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Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees ( Agathis australis), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, before early settlers caused the forests to retreat, causing several areas to revert to weeds, scrubland, and swamps. Even afterwards, ancient kauri fields and the remaining forests continued to provide a source for the gum.Hayward, pp 4–5 Between 1820 and 1900, over 90% of Kauri forests were Logging or burnt by Europeans.
Kauri gum forms when resin from kauri trees leaks out through fractures or cracks in the bark, hardening upon exposure to air. Lumps commonly fall to the ground and can be covered with soil and forest litter, eventually . Other lumps form as branches forked or trees are damaged, releasing the resin.Hayward, p 2
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 particularly useful for this, and from the mid-1840s was exported to London and America. Tentative exports had begun a few years earlier, for use in marine glue and as fire-kindlers; gum was part of an export cargo to Australia in 1814.
Since kauri gum would mix more easily with linseed oil at lower temperatures, by the 1890s 70% of all oil varnishes made in England used kauri gum.Hayward, p 45 It was used to a limited extent in paints during the late 19th century, and from 1910 was used extensively in manufacturing 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 .
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 Pound sign600,000 ($989,700 US).Hayward, p 46Dunmore, p 21 The average annual export was over 5,000 tons, with the average price gained £63 ($103.91 US) per ton.Reed, p 114
By 1850, most of the surface gum had been harvested, and people began digging for it. The hillsides yielded shallow-buried gum (about 1 m), but in swamps and beaches it was buried much deeper (4 m or below).
Gum-diggers worked in the old kauri fields, most of which were then covered by swamp or scrub, digging for gum. Much of the population was transient, moving from field to field, and they lived in rough huts or tents (which were called "", after the Maori for 'house'). It was extremely hard work and not well paid, but it attracted many Maori and European settlers, including women and children. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Gumdigging There were many , who had first come to work the South Island goldfields in the 1860s. Te Ara Encyclopedia of NZ: Damaltians They were transient workers, rather than settlers, and much of their income was sent out of the country, resulting in resentment from the local workforce. In 1898, the "Kauri Gum Industry Act" was passed, which reserved gum-grounds for British subjects, and requiring all other diggers to be licensed. By 1910, only British subjects could hold gum-digging licences. Te Ara Encyclopedia of NZ: Dalmatians: Gumdiggers
Gum-digging was the major source of income for settlers in North Auckland, and farmers often worked the gumfields in the winter months to subsidise the poor income from their unbroken land. By the 1890s, 20,000 people were engaged in gum-digging, of which 7000 worked full-time.Hayward, p 47 Gum-digging was not restricted to settlers or workers in the rural areas; Auckland families would cross the Waitematā Harbour by ferry at weekends to dig in the fields around Birkenhead, causing damage to public roads and private farms, and leading to local council management of the problem.McClure, p 55-6
Digging in swamps was more complicated. A longer spear (up to 8m) was often used, often fitted with a hooked end to scoop out the lumps. Scrub was often cleared first with fire; some became uncontrolled and swamp fires could burn for weeks.Hayward, pp 10–11 Holes were often dug by teams in both hills and swamps—often up to 12m deep—and some wetlands were drained to aid in the excavation of gum.Hayward, pp 12–13 As field gum became scarce, "bush gum" was obtained by purposely cutting the bark of kauri trees and returning months later to retrieve the hardened resin. Due to the damage caused to the trees by the cutting the practice was banned in state forests in 1905. Gum chips, small lumps useful for the manufacture of linoleum, were difficult to find. By 1910, the process of washing and sieving to retrieve the chips became common. The process was later mechanised.Hayward, p 27
As early as the 1830s and 1840s, merchants, including Gilbert Mair and Logan Campbell, were buying gum from local Māori for £5 ($8.25) a ton or trading it for goods. The majority of the gum was exported to America and London (from whence it was distributed throughout Europe), although smaller amounts were sent to Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Russia.Hayward, p 44
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