AGATHIS AUSTRALIS. 155 
is rough, it is by no means unremunerative. In England the price varies from 
£40 to £80 per ton, the latter for very choice samples. 
““Gum-digging”’ is a standing resource for the unemployed, or, rather, for 
the industrious section of that class in times of depression, and has enabled 
Auckland to tide over bad times with less difficulty than has been experienced 
in other districts. The digger pays no fee or only a nominal fee for digging on 
open Crown lands: he selects a likely place wherever he thinks fit, his only 
tools being a light iron rod or ‘“‘gum-spear”’ to test the ground, and a spade to 
dig out the ‘‘gum”’ when found. Of late years licenses have been granted to 
dig in kauri-forests during the winter months—a step which has already proved 
disastrous, and should be promptly revoked. A growing forest should never be 
disturbed by digging operations. 
A royalty of £1 per ton is usually charged to diggers working on private 
land. Sometimes a storekeeper will lease a block of kauri-gum land, and give 
permission to dig free of charge to all who will sell their resin to him and 
purchase their provisions at his store; or he may charge royalty. The cost of 
packing gum out of the forest, and in some cases along miles of muddy road, to 
the nearest point of shipment for Auckland is very heavy. In many cases the 
storekeeper is simply the agent of an Auckland firm, buying, selling, and packing 
on account of the house. 
A remarkable fact in connection with gumfields is that in many cases, after 
they have been so exhausted as to prove unprofitable, new resin has been formed 
after they have been allowed to rest for a few years. 
With all drawbacks the Auckland gumfields have proved far more beneficial 
to the district than its goldfields. The quantity of resin exported during 1887 
was 6,790 tons, valued at £362,434, averaging nearly £54 per ton. Of this sum 
the diggers and packers received not less than from one-half to two-thirds. 
While the goldfields would prove unremunerative unless hundreds of thousands 
of pounds were invested in fixed machinery and buildings, the gum-digger 
requires no capital beyond that necessary to purchase his gum-spear and spade ; 
and, if he does not realise the large gains which occasionally fall to the lot of the 
vold-digger and miner, he can always make a living, and, if a steady, persistent 
worker, can make fair provision for the future. 
The following statement shows the fluctuation in the quantity and value of 
kauri-cum exported during the five years ending 1887 :— 
Quantity. Gross Value. Average Value per Ton, 
Tons. £ ies ci 
1883 ee tee 6,5183 .... 336, 606 3, Poa es ee aw. 
1884 an a 6, 393 342,151 sha 53 10 4 
1885 ry oe 5,975% 299,162 nA 5 Oo 3 
1886 4 nee Aj G20 vs 257,053 +99 8 lt 
1887 7 a: 6,790 he 362,434 1s 93) 7 “6 
30,498 ... £1,595,606 oe EGO 2 opolarteain): 
I am indebted to Messrs. Brown and Campbell, of Auckland, for the follow- 
ing statement of the maximum and minimum prices for the last three years :— 
1886. 1887. 1888. 
Ordinary— £ i ry 
Maximum Fe. wf a 46 ue 46 Ne 42 
Minimum Ne sb 3 32 e” 36 45 29 
East Coast— 
Maximum vs Zs te 56 4: 61 a 51 
Minimum ne ae —_ 52 1t 51 ts, 42 
