Canadian Forcslrij Jcurnal, June, 1918 



1739 



of the plantation so as to improve and 

 perpetuate the property. 



The Forest Service can assist the 

 Forest owners in the following wa>'s: 



1. In preparing a plan of manage- 

 ment of the woodlot. 



2. In furnishing at the ordinary 

 price the necessary plants for filling 

 the clearings in the property. 



3. In indicating the me{hods of 

 cultivating the most profitable species 

 of trees for the woodlot. 



When it becomes necessary to 

 examine the woodlot the conditions 

 will be as follows: 



The Forest Service will pay the 

 salary- of an expert who is appointed 

 to make the examination; but the 

 forest owner will defray the expenses 

 of board and transportation, the 



estimated amount of which should be 

 forwarded in making the application, 

 so as to avoid misunderstandings. 



It would be preferable for several 

 neighboring owners to unite so as to 

 reduce the individual expenses; and 

 from the standpoint of the Forest 

 Service this will be very helpful, for 

 we have only a small number of 

 forest engineers at our disposition, and 

 consequently, cannot send them 

 everywhere. 



We hope that those interested will 

 study this question seriously, since 

 it is greatly to their advantage, and 

 that the3' will profit by the assistance 

 so generously offered by the Provincial 

 Government, thereby increasing the 

 interest from their property and, 

 consequently, their income. 



Digging Wealth from Buried Trees 



Forests of New Zealand which 

 nourished and died so man^'^ ages ago 

 that the ground they covered is now 

 swamp and plain, are yielding more 

 than a million dollars a year to 

 Maori natives and whites who dig 

 kauri gum, the undecaying resin of 

 the prehistoric trees. 



Nearly $100,000,000 worth has 

 been gathered in the last half century 

 and an equal amount remains to be 

 dug. From two to 12 feet under the 

 surface of the earth the resin lies, in 

 strata which show that three succes- 

 sive forests matured and died in the 

 creation of the deposit which is used 

 by manufacturers of linoleum and 

 varnish in the United States and 

 Great Britain. 



The trees of the kauri forests of 

 today furnish the most valuable 

 wood of New Zealand for general 

 building purposes. The tree is a 

 giant of the bush that ranks with the 

 cedars and firs of Northwestern 

 America in girth but not in height. 

 The diameter runs from four to 12 

 feet, with specimens that have meas- 

 ured 15 and even 20 feet. The height 

 averages 80 to 100 feet, with a 

 maximum of 150 feet. 



Cover Old Forests 



The great gum deposits are not 



found in the forests of the present day 

 but on fern-covered hills, plains and 

 swamps. In some instances the bur- 

 ied forests flourished so many ages 

 ago that no trace of them remains 

 except the hundreds of millions of 

 pounds of resinous exudations. 



The gum fields are principally in 

 the provincial district of Auckland 

 in the northern part of the North 

 Island, covering about 1,800,000 acres, 

 At one time kauri gum was so 

 abundant that it was dug out with 

 little trouble near the surface, but half 

 a century's industrious digging has 

 diminished the supply until now it is 

 necessary to go down several feet for 

 it. In some cases the excavations go 

 to a depth of a dozen feet, and re- 

 cently companies have begun operat- 

 ing with converted gold dredges. 

 Brings $1500 a Ton 



The gum, as it is found, varies 

 from the diameter of a marble to 

 lumps weighing 100 pounds or more. 

 In color it ranges from pale lemon 

 yellow and reddish brown to almost 

 iDlack. IVIuch of it is transparent or 

 semi-transparent. Its grades for 

 market purposes are as varied as its 

 coloring. The most valuable deposits 

 are found in dry soil and the best 

 grades bring as much as $1500 a ton, 



