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AGATHIS AUSTRALIS. 153 
small dimensions from economic causes, so that the supposed necessity for 
legislative interference has been obviated. In 1878 the total value of balk, logs, 
piles, and spars exported was only £10,092; in 1883 the export of balk alone 
had increased to £24,198, when it reached its maximum. ‘The following state- 
ment will show its fluctuations since that date :— 
Year. Number of Logs, Value. 
1883 . Sas ye 6,040 on £24,198 
1884 Lo CF a 5,014 ve 23,370 
1885 ie = gat 3,655 oa 16,005 
T886 aoe a ret 1,489 He. 5,603 
1887 és ae Mo: 463 ee 1,621 
It has evidently been found more economical to import kauri into the Aus- 
tralian Colonies in the converted state than in balk. The small quantity 
imported in 1887 was in all probability required to meet the demand for extra- 
wide boards and exceptional-size scantling. The average price of smooth-hewn 
balk is about 5s. 6d. per 100 superficial feet, and of rough-hewn or ‘‘ octagon”’ 
5s. During 1887 prices ruled 1s. per 100 superficial feet lower for each kind. 
The kauri is the only timber generally used for building purposes in the 
Auckland District; excellent rimu and kahikatea could readily be obtained, but 
they are not valued for building. On the other hand the superior qualities of 
kauri cause it to be largely in demand from Auckland to Invercargill: the greater 
portion is shipped in a converted state, but large quantities of balk are also 
shipped for conversion in southern sawmills. A firm in Wellington converts 
from 1,000,000 to 1,400,000 superficial feet yearly, most of the logs being 
obtained from the Hokianga district. 
It is difficult to estimate the number of men employed in the sawmills and 
forests, but it probably ranges from 2,000 to 2,500, according to the state of the 
market, and the amount expended in wages probably varies from £200,000 to 
£250,000 per annum. Benchmen usually receive from 8s. to tos. per day; bush- 
men from 6s. to 8s., or, when boarded by the contractor, £1 per week. It must 
not be forgotten that the freight of provisions and cost of packing are heavy 
items. 
The total capital invested in the kauri industry may be estimated at 
£050,000. 
In 1885 Mr. S. Perey Smith, Surveyor-General, estimated the area of 
kauri likely to pay for working at 138,470 acres. If we suppose the area to be 
even 200,000 acres, it will be seen that we are within measurable distance of its 
exhaustion, especially considering the rapid increase in the foreign demand: in 
1876 we exported 5,072,627 superficial feet of sawn or hewn timber; in 1887 the 
quantity exported had risen to 30,230,084 superficial feet, not including spars in 
either case. It may fairly be expected that the foreign demand will increase in 
a still greater ratio during the next ten years, and that it will be attended with a 
corresponding increase of the home consumption. 
An important factor in estimating the period required for the exhaustion of the 
kauri supply is the destruction of forests by fire. Iew dry seasons occur without 
the destruction of large areas of valuable timber arising from preventible causes, 
often from carelessness, but occasionally from design. Damage is frequently 
caused by gum-diggers setting fire to scrub, to clear ground for their operation: if 
high winds occur the fire may be carried for miles, as was the case last summer, 
when some thousands of acres of kauri were burned in the northern districts and 
on the Cape Colville Peninsula. ‘The only remedy for this state of things is to 
insist upon a license being taken out by all gum-diggers, and to prohibit the 
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