146 AGATHIS AUSTRALIS. 
4. Soft kauri: This is of a pale-dun colour, straight in the grain, rather 
soft, and of light specific gravity ; it never casts, twists, or shrinks longitudinally 
even when exposed to the weather: sometimes it is marked with thin longi- 
tudinal streaks or veins. It is excellent for joiners’ work and mouldings, but 
should not be used for beams or heavy framing. 
Mr. Bartley’s paper will repay careful perusal.* I venture to point out, 
however, that his ‘‘ red’? and ‘‘white’’ kauri may be obtained from the same 
tree, the red being obtained from the central portions of the log, in which ligni- 
fication is more complete, the cell-cavities being entirely obliterated. White 
kauri is afforded by the log next the inner face of the sapwood: in these 
intermediate rings lienification is not fully completed, although so far advanced 
that the wood may be considered ‘ heartwood,” but less durable than that from 
the central part of the tree. It need scarcely be pointed out that in trees which 
have stood for some years after attaining their full dimensions the proportion of 
‘‘ white’? or intermediate wood is small. This point will be referred to on 
another page. | 
The ‘black’ kauri is heartwood excessively charged with resin—in this 
point resembling a variety of the rimut—-and the ‘‘soft’’ kind is local, although 
not restricted to any one district. Similar varieties are found in all pine-timbers, 
especially in the red-deal of the Baltic, all of which is produced by one species, 
although the timber from one locality is noted for its durability, from another 
for its strength, from a third for its silkiness, &c. | 
Compared with other commercial pine-timbers, the kauri is more silky than 
Ouebec yellow-pine, and takes a higher finish; it is stronger and more durable 
than the best red-deal of the White Sea and the Baltic ; it 1s tougher and more 
elastic than American spruce; while it is more easily worked than the red-wood 
of California, and is without its brittleness. It combines a larger number of good 
qualities in a high degree of perfection than any other pine-timber in general use. 
Mr. Laslett, Timber Inspector to the British Admiralty, who had the 
advantage of becoming acquainted with the kauri in its native forests, has pub- 
lished the results of experiments made by him to ascertain the transverse and 
tensile strengths of different timbers. His experiments to determine the trans- 
verse strength were made with pieces 7ft. long and 2in. square, each end of 
which was carried on supports exactly 6ft. apart, when water was poured into a 
vessel suspended from the middle until the piece broke. To determine the 
tensile strength, pieces 2in. square, and usually 301n. long, were tested by means 
of a powerful hydraulic machine, so that the direct cohesion of the fibres was 
obtained with great exactness. English oak is taken as the standard for trans- 
verse and tensile strain, and is valued at t‘ooo in each case. I give below the 
results of his experiments with kauri as compared with other pine-timbers :—} 
Transverse Strength.—(Scantling, 2in. x 2in. x 84in.) 
. Breaking Weight in 
Relative Strength. 
Ib. per sq- in. 
Pitch-pine no aa Seat ed EE) ei 262 
Dantzic fir a sa sin 1'087 th 219 
KAURI it £5 ras "892 be 204 
Canada spruce os 1 a 831 a's 168 
Canada red-pine _.... te ee ‘S10 ei, 163 
Russian larch Fe wee ae “776 oa 157 
Riga fir a a By) "744 ee 150 
Canada yellow-pine... Ra: hs "665 ta 134 
* Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. xvri1., p. 37. t+ Dacrydium cupressinum, Pp. 30, ante. 
+ « Timber and Timber-Trees,” by T. Laslett, pp. 298-327. 
