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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 10 (February 1, 1930)

Less Foreign Timber

Less Foreign Timber.

“An approximate analysis of the two million feet to be used annually at the Otahuhu workshops indicates that without kilns it will include 350,000 feet of imported hardwoods. With kilns that figure will fall to 100,000 feet. Without kilns the requirement of scarce and costly kauri will be 500,000 feet, and rimu 600,000 feet, but with the kilns kauri can be reduced to 100,000 feet, while rimu will be increased to 1,000,000 feet. As rimu is the timber in principal production in New Zealand, and a timber intimately wrapped up with the non-heart problem, these figures are very informative, and will, I think, be widely noticed and appreciated.

“Continuing the comparison, the use of kilns will, it is estimated, increase the use of totara from 150,000 feet to 200,000 feet, increase matai from 100,000 to 200,000 feet, and will reduce the quantity of imported timber to a corresponding extent, as kiln-drying should make not only for greater utilisation of the non-heart portion of the tree, but also the greater utilisation on the varieties of trees in a native forest. Some New Zealand timbers are not suitable for the Railway Department's purposes when air-seasoned, but become so when kiln-dried.