Arthur Douglas Turner was one of the old forest hands and it is fair to
say that he served his apprenticeship and was one of the workers who could usually
be relied upon.
Mathieson’s owned the sheeprun country behind the forest and Doug
negotiated with them for the right to cut some of the Manuka trees that grew on
the saddle leading to Government Hill on the forest boundary.
Mathieson’s were happy for Doug to cut the small trees, because the
cleared ground would provide more grazing and as far as Doug was concerned it
was reasonably easy cutting due to the moderate slope and access.
Doug cut several cord in long lengths and stacked nicely to dry for
later cutting to size..
Far below from where Doug had cut his firewood, there was a gulley
locally known as Tiger's – so
named because of the difficult terrain. Unlike the rest of
Mathieson’s run, Tiger's Gully was mainly tussock land with patches of gorse and
for fire safety/security reasons Henry and his team used to regularly burn the
area and the resulting green regrowth provided better fodder for sheep as
well as a good firebreak.
One suitable day Henry decided to burn off Tiger’s Gulley and all
of the team, including Doug were down in the gully to light up the small patches
of gorse. When they returned to the top of the ridge, Doug's firewood was well
ablaze and too far gone to warrant putting it out. A random spark must have
landed on the dry, flakey bark.
This was a considerable loss to old Doug - probably a month's worth of
weekend work up in smoke! Had it been Henry’s own, he would have been properly
miffed! Naturally, Doug was not at all happy, but he did not rant or blame anyone
for his loss. Good on him!
..--..
Now, beneath a different hat, some information about the trees that
produce Manuka honey and Ti Tree oil, which are products now valued worldwide.
Manuka Leptospermum scoparium has
in the past been a popular, traditional firewood, but really, these days the
tree is far too valuable to cut down!
The species of often called Tea Tree, or Ti Tree – it is said Capt. Cook
brewed tea from the leaves and the Maori called it Ti as well as the more often
used, Manuka, so take your pick it. It is not to be confused with the Tea Tree
of Australia, which is a Melaleuca species the oil from which is well
known and cures ailments from tinea to dandruff.
Manuka is best known for its honey which has attributes that other honeys
do not have. For example it aids healing and has an antibiotic effect when
applied to wounds.
Manuka and Kanuka have similar foliage, but Manuka can best be
identified by its seed capsules which are about 4mm in diameter with an x on
the top.
We were taught that Manuka is a 'colonizing' species and while that is
true, Manuka can be found in more areas than just forest margins.
The closely related Kanuka on the other hand used to be called Leptospermum
ericoides, but botanists changed the name to Kunzea ericoides, it’s seed
capsules are much smaller than those of Manuka.
Kanuka can be a forest tree and will grow to 10m or more. The heartwood
is dark and I know of one guy who milled the trees on his property and made
salt and pepper shakers from the wood as a business enterprise.
Again the firewood was much sought after by previous generations, but the
tree is too valuable to cut and from a conservation point of view the tree is
best left standing
Kanuka honey is pretty much the same as Manuka, and the two honeys can
become mixed by the bees to produce a generic Manuka honey - the attributes of
both species are similar so it is of no issue if they are mixed.
Oil can be extracted from Manuka and it is as useful at the very least
as Australian Tea Tree oil, but it is not as easily procured.
It does not matter if the honey is Manuka or Kanuka - it is a health
food and very tasty on your toast. Good clover honey may well more traditional
and has great flavour, but good old Manuka/Kanuka can't be beaten - worldwide.
Look out for it.
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