T. KiBK. — On the neglected Forest Products of New Zealand. 131 



Witli our large supply of kauri gum, a substance of such value as to 

 take the place of the costly gum mastic, there can be no valid excuse for 

 continuing to import large quantities of manufactured varnish. We may 

 advantageously use a portion of our kauri resin for manufacturing purposes 

 within the colony, instead of sending it abroad to be manufactured for us. 



Fifteen years ago varnishes manufactured from both kauri and rimu 

 resin were exhibited at the New Zealand Exhibition, held in Otago, but the 

 subject has been allowed to drop without receiving the attention it merits, 

 and it is a matter for congratulation that efforts are now being made to 

 establish this industry in Auckland, 



Tar. 



Tar may be extracted from many of our native trees, especially from the 

 pines, the kauri, totara, kahikaiea, rimu, miro, matai, tanekaha, etc., also from 

 the tooth-leaved and other beeches, which form such vast forests in many 

 districts, and in all probability from the large kinds of rata and tea- tree. 



The waste tops and branches of trees felled for timber, crooked pieces, 

 knots, roots, etc., can be utilized for this purpose, so that the manufacture 

 of tar and allied products would not only afford a profitable outlet for labour, 

 but would remove a great source of danger, and materially reduce the 

 serious loss arising from forest fires. 



In the forests of the White Sea and the Baltic, tar is extracted from the 

 Scotch fir (Finns sylvestrisj, and the Baltic spruce fir (Abies communis J ; the 

 wood and roots being cut into short billets, and then subjected to a process 

 of slow combustion. 



A funnel-shaped cavity of any convenient size is excavated in the side of 

 a sloping bank ; an iron pan is fitted tightly into the bottom of the hole, 

 and communicates with the exterior by a pipe or tube, which passes 

 through the side of the bank, and allows the tar to be drawn off as fast as it 

 is extracted. 



The billets are now tightly. packed in the cavity, ends downward, until 

 it is completely filled, when the sm-face is covered with turf, which is 

 compactly beaten down by two men, one of whom uses a wooden stamper, 

 the other a wooden mallet — so that the outer surface is sufficiently firm to 

 prevent the escape of the volatile products. It is absolutely necessary that 

 this part of the process should be efficiently performed. 



A small portion of the turf is now removed, and fire applied to the stack ; 

 as soon as it is kindled, the turf is replaced. The exuded tar is received 

 into the pan at the bottom of the hole, and is discharged by the spout into 

 casks, which are at once bunged and made ready for shipment. 



The quantity of billets subjected to slow combustion at the same time is 

 frequently enormous, amounting to 50,000 or 60,000 cubic feet. In this 



