PODOCARPUS TOTARA. 229 
after perforating the sapwood in all directions, the teredines had abandoned the 
attack and deserted the pile on coming in contact with the heartwood. 
, The specific gravity, as stated by Balfour, is *559, the weight per cubic 
foot 35*t7lb., and the breaking weight 133°6lb., the mean average obtained 
from seventeen specimens. The maximum breaking weight was 17olb., the 
minimum 118°7lb.* Mr. Blair states the weight per cubic foot in the green 
state to vary from 49°783lb. to 56°7151b. ; when seasoned, 36°210lb. to A2°228lb. 5. 
and the breaking weight 142°50lb., the last results being obtained from tests of 
ten specimens.t As it is uncertain whether the specimens tested in either case 
were those of P. Hallii or P. Totara, the results cannot be applied with certainty. 
It is of considerable importance that an extended series of experiments should 
be undertaken to determine the relative value of the timber of the two species. 
Occasionally specimens with figured and mottled wood are found, and are 
highly valued. Mottling is produced in the same manner as in the kauri, chiefly 
by the trees being “ bark-bound,” so that portions of the bark become imbedded 
in the wood, but the effect is less attractive than in the kauri on account of the 
absence of the satiny lustre so characteristic of the latter. ‘The trunks of old 
trees often develop large wens or excrescences, which are finely mottled and are 
usually converted into veneers. 
Kauri and totara are extensively used for general building purposes, the 
former enormously in excess of the latter; both exhibit the same amount of 
durability, but kauri is more easily worked, and takes a higher finish. [or 
fencing purposes they are of nearly equal value, kauri having a slight advantage 
arising from its greater strength. The same may be said for their use as railway- 
sleepers and telegraph-posts. In constructive works kauri has the advantage of 
ereater strength, and endures a larger amount of wear and tear. Vor marine 
piles totara is vastly superior to kauri. For masts, deck-planking, and other 
purposes of the shipbuilder, kauri is decidedly preferred. Both timbers are used 
in the manufacture of furniture, with equally good results except as to colour, in 
which respect kauri has a marked advantage. 
The totara is easily cultivated, and, although flourishing most luxuriantly 
in cool alluvial soils, exhibits a great amount of indifference to the nature of its 
habitat. It may be found on sandy soils, light basaltic scoria, and stiff clays. 
It is occasionally used for ornamental planting, and for hedges for breakwinds, 
for which it is very suitable, as it bears clipping as well as the English yew. 
Specimens planted in the Auckland Domain twenty-two years ago are now 28it. 
high, and 2ft. in circumference at 2ft. from the ground.{ Sometimes the vertical 
erowth of this tree is at the rate of 2ft. per annum. 
On THE Conversion oF JTorarRa. 
Owing to the mixed character of the forests in which totara:is usually found, 
few mills are devoted exclusively to its conversion, but it forms an important 
item in the output of many of the mills working in the Wairarapa, Manawatu, 
and Hawke’s Bay: at one sawmill in the Upper Waikato, Auckland, totara is 
the only timber converted; so also at the sawmills of Messrs. Nannestead, 
Richter, and Company at the Tamaki, Tahoraite, and that formerly held by 
Messrs. Wilding and Company, Waipukurau. Large quantities are also con- 
verted at sawmills in Napier. The amount of totara converted in the South 
Island is but small; in many districts it 1s completely cut out. The machinery 
* Balfour: Experiments on the Strength of New Zealand Timbers. 
{ Blair: Building Materials of Otago, pp, 224, 213. 
{ J. Baber: “*On the Growth of Transplanted Trees,” Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. x1x., p. 187. 
38 
