1 8 G Transactions. — Miscellaneous, 



years ago I pointed out that the " crutches " would make handsome furniture, 

 I again urge upon saw-mill proprietors, master-builders, and cabinet-makers 

 the advantage of using the crutches. Stripped of their branches they could 

 be floated down the driving creeks with the ordinary logs, and if " broken 

 down " or cut into suitable boards for wainscotii 

 highly appreciated for their striking beauty. 



Some of the more unique planks or boards might be cut into veneers, not 

 only for local cabinet-makers but for export to London and elsewhere. 



Some of the large limbs may be used for crooks and knees for ship- 

 building, to take the place of the limbs of the pohutukawa (Metrosideros 

 tomentosa), which are so rapidly disappearing under the constant and 

 increasing demands of shipbuilders, or, together with the upper portion of the 

 trunk, they may be sawn into second-class timber, used for mining purposes, or 

 split into palings, shingles, and staves. 



The smaller branches remaining may be converted into tar. 



In this way one chief danger from fires would be removed, greatly to the 



advantage of saw-mill proprietors and of the country generally. Before I 



finally dismiss the kauri I may properly direct attention to the singular 



shrinkage, both longitudinally and laterally, of kauri timber. I have no 



doubt that these serious defects arise from the practice of " falling " the kauri 



all through the year. For ten months of the year the cells of the kauri are 



more or less charged with sap. To this cause probably is due the shrinkage I 



have noted. The brittleness and premature decay of three-fourths of the 



kauri timber arises from this cause alone. When a tree is cut down with the 



cells more or less charged with sap a chemical action probably takes place, 



which partially dissolves and destroys the cellular tissues and results in the 



decay of a timber in a few years, which, if felled at a proper time, would 



continue durable for centuries. From long observation I am satisfied that 



there are only two months of the year in which kauri, or indeed any trees in 



the North Island of New Zealand, can be cut down to prevent contraction and 



secure durability. These months are July and August, and of these months 



August is the best. Now it is not to be expected that saw-mill proprietors 



can find men to " fall " kauri only during these two months without having to 



pay very much more to the men engaged in " falling." A very simple plan 

 will, I think, enable them to overcome the difficulty. During these two 

 months, July and August, let them " ring " the trees, that is cut out a ring of 

 bark and sap 3 or 4 inches wide round all the trees they intend to cut down 

 or "fall" during the next 12 months. This simple plan will reduce the 

 contraction to a minimum and secure what is more important, viz, the 

 durability of the timber. The noble kauri, the king of our New Zealand 

 forests, is capable of producing a timber for general purposes hardly second to 



