298 Timehri. 



The present rate paid for hewing timber is from 3 cents to 6 cents 

 per cubic foot at tree stump and for such " squaring " as it is. The 

 timber hewn by local " squarers " engaged in the trade is generally 

 waney and tapered. Sawing can also be done at the same rate as hew- 

 ino- if one has the right plant and power and provided that overhead 

 charges are kept down to a minimum. The question of transport is, 

 however, involved, but it is dealt with under " Portable Saw Plant. ; ' 



Inspection. 

 Perhaps it is not amiss, before passing to the characteristics of some 

 of our timbers, to touch upon the subject of inspection, for as far as an 

 export trade is concerned, the lack of it is a serious and unfortunate set- 

 back to the timber industry of the colony, and therefore to successful 

 milling operations. 



Owing to the absence of the necessary machinery for carrying out 

 Government inspection of sawn timber for export, it is a difficult under- 

 taking to secure contracts on terms of inspection at port of shipment. 

 On the payment of a fee, which, of course, would be a matter of 

 arrangement between seller and buyer, it should be possible to get the 

 required inspection carried out, and the necessary certificate given ; then 

 the supplier would be saved the expense of shipping rejected lumber 

 which he might otherwise readily dispose of locally without loss. 



It may probably be urged, against an apparent waste of public funds, 

 in providing means for Government inspection, that the exports are so 

 small as to preclude such a step. It is just here that the barrier to 

 development and expansion lies. 



Suppliers have to accept contracts for sawn crabwood, simarupa, 

 greenheart and mora, subject to inspection at destination. As a con- 

 sequence material considered satisfactory is shipped, but, naturally, the 

 sawmiller has no wish to see his profits dwindle, and on the off chance of 

 a certain piece passing muster, many pieces of timber are sometimes 

 shipped that would not be if the suggested inspection was in force. 

 Government inspection being independent would reduce to a minimum 

 the possibility of the entire rejection of a consignment, which sometimes 

 culminates in a subsequent offer by the would-be buyer rather than 

 re-shipment resulting in a loss. 



Lumber imported from abroad for use in the colony is, in some 

 cases, subject to inspection at port of shipment, and in a similar manner 

 when desired we should have the means of carrying it out. 



It seems that much time has been and is spent by not a few in 

 trying to get consumers interested in the less known timbers of the 

 colony. In some measure the object is a laudable one, but more benefit 

 would accrue to the timber industry if the better-known timbers, obtain- 

 able in quantity for commercial purposes, were more written about and 

 advertised or kept prominently before foreign consumers in some such 

 way. 



