New Zealand - Kauri Gum Industry - A group of Dalmatian gum diggers on Port Albert gum field, 1909 or 1910. This field later became the recreation ground. Note apple fields in the distance. Apple growing had been important in Port Albert for three decades. #602643 - Dalmatian migrants were particularly prominent in the kauri gum extraction. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dargaville) - The history of the Dalmatian people has brought changes to their name, and to their country - In the 1880s when the first Dalmatians came to New Zealand, the Austro-Hungarian empire ruled Dalmatia, which is on the Adriatic coast of the Mediterranean. This is why they were often mistakenly called ‘Austrians’ in New Zealand. - After Austria-Hungary was defeated in the First World War, Dalmatia was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1929 this was renamed Yugoslavia. - In the early 1990s, the wars in the Balkans tore Yugoslavia apart. Eventually Dalmatia became part of the new country of Croatia. - Immigrants from this part of Europe have been known not only as Dalmatians but also as Yugoslavs and Croatians. (https://teara.govt.nz/en/dalmatians/page-1) - Kauri gum is a fossilised resin extracted from kauri trees (Agathis australis), which is made into crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, before Māori and European settlers caused deforestation, causing several areas to revert to sand dunes, scrubs, and swamps. Even afterward, ancient kauri fields continued to provide a source for the gum and the remaining forests. - The Māori had many uses for the gum, which they called kapia. Fresh gum was used as a type of chewing gum (older gum was softened by soaking and mixing with juice of the puha thistle). Highly flammable, the gum was also used as a fire-starter, or bound in flax to act as a torch. Burnt and mixed with animal fat, it made a dark pigment for moko tattooing. Kauri gum was also crafted into jewellery, keepsakes, and small decorative items. Like amber, kauri gum sometimes includes insects and plant material. - Kauri gum was used commercially in varnish, and can be considered a type of copal (the name given to resin used in such a way). Kauri gum was found to be particularly good for this, and from the mid-1840s was exported to London and America. Tentative exports had begun a few years earlier, however, for use in marine glue and as fire-kindlers; gum had even made up part of an export cargo to Australia in 1814. - Since the kauri gum was found to mix more easily with linseed oil, at lower temperatures, than other resins, by the 1890s, 70 percent of all oil varnishes made in England used kauri gum. It was used to a limited extent in paints during the late 19th century, and from 1910 was used extensively in the manufacture of linoleum. From the 1930s, the market for gum dropped as synthetic alternatives were found, but there remained niche uses for the gum in jewellery and specialist high-grade varnish for violins. - Kauri gum was Auckland's main export in the second half of the 19th century, sustaining much of the early growth of the city. Between 1850 and 1950, 450,000 tons of gum were exported. The peak in the gum market was 1899, with 11,116 tons exported that year, with a value of £600,000 ($989,700). The average annual export was over 5,000 tons, with the average price gained £63 ($103.91) per ton. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauri_gum) Tall spars, steamers & gum - The 'mighty Kaipara' Harbour and its hinterland is now a quiet, almost forgotten part of New Zealand, visited occasionally by probably only a small proportion of the million people of Auckland living less than an hour's drive down State Highway 16 from Helensville. - In its heyday though, the 30-year period from 1876 to 1906, the Kaipara was the leading timber export port of New Zealand and a vital contributor to the young colony's economy. The hills rang to the sound of axes and saws as settlers, local Maori and itinerant bushmen plundered the kauri forests for the golden timber that helped build cities like Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne. The waters of this immense harbour, one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, were crowded with the tall spars of sailing ships laden with timber and steamers ferrying passengers from the distant reaches of the Kaipara. - Timber was not the only magnet drawing people into the region. Over thousands of years, ancient kauri had given up another treasure in the form of solid resin gum, which found a commercial use in the second half of the 19th century, particularly in the varnish and linoleum industries. Diggers from many countries converged on the Kaipara at this time to prowl its valleys and lowlands, seeking at first nuggets scattered on the ground. When those supplies dwindled, the diggers returned armed with spades and steel spears which they used to locate the buried nuggets of gum. - The region's social life is recounted and discussed against a background of changing economic realities and sporadic provincial and central government interest. Tall Spars, Steamers and Gum is a colorful account of the Kaipara's golden era and beyond to 1947, when the harbour was closed as a port of entry. This is an engaging and readable history, generously illustrated with maps and photographs of the good old days. Author: Wayne Ryburn ISBN: 0-473-06176-7 Click the link provided at the top to purchase the book through the MAD on New Zealand Shop - Supporting New Zealand Authors and Artists