1867 - von Hochstetter, Ferdinand. New Zealand - CHAPTER VII: Kauri and Harakeke

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CHAPTER VII

Kauri and Harakeke.

The New Zealand Pine and the New Zealand flax plant.

"Flora and Pomona have dealt most niggardly with New Zealand. There is no indigenous flower equal to England's dog rose; no indigenous fruit equal to Scotland's cranberry." 1 On the other hand, the vegetable world of New Zealand is as harmless as its animal world; there are no poisonous plants with the solitary exception of the Toot-plant, 2 and a great variety of very useful plants. In this respect the two most important and at the same

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time the two most characteristic plants of New Zealand are the Kauri and the Harakeke or the New Zealand Pine, Dammara australis, and the New Zealand flax plant, Phormium tenax.

The Kauri Pine is justly styled the Queen of the New Zealand forest. What the silver-fir is to the mountainous regions of Middle Germany; what the famous Libanon cedar used to be in those majestic forests of Asia Minor which in ancient times furnished the material for the vessels of the Phoenicians and the timber for Salomon's temple; or what to-day the Mammoth tree (Sequoia Wellingtonia) is, the giant among the wood-giants in California: the same is for the forests of the warmer northern regions of New Zealand the celebrated and beautiful Kauri (Dammara australis, Yellow Pine of the colonists).

From the very first beginning of the colonization of New Zealand, the Kauri forests of the North Island have proved a source of wealth to the settlers. They furnish the best ship spars and masts, excellent timber, and the gum of the Kauri Pine is a very important article of commerce. Even up to a most recent date, Kauri timber and Kauri gum have been estimated among the most important articles of export of New Zealand. 3

The Kauri pine of all the coniferae of New Zealand is the only one bearing a cone. All the other pines belonging to the family of the coniferae, such as Totara, Kahikatea, Miro, Matai, Rimu, etc. (species of Podocarpus and Dacrydium) produce berries. The surname australis, might lead to the erroneous supposition that this tree is found also in the neighbouring continent of Australia. But, in fact, New Zealand is the only and exclusive home of the Kauri pine, and even here its dominion is a very limited one. Kauri forests are found only upon the long and slender northwestern peninsula of the North Island between 34 1/2 deg. and 37 1/2 deg. South latitude, and between 173 deg. and 176 deg. longitude East of Greenwich.

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Rev. Mr. Taylor 4 believed that, from the presence of fossil gum in the brown coal of the North Island and South Island, -- which he erroneously considered to be identical with the gum of the Kauri pine, -- it was a natural consequence to infer a high geological age, and a formerly far-extending range of the tree. A closer investigation, however, proves plainly that this fossil resin is totally different from the Kauri gum. Since, moreover, the points, where Kauri wood is found half fossillized and imbedded in recent lignite layers, as at the harbours of Hokianga and Kaipara, are likewise comprised within the boundaries above designated, there is no reason to suppose that the range of the Kauri had originally been another than it is now. Three degrees of longitude and three of latitude, therefore, encompass the entire and the only range of this remarkable tree; and even within those narrow limits the Kauri has at all times been by no means a common tree; besides, extensive districts within that range which formerly had been covered with Kauri woods, are now totally destitute of such; and the extermination of that noble tree progresses from year to year at such a rate that its final extinction is as certain as that of the natives of New Zealand. The European colonization treatens the existence of both, and with the last of the Maoris the last of the Kauris will also disappear from the earth.

The vitality of this tree would appear to depend upon two conditions, namely the moist sea breeze and a stiff clay soil. Both are found united upon the narrow, northern peninsula. On the East Coast, the sea enters by deeply indented bays far into the land; and in a similar manner, on the West Coast the estuaries of the Hokianga and Kaipara rivers are formed by ramified and far-reaching arms of the sea. It was on the shores of these very bays and estuaries, that the first settlers found the most luxuriant Kauri forests. Tracts near the sea coast, exposed to the sea breeze, yet beyond the reach of salt-water itself, and places sheltered from violent blasts of wind, are most favourable to the growth of the tree; and it crows on such places most luxuriantly even

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upon poor, stiff clay soil where, after the Kauri forests have disappeared, nothing else will thrive. Whether it is, the Kauri forests extract from the soil all the ingredients requisite for the growth of other plants, or that they really grow only upon a soil productive of nothing else: this much is a matter of fact, that those tracts in the vicinity of Auckland which formerly were covered with dense Kauri forests, and where large masses of Kauri gum are dug from the earth, present now nothing, but waste, dreary, sunburnt heaths of notorious sterility, upon the white or yellowish clay-soil of which nothing but dwarfish Manuka shrubs (Leptospernum scoparium), and scanty ferns (Pteris esculenta) can grow. The colonists therefore say that Kauri forests indicate a poor soil and a rugged non-agricultural country. This ought to prove a lesson for the future; individuals should not be suffered to ravage those precious woods, and to turn the country into a desert to the detriment of whole generations to come. For the sake of a few serviceable trunks, sometimes whole forests are burnt down and desolated, and what formerly had been employed in the wars of cannibal tribes as a stratagem to burn out the enemy, is done now for the sake of money. The woods are ransacked and ravaged with "fire and sword." During my stay at Auckland I was able to observe from my windows, during an entire fortnight, dense clouds of smoke whirling up, which arose from an enormous destructive conflagration of the woods nearest to the town. When the fire had subsided, a large, beautiful tract of forest lay there in ashes, the newspapers giving only this laconic notice: "No damage done to timberwood." That may be; but there will come a time, when the question will be not only about the timber, but also about the forest!

In order to overlook at a glance the principal complexes of the Kauri forests from North to South, it is necessary to begin at the extreme North of the island, at the "land's end", Mariwhenua of the Maoris. Some few scanty specimens at Cape Reinga, a short distance from Cape Maria Van Diemen, in that part of the country where the traditions of the natives fix the entrance to

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the lower regions, indicate that also the northernmost neck of New Zealand, -- which, being now entirely destitute of sheltering woods, has been changed into a sandy desert by the quicksand, -- was in ages past covered with woods. The first real Kauri forests, however, are found in the mountain-chain which, with the Maunga Taniwa, 2150 feet high, as its principal peak extends, a little South of the 35 deg. of South latitude, from the West Coast to the East Coast. Already hero it becomes evident, how the Kauri loves to be near sea. While in the middle of the mountain-chain the woods are very heterogenous, the purer Kauri tracts are all situated more towards the coast in the vicinity of the Mongonui, and Wangaroa Harbours on the East Coast, and of the Hokianga river of the West Coast. Farther South, at 36 deg. latitude, the Kauri forests seem to attain their most luxuriant development. Most noted are the woods on the shores of the variously branching Kaipara Harbour on the West Coast, and along the Waiaroa river, which flows into the former. Here the richest Kauri woods are said to be found, and the trees attain the greatest size and height.

From the earliest periods of European colonization in New Zealand, sawing-mills were established here. Not only Europeans, but also natives have become rich by the lumber-trade, and to this very day the Kaipara Harbour has remained the staple-port for the exportation of Kauri timber. Thence the woods extend as far as the vicinity of Auckland to the Waitemata Harbour on one side, and to Manukau Harbour on the other. Upon the North shore, however, and upon the Isthmus of Auckland every trace of them has disappeared. The plains and hills once covered with forests, are now sterile fern-heaths, where the white clay-soil is everywhere exposed to sight. The gum which the natives dig from the ground, and fragments of upturned wood-giants half decayed, half changed into lignite, which are found here and there buried beneath mounds of earth, are the only remnants of the former forest. Along the West Coast, the North side of Manukau Harbour may be designated as the southernmost point, to which the Kauri

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woods extend. On the Waitakeri, near Henderson's mill, and in the Huia Bay, I found yet considerable tracts remaining. Farther South, though there are single trees and smaller groups met with as far as Kawhia Harbour, yet whole forests are no longer seen.

Along the East Coast it is the Katikati river, at the North end of the Tauranga Harbour in Plenty Bay, at 37 deg. 30' South latitude, which has been designated as the southernmost point for the growth of the Kauri. Very rich in beautiful forests is still the Cape Colville Peninsula on the East side of the Hauraki Gulf, whence the timber is exported partly by Mercury Bay, partly by Coromandel Harbour. The woods disappear more and more where the island South of Auckland and South of Cape Colville Peninsula assumes breadth. Near Papakura and in the mountains on the Wairoa, there are yet some isolated Kauris, but on the Waikato they are already at an end. I believe that the total area comprising all the Kauri woods upon New Zealand can scarcely be estimated as exceeding 4000 Engl, square-miles.

I have not seen the large and magnificent forests on the Kaipara, but I have seen beautiful Kauri woods in the coast range West of Auckland, in the Titirangi chain, on the Waitakeri, in Henderson's Bush, and in the Huia on the Manukau Harbour; likewise in the mountains of the Cape Colville chain on Coromandel Harbour; and will now briefly state a few observations which I have made in those places.

The soil in the parts above mentioned consists partly of a ferruginous clay which has originated in the decomposition of volcanic conglomerate and tuff; partly of a stiff white clay. The Kauri pine never grows single or isolated, nor does it form woods quite free from other large forest-trees, but it occurs in clumps upon places sheltered from the wind. These clumps impart to the forest its characteristic physiognomy. On looking over the whole mass of woods from a hill or a mountain, the Kauri groups are easily distinguished at a great distance by their dark-green foliage. The crowns of the Kauri pines rise far above the rest of forest-trees, and produce dark shades upon the slopes of

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the mountains and in the valleys, here and there intersected by the light-green stripes of fern-trees shooting up luxuriantly, wherever a small stream of springwater may be flowing through the wood.

Kauri-Woods on Manukau Harbour.

As the coarse-grained micaceous granite is interspersed by fine-grained light-coloured veins, so the fern-trees with their soft, dawsy, light-green bushes streak the dusky Kauri woods.

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These Kauri groups vary greatly in extent. They often occupy several square-miles; sometimes there are only 30 or 40 trees clustered together which thus, mutually protecting each other, thrive splendidly. Upon cutting down the woods, however, and allowing but a few, single, trees to remain, the latter wither away. In vain have the colonists tried, to keep and preserve upon the extensive tracts which they wrest from the wild woods for agricultural purposes and for the raising of cattle, some few beautiful trees as ornaments of the landscape, and to grace their farms. The offspring of the shady, humid wild woods will always pine away, as soon as it is exposed to wind and sun; and in the same manner every trial hitherto made to plant and cultivate that son of the wilderness, has sadly miscarried.

Closely connected with this peculiarity that the tree thrives and grows only in groups, is the other, that the trees of one and the same group or grove are usually of nearly the same age. Hence there are "clumps" with trees of 100, 200, 400 and 500 years; and the grand impression made by the Kauri forest is chiefly based upon this circumstance, that it is a forest as of one cast; that tree by tree rises of equal thickness and of equal height, like pillars in the halls of a cathedral. In these clumps, the Kauri pine suffers no larger forest-trees by its side; only smaller trees and shrubs compose the undergrowth.

Young trees have a very different appearance from the older ones. In its youth, the Kauri pine resembles more our red pine; and in matured age, rather the full-grown white pine. Young specimens of from 60 to 100 years have sharp pointed conical crowns; the trunk runs perfectly straight from the root to the topmost end of the crown. In advanced age, the sidebranches grow stronger and form in continual duplication an irregularly ramified, umbrella-shaped crown. The trunk, on the other hand, perfectly cylindrical, and almost imperceptibly lessening in its ascent, presents, as far as the crown, a majestic pillar whose beautiful stature is disturbed neither by sidebranches, nor parasitical plants, such as usually cover other forest-trees. The eye follows unimpeded the beautiful

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line of the trunk from the root to the crown, where the powerful branches are twined into a dense, dark-green roof, through which, like golden stars on the roof of a vault, the light of day peers into the dusk of the woods. The bark of trees four feet thick is from one inch to one and a-half thick, scaling off as in our firs. The blooming season of the tree is in December; the cones are almost spherical and comparatively very small, their diameter not even amounting to the length of our pine-cones; when dry, they fall easily to pieces. When the cones towards the end of February are ripe, the Kauri woods are frequented by numerous birds which feed on the seeds. The oldest and largest trunks attain a diameter of 15 feet, 5 corresponding to a circumference of from 40 to 50 feet, and a height of 100 feet to the lowest branches; or from 150 feet to 180 feet to the top of the crown. Such trees are probably from 7 to 800 years old. Having examined several trunk-sections, I found, as the mean result, from 10 to 12 annual rings to one inch, although in some cases the rings attain a much greater thickness. In some few cases of rare occurrence, I have even observed single rings of a thickness of one inch. For the saw-mill, the woodcutters generally pick out trees of four feet diameter with trunks measuring from 60 to 80 feet to the crown. Such trees are probably 250 to 300 years old. The trunks arc sawed into logs of 10 feet to 20 feet in length upon the spot, where they are felled, -- one tree generally yielding from 4 to 6 logs, -- and these logs are then conveyed to the saw-mill. Since the plank-saws are often at a considerable distance, situated at points from which the timber can be immediately shipped, the transport of those logs is in fact the heaviest piece of work in the whole wood-business. First, a broad clearing leads from the interior of the forest, generally straight down the steep mountain-slopes, and forms a kind of road along which the logs are rolled down to the head of a regular tramway. Upon this road which, as in the Huia, is cut through the bush

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many miles long, the logs are conveyed to the floating-place, and thence to the saw-mill by canals with which, here and there, swell-ponds are connected.

The timber of the Kauri pine resembles the timber of our white pine or silver-fir. It supplies splendid ship spars, and first-rate wood for inside and outside house work; painted furniture, ship-planking, decks and fittings. The deals and boards are said to possess the peculiar quality of shrinking more in length than in breadth. In 1859 nearly the whole of Auckland with the exception of a few stone buildings consisted of houses built of Kauri timber, 6 and it is especially to the Kauri pine, that the province is indebted for its first rise. 7

In remote inlets of the sea, and branches of rivers which were formerly frequented only by the lonely canoe of the savage, there prevails now a brisk intercourse of vessels of all kinds. Extensive saw-works, constructed upon the best principles, are scattered along the banks of those rivers and bays. In the dark bush, over hill and dale and in ravines which were once hushed in deathlike silence, the ringing of the axe, the creaking of the saw, and the far-sounding "cooey" of the wood-cutters are to be heard. Men whose nerves and sinews had been hardened in the wild woods of California and Canada, -- Scotchmen and Irishmen, and now and then also an ill-starred German, -- they are the champions combatting those giants of the woods. Merrily the columns of smoke whirl up from their log-fires; and many a wonderful story is told, when in the hour of repose the pipes are alight and the gin-bowl is going the rounds.

But the Kauri pine yields also, as already mentioned, a second, very valuable product, the Kauri gum, Kapia of the natives. This resinous gum, as it oozes from the tree, is soft and of a milky turbidness, 8 not unlike opal; in course of time, however, it hardens, becomes more or less transparent, and assumes at the same time a

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bright yellow colour, 9 so that it quite resembles amber. As to the quantity of the gum produced, the Kauri pine equals probably the ancient coniferae of the post-tertiary period, the Abietineae and Cupressineae, from which the amber originated. Twigs and branches are bristling with white drops of gum; but in larger lumps, the gum collects especially on the lower part of the trunk from whence the roots proceed. Hence it is always found in great quantities in the soil of those places, where Kauri-forests stood of old. Pieces of 20 to 30 pounds weight and even more, -- sometimes of 100 pounds -- are of no rare occurrence. The Novara collections are indebted to Mr. Petschler, a German merchant in Auckland, for a magnificent piece. Kauri gum is not soluble in water; it is easily ignited and burns with a sooty flame. It froths up strongly at the same time, and produces an aromatic-balsamic odour. In passing over places, cleared in the Kauri-woods by burning, I was always reminded of the smell of frankincense and myrrh.

It is an article of commerce which is in great demand, and principally exported to England and North America; it is used in the preparations of lac and varnish, and said to be applicable to various other branches of industry. The value of a ton of gum fluctuates between 10 and 15 pounds Sterling; sometimes it commands even a higher price. 10

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As the gathering of Kauri-gum has been hitherto an occupation limited almost exclusively to the natives, it may be taken for granted that by far the largest share of the proceeds from the sale of Kauri-gum has accrued to them alone. Within the last few years they are said to have earned not less than £16,000 during each year by gathering this gum. Even from the distant South of the Province of Auckland, from the Taupo and Rotorua district, larger and smaller Maori parties come during the summer months to the North, especially to the vicinity of Auckland, for the purpose of gathering the gum which still continues to be dug upon the fern-heaths from the surface of the earth in large quantities. But I have never heard of the gum being obtained also in the bush from the trees. The question would arise whether a resinous tar might not be easily obtained from the powerful crowns of the Kauri pines and from the resinous bark of the trees by carbonisation in tar-kilns, instead of simply burning them up, as they now do.

The New Zealand flax plant, Phormium tenax, is quite peculiar to New Zealand, the adjoining Norfolk Island and the Chatham Islands; it is found nowhere else. The flax-like fibre, prepared from the leaves by the natives, the value of which was soon observed by Europeans, constituted the first article of barter in the trade carried on by the Maoris with the Europeans. What the bamboo is to the inhabitants of eastern and southern Asia, this plant is to the natives of New Zealand. The various uses it is put to are innumerable. Near every hut, every hamlet, on every way-side its bushes, whether wild or cultivated, are at hand for use.

Phormium tenax is a flag-like plant, the sword-shaped drooping leaves of which the natives call Harakeke; the flower-stalk, bearing pink blossoms and resembling agavas, is called Korari, and each constituent part of the plant can be used for some practical purpose or other. The blossoms contain a sweet honey-juice, much liked by the children, and which the natives are wont to collect in their calabashes. One plant will produce nearly half a pint.

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At the root of the leaves is found a semi-liquid gum-like substance which serves the Maoris as a substitute for sealing-wax and glue, and is also eaten. The dried flower-stalks, the pith of which, when ignited, keeps glowing like tinder, are to the travelling Maori excellent slow-matches by means of which he is enabled continually to carry fire about him. The most different uses and benefits, however, are derived from the leaf. Green on the bush or cut, it serves the modern Maori that knows how to read and write,

Bushes of Phormium tenax.

the purpose of writing-paper; with a sharp-edged shell he engraves his thoughts upon it. Split and cut into broader or narrower strips, and bound together longer or shorter, it serves by virtue of the extraordinary tenacity of its fibre, instead of cords, ropes, straps, and all sorts of strings, lines and tows. As a universal means for binding and strapping, it is of invaluable service in New Zealand, and indispensable to the natives in the building of huts and canoes. The green strips of the leaves are plaited by the women into very

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neat baskets which at dinner serve as plates and dishes; the men manufacture lines, nets and sails of them. The natives knew also how to prepare and to dye the flax-like fibre, and thus to obtain the material for their mats and woven garments. The Weruweru, a kind of garment, was prepared out of the half-prepared leaf; the state-dress Kaitaka is interwoven with many coloured borders of the fine and carefully prepared fibre. For dyeing black, the bark of the Hinau tree (Elaeacarpus Hinau) is employed; for red, the bark of the Tawaiwai (or Tanekaha) tree (Phyllocladus trichomanoides).

The Phormium plant is widely disseminated over New Zealand from North to South, and millions of acres of land are covered with it. It grows upon any kind of soil, whether moist or dry; in any locality, whether high or low. In the Alps of the South Island, phormium bushes are met with up to a height of 5500 feet above the level of the sea. The plant, of course, varies according to the locality, and the natives distinguish by different names ten or twelf varieties, which they use for various purposes according to the quality of the fibre.

The flax plant attains its most luxuriant growth in the vicinity of swamps and rivers upon moist alluvial soil. Here the leaves grow to a length of 10 to 12 feet, and the flower-stalks to a height of 16 to 20 feet with a thickness of 2 to 3 inches. Large phormium bushes, therefore, indicate always a very fertile soil, and the natives knew very well how to cultivate the flax upon such land in the vicinity of their kaingas. But from those places the flax plant spreads on one hand into the swamps, and grows in the water, and ascends on the other hand on the dry slopes of the mountains to a very considerable height, without however attaining the above stated size. We may distinguish about three principal varieties:

1) Tuhara, swamp flax, with a coarse, yellowish-white fibre; used especially for ropes, lines etc.

2) Tihore, a cultivated variety, the best kind with a fine, silken-glossy fibre of pure white colour; used for mats and garments.

3) Wharariki, mountain flax, with coarse fibres; little used.

Experiments made to test the strength or tenacity of the New Zealand flax-fibre have shown, that it is far superior in

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tenacity to the European flax and hemp-fibre. 11 Consequently, when the great value of the New Zealand flax-plant was fully known, trials were made to acclimatize it in England and France. The attempts made, however, appear to have miscarried. It is only in botanical gardens that the plant became domesticated. It seems exceedingly surprising that, considering the immense quantities of flax yearly consumed by England, and imported principally from Russia, 12 the New Zealand flax has not long since become one of the chief articles of export from New Zealand. The cause of this is that it is extremely difficult to prepare the fibre sufficiently pure for the market, and to produce large quantities of such flax at moderate prices. It is only quite lately, that this appears to have been accomplished with complete success.

The phormium leaf, -- like the leaves and stems of other fibrous plants, such as hemp, flax, the American aloe (Agave), etc. -- consists of cellular trusses, which run out over the whole length of the leaf and are wrapped in the green substance of the plant, the so-called parenchyma. The cellular trusses in their turn consist of two parts, the wood-part and the bast-part; the bast-part constitutes the serviceable fibre. In order to obtain the latter, it is necessary to sever the parenchyma and the wood-part of the cellular trusses from the bast-part. The cellular tissue of those parts being far more easily injured, than the spindle-shaped, thick-coated and elastic bast-cells, the separation can be brought about by destroying and removing that cellular tissue either by maceration, without injuring the bast-cells, or by mechanical force. A combined process is frequently applied as in the treatment of flax, which is first exposed to a kind of putrid fermentation on the dew- or water-steep; then dried, and finally braked, swingled and combed.

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Similar operations have been tried with the phormium leaf, for the purpose of producing its excellent fibre in a pure state, and thus rendering it marketable for European commerce. The process of the natives, who use only the upper half of the leaf, -- above the point, where the two constituent parts of the leaf are sheath-like grown together, -- and only one side of it, simply consists in scraping off the parenchyma with a shell (generally Mytilus). This is a kind of work that formerly devolved on women and slaves; but which now-a-days, nobody likes to perform. In the beginning of this century there was still a chance to barter from the natives quite considerable quantities of flax prepared in said manner, and according to statistical statements the export amounted in 1828 to about 6O tons, with a value of £2600, and in 1830 already 841 tons, and in 1831 as much as 1062 tons. But since that time the export has grown less and less every year, in the last few years it scarcely amounted to more than 60 or 70 tons per annum. 13 There was no more flax to be got from the natives, and a proper method of manufacturing it at moderate prices was not yet known. Although the colonial Government, fully aware of the importance of this article of export, had set a reward of £4000 on the construction of a suitable machine for the production of the pure flax-fibre in quantities large enough for exportation, yet up to 1859 there was nobody to claim this reward. 14 It is true, there were some so-called flax factories, but their produce was inconsiderable as to quantity, and most deficient in quality.

The process employed in a small factory near Nelson, which I visited in September 1859, consisted in the following: the leaves were first boiled in lye-water; then, after having been dried and twisted together into a thick rope, they were made to pass between ribbed, wooden rollers, until the fibre was laid bare in a tolerable degree of purity. The dried and bleached produce the manufacturer sold at £25 per ton. This raw material is said to

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be principally used for stuffing matresses. A finer product could not well be furnished at the high rate of wages paid for labour.

It was not until 1860, that my friend Rev. Mr. A. G. Purchas in Onehunga near Auckland, succeeded in devising a proper method for obtaining the flax-fibre in a state of perfect purity. 15 He found, that a sudden heavy stroke upon the leaf, when spread upon the cross-section of a block of hard wood, destroys all its parts except the bast-fibre, and that consequently by a series of such strokes the fibre may be obtained quite pure. After numerous trials he succeeded, with the cooperation of Messrs. J. Ninnis and J. Steward, in constructing a machine by means of which it is possible to obtain by one single operation the pure fibre from the leaf, so that a number of leaves cut fresh from the stalk and placed in the machine on one side of it, come out on the other side in less than a minute as a pure fibre, which requires only to be dried so as to be ready for the rope-maker's use.

This machine the principle of which is exceedingly simple, but the working of which nevertheless requires great care, consists, according to the communications of my friend Rev. Mr. Purchas, of

Machine for braking flax.

two main-parts: first, of a large, solid cylinder or drum A of hard wood, revolving, and so put together that its surface all round presents the cross-section of the wood; and, secondly, of a row of long and thin iron-plates B, at the lower end of which a groove is cut. These iron-plates may be raised from nine inches to one foot, and fall by their own weight back upon the leaves, which are made to pass through between the revolving wooden cylinder and the iron pounders.

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The pounders in each row, however, must not strike all at once, because the fibre would thus be torn, but the machine must be so arranged, that they rise and fall one after another, the leaf giving way in this manner to each successive stroke. The only additional requisite is moreover, that during the whole process plenty of pure water be kept running over the leaves, thus carrying off the particles smashed.

A steam-engine of 8 horse-power is sufficient to work such a machine, consuming daily about one ton of leaves, and yielding 3 cwts. flax, since 5 to 6 cwts. green leaves average 1 cwt. pure flax-fibre.

One acre of land grown with phormium tenax is said to bear 30 to 60 tons green leaves; it is, however, not yet established as a fact, how much of this quantity can be gathered every year. Purchas is of opinion, that about one half of the leaves may be taken every year without damage to the plants. Each bush is stripped of its outer leaves; the inner ones remain standing for the following year. Upon the machine the whole leaf may be used from the thick lower end, -- which the natives formerly left unused, but which is the very part that is most easily to cleaned and contains the most fibres, -- to the top.

The samples of flax produced with the new machine, which were sent to me by my friend Purchas, leave no room for improvement as regards the purity of the fibre. The inventors have taken a patent for the whole of Now Zealand for the term of 14 years, hoping that before long the number of machines worked will be such as to render the flax a chief article of export. As the flax-machine according to experiments made with it, may be used equally well for obtaining the fibres of other fibrous plants, such as the American Aloe (Agave), the so-called Manilla hemp (Musa textilis), the Ananassa sativa, etc., its introduction into other countries might prove advantageous.

In comparison with the Phormium tenax the other fibrous plants of New Zealand are only of inferior importance. The only still noticeable plant of the kind is the Ti or Mauku of the

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natives, grass- or cabbage-tree of the colonists (Cordyline australis), which is principally met with upon fern land and in swamps. The fibre of its leaf is very much like the phormium-fibre; it is only more yellow and has neither the gloss nor the tenacity of the flax-fibre; but it is prized very highly by the natives for its durability. It is said to resist the decomposing action of the atmosphere far better than Phormium. A little coarser than the Ti fibre is the fibre of a second species of Cordyline (perhaps C. indivisa) with larger, broader leaves, which the natives call Kapu or Ti Kapu; its fibre is said to be especially suited for making cables, because it does not contract in the water as much as Phormium. Similar is the fibre of a third species, Turuki of the natives (Cordyline stricta), which grows in the bush. Mr. Probert has exhibited in London a liana Pikiarero (a species of Clematis) which is said to contain a fine silky fibre.

Appendix.

A. A list of some of the vegetable productions of New Zealand, available as food for man (extracted from A Leaf from the Natural History of New Zealand by Rich. Taylor, Wellington 1848).

Dicotyledones:

Hinau, Elaeacarpus hinau, a large timber tree, producing a berry with a hard stone. The berry is edible, but unless prepared it has a very harsh taste.

Rimu (Dacridium), Matai, Miro, Kahikatea (Species of Podocarpus) belong to the Coniferae and produce small fruits, which are much prised by the natives.

Karaka, Tawa, Kohekohe, Taraire, belonging to the Laurineae also produce eatable fruits.

Rengarenga (Tetragonia expansa) New Zeal. Spinach; it was first brought, into notice by Captain Cook, who found it useful as an antiscorbutic; the natives use it as foot.

Panapana, Hanea, Nau (Cardamine), New Zeal, cress.

Retireti, Tutaekahu (Oxalis), is a wholesome vegetable when boiled.

Kawa Kawa (Piper excelsus); the fruit is similar in shape and taste,

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before it is ripe, to the Jamaica long pepper; when fully ripe it has an agreeable flavour, the leaves are infused as tea, and when brewed, make a very refreshing beer.

Kahikatoa, Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium); the leaves of this shrub are a very common substitute for tea.

Monocotyledones:

Ti, Whanake (Cordyline); there are several varieties of this tree, all of which have long tap roots, which the natives cook; they have then a bitter sweet taste; the early Missionaries brewed beer from them; the tender shoots are also eaten.

Kiekie, Uriuri, Ori, Tiore, Patangatanga (Freycinetia), this plant is found in forests, where it sometimes runs along the ground or climbs up the trees; it bears a male and female flower. In Autumn the pistils of the female flower, which are generally three, sometimes four in number, increase in size, until they attain a length of nearly a foot and a diameter of three inches; the outer skin is rough and bitter, but when scraped off, it exposes the pulp of the fruit, which when fully ripe, is very sweet and of an agreeable flavour; this may be considered by far the finest native fruit in New Zealand. It is called New Zealand's pine-apple.

Nikau, Miko (Areca sapida), the tender shoot is eaten, either row or cooked; in the former state it has the taste of a nut.

Raupo (Typha angustifolia), in swamps; the root, Korere, is white, tender and cellular, filled with a fine mealy substance which is eaten.

Acotyledones:

Mamaku, Pitau, Korau (Cyathea medullaris) an arborescent fern; the entire stem being peeled is eaten and when cooked is very good; it is a favorite dish of the natives.

Rarauhe (Pteris esculenta), the common fern, the root of which (Aruhe) is eaten: when well beaten, roasted and deprived of its fibres, it is good eating; it is considered to be a preventive for sea sickness.

Many of the N. Z. Fungi, and most of the Algae are edible, and still occasionally used as food. The Rimu (Chondrus crispus) possesses all the properties of the Carrigeen moss.

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B. Table of the chief Timber trees of Now Zealand.

Maori name. Trivial name among the colonists. Botanical name.

Kauri... N.Z. Yellow Pine.. Dammara australis

Rimu... N.Z. Red Pine... Dacrydium cupressinum

Totara... N.Z. Mahagony Pine. Podocarpus totara

Kahikatea.. N.Z. White Pine.. " dacrydioides

Matai or Mai. N.Z. Black Pine.. " spicata

Miro.... -- -- -- -- .. " ferruginea

Tanekaha or Tawaiwai... Pitch Pine..... Phyllocladus trichomanoides

Rata.... N.Z. Oak-Elm... Metrosideros robusta

Pohutukawa. N.Z. Ash..... " tomentosa

Puriri... N.Z. Oak or Teak. (Ironwood) Vitex littoralis

Kohekohe.. N.Z. Cedar.... Hartighsea spectabilis

Rewarewa.. Honey-suckle.... Knightia excelsa

Hinau... -- -- -- --... Elaeacarpus hinau

Maire.... N. Z. Sandalwood.. Mira salicifolia.

Magnificent pieces of New Zealand cabinet-ware were produced, in the year 1861, by Mr. Seyfert in Auckland, an immigrant joiner from Vienna for the London exhibition.