Fiji Kauri Gum

New Industry In Suva

r'.E preparation of kauri gum for ex port to America and Australia is a little industry that has been estab lished in Suva, of which few of the public are aware, says the “Fiji Times”.

The natural gum is brought in by na tives, who procure it by digging in the surface soil around the kauri trees, or tapping the sap streams —a process call ed bleeding. This the majority of them do indiscriminately, not observing the golden rule of tapping on opposite sides in alternate years. The continual tap ping down one side of the tree causes deterioration and will ultimately lead to the death of the kauri.

The gum is collected in Suva, dried, graded and shipped to the United States and Australia for use in varnishes, toilet soaps, linoleums, etc.

The Fiji product is not nearly as good as the New Zealand kauri gum. The trees are similar: but the gum-diggers in Auckland go much deeper than do the natives in Fiji, and the gum they get is of much better colour and texture.

There are kauri forests, also, in New Caledonia and the Southern Solomons: and a search therein by skilled men should disclose deposits of this valuable material.