" drives them down to the creek or 

 harbour where the " boom " lies waiting. This boom is formed 

 of a circle of logs fastened together with chains. There may 

 be as many as fifty logs forming the chain, which sometimes 

 encloses acres of water. The logs enter the boom, — are 

 fastened together into a kind of raft, and towed to their 

 destination. If, however, the felled trees are far from deep 

 water, their carriage is much more difficult. A skidded road, 

 six to eight feet wide, is formed of greased logs. Thus a sort of 

 rough wooden tramway is made. The logs are hoisted on to 

 this road by means of "jacks," or dragged by a team of 



