300 



The World's Commercial Products 



country, although the 

 tree is only found in 

 the Auckland district 

 in the extreme north 

 of North Island. It 

 develops into a mag- 

 nificent tree, with a 

 smooth columnar 

 trunk free from 

 branches, bearing at 

 the top a broad 

 crown of foliage. 

 Specimens are found 

 160 feet high, with 

 a clean bole of 100 

 feet before the first 

 branch is reached, 

 and about fifty feet 

 in circumference (see 

 illustrations on pages 

 299, 301, 307, 310). 



The value of the 

 wood was early 

 recognised in New 

 Zealand, where it is 

 extensively used. 

 The first exports 

 were to Australia, 

 and later it won a 

 place in the markets 

 of the Old World. 

 The great length and 

 width of the planks 

 obtainable, their re- 

 markable soundness, 

 uniformity, freedom 

 from knots and 

 faults, their durability and working - qualities, make Kauri a most valuable wood for many 

 purposes. For all kinds of building work, dados, panelling, doors, flooring, joiners' work, it 

 is extensively used, A church at Peebles, in Scotland; and St. Michael's Church, Croydon, have 

 fittings made of it. 



Fine specimen planks, both of ordinary and of the handsome mottled Kauri, are exhibited 

 in the New Zealand Court of the Imperial Institute. Kauri resin (q.v.) is obtained from 

 this tree. 



Larch. The Larch (Larix europea), unlike most coniferous trees, drops its leaves during 

 the winter, and the pale green of young Larch trees is very conspicuous in the spring. The tree 

 is widely distributed over the Alps, the Apennines, in Russia, Siberia, etc., and yields a tough, 

 durable, somewhat coarse, but straight and even grained wood. Its most serious defect is that 

 it shrinks and warps considerably. Ship-building, telegraph poles, sleepers, are amongst its 

 principal uses. Venice turpentine (q.v.) is obtained from the Larch. 

 The American Larch or Tamarack (Larix americana) is very similar. 



By permission of the Agent-General for British Columbia 



A GIANT CEDAR TREE, STANLEY PARK, VANCOUVER 



