Doug loses his Manuka Firewood!

Arthur Douglas Turner was one of the old forest hands and it if fair to say that he served his time and was one of the workers who could be relied upon.

Mathiesons  owned the run country behind the forest and Doug negotiated with them for the right to cut some of the Manuka scrub the grew on the saddle leading to Government Hill.

Mathiesons were happy for Doug to cut the small trees because it would afford them more grazing. And as far as Doug was concerned it was reasonably easy cutting because it was on very moderate slope and access was good.

Doug cut several cord of wood and left it stacked to dry.

Far below where Doug had cut his firewood, there was a gulley locally known as Tiger's. Unlike some other areas of Mathiesons, Tiger's Gully was tussock land and for fire safety/security reasons we used to regularly burn the area and the regrowth was better fodder for  sheep.

This day we lit the area and  all of us were down in the gully burning off small areas. When we returned, Doug's firewood was well ablaze and too far gone to warrant putting it out.

This was a huge loss to poor old Doug - probably a month's worth of weekend's work! Had have been mine, I would have been properly miffed! Of course Doug was not at all happy, but he did not rant or blame us for his loss. Good on him.

Manuka [Leptospermum] is still a popular firewood, but the tree is really too useful to cut down!

While the common name may be Ti Tree, or Tea Tree, it is not to be confused with the Ti Tree of Australia, which is the Melaleuca species the oil from which is well known and useful.

Manuka is best know for its honey which has attributes that others honey do not have. (it is more tricky to extract though) For example it aids healing when applied to wounds.

Manuka can best be identified by its seed pods which are about 4mm in diameter.                                        

We were taught that Manuka was a 'colonizing' species and while that is true, Manuka can be found in more areas than just forest margins.

Kanuka on the other hand used to be called Leptospermum ericoides, but the name has changed to Kunzea ericoides and in some areas the difference between Kanuka and Manuka is difficult - but the seed pods of Kanuka are much smaller.

Kanuka though can be a forest tree and can grow up to 10m or more. The heartwood is dark and I know of one guy who made salt and pepper shakers from the wood.

Still it is great firewood, but again the tree is too valuable to cut down.

Kanuka is on the left and Manuka on the right.

I know Kanuka honey is available, but generally Manuka and Kanuka honey are mixed to produce Manuka honey and the attributes of both species are similar.

Oil is extracted from Manuka and it is as useful at least as the Australian type.

It does not matter if the honey is Manuka or Kanuka - it is a health food and very nice on your toast. Good clover honey may well have the flavor, but Manuka/Kanuka can't be beaten - worldwide.