The San Francisco call., 1908-10-25
new ZEALAND HAS
HARDWOOD TIMBER
Tests OF Trees at University of
California Show Strength
Like Oak

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24.-Far off New
Zealand is the latest country to which
forest experts have turned in seeking
substitutes for the valuable American
woods used by the furniture cooperage,
implement and similar wood using in
dustries.
Manufacturers in this country have
been facing a constantly decreasing
supply of available hardwood timber
for number of years and the time is
already at hand when efforts must be
made to look to the preservation of
the American species most in demand
and to scour foreign lands for trees
which may prove valuable as substi-
tuteS.
Seven different New Zealand hard
wood trees have just been put through
a series of tests by the United States
forest service in cooperation with the
University of California in the timber
testing laboratory at Berkeley. The
trees showed up remarkably well in
comparison with white oak, which is
one of the strongest woods in the Unit
ed States, developing under test when
in an air dry condition crushing
strength of $500 pounds per square
inch and bending strength of 1900
pounds per square inch.
Four of the seven New Zealand
woods tested developed a bending
strength even greater than white oak
and three of the woods showed a
greater crushing strength The New
Zealand woods found to have bend
ing strength as high or higher than
oak were the black maire, natal, puriri
and silver pine, while the first three
of these have in addition developed a.
greater crushing strength than oak.
n of flaf ff~.re Ct, \, lf
woods is given in the technical report,
which shows that with white oak at
loo the compressive or crushing
strength of the New Zealand woods is
as follows: Black maire, LIS; natal,
LOS, and puriri, 1.21. The woods which
developed an equal or greater bending
strength are as follows: Natal, 1.22;
silver pine, LOO; puriri, 1.41, and black
maire, 1.56. The last figure shows that
this wood has more than one and a
half times the bending strength of oak.
The woods tested which fell below
the strength of oak (1.0O) were rimu,
.6S for compression or crushing strength
and .S6 for bending; kauri, 10 for COM
and "a for bending. and to-
tara, 81 for compression and 10 for
bending. The showing even for the last
three woods is not bad when it is con-
sidered that the comparison is made
with clear, straight grained white oak.
2 These strength tests of seven of New
Zealand's most valuable timbers may
prove of the greatest benefit to certain
American manufacturing interests if
experiment shows that the woods can
be introduced into this country and
planted with the same success as the
eucalyptus of New Zealand and. Aus
tralia, or if it is found that the islands
have enough of the various species to
import a little to this country.
The United States will not be able to
depend on imports to any great extent,
for wood users realize that there is an
approaching shortage of timber in
other countries as well as this and each
nation must cultivate and protect its
own forests. 1t is therefore likely that
experiments will be made with
many of the valuable foreign woods, in
view of the success made with the
eucalypts in California.
American hardwoods are in a con-
stantly decreasing supply, and if for
eign trees are found to meet the same
uses to which white oak and hickory
are put it will afford an opportunity to
replenish the native supply by well di-
rected planting. The hardwoods prac-
tically all grow in the eastern and CEN
trail western states, where there are no
forests, although plan has
been proposed a number of times fer
their establishment in the White noun
tains of New England and the Appa-
lachians in the south. For the present
the protection and conservation of the
country's hardwood resources depend
upon the individuals and corporations
which own the land