My New Zealand Garden 95 



cheaper, and are safer in the case of a shock of 

 earthquake, which we occasionally get. But now 

 that plenty of bricks are being manufactured, brick 

 is gradually supplanting wood. The rapidity with 

 which a wooden structure is put up is astonishing. 

 Small, prettily-finished houses can be built in two 

 months, when once the wood has been seasoned 

 by exposure to the air after it has been cut into 

 boards. Some of our villas are extremely pretty, 

 and, if sanded over, have all the effect of stone. 

 But they are usually painted in quiet tints, and 

 when a house gets shabby, a fresh coat of paint 

 makes it look new again. 



Agathis Australis (Kauri) is the largest New 

 Zealand tree ; some giants, which are over 20 feet 

 in diameter, are supposed to be about four thousand 

 years old. They exude that valuable and wonder- 

 ful product ' Kauri gum,' which is found in the 

 Kauri forests near Auckland, from a few inches 

 below the surface of the ground down to several 

 feet. The wage of the gum-digger is very low, as 

 skilled labour is not necessary, so that it supplies 

 work for anyone who is industriously inclined. 

 The gum, when polished, looks exactly like amber, 

 varying just the same in colour, and the longer 

 it has been underground the darker it becomes. 

 It is cut into various little ornaments, and large 

 lumps of it are in museums. It is an indis- 

 pensable ingredient in making resin. The wood 



