Reporter Reads: Tung Nut Scheme Not Quite the Good Oil

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Podcast

Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his recent article on the boom-and-bust world of tung nut oil in 1930s Northland.

Tung Nuts in Aotearoa New Zealand

The economic potential of the tung tree, whose seeds produce an oil that has been used by the Chinese as a natural varnish for 2,500 years, was identified and promoted in parts of the North Island in the 1930s as a sure-fire investment.

Its future, however, appears to have been cut short by climate, mismanagement, and the dire impacts of the Great Depression.

For Kerikeri resident, Jack Kemp, the tung nut collapse in the 1930s is personal. One of his great aunts – Daisy Herd – invested in the fledgling tung oil industry and felt firsthand the ‘tung lashing’ that happened when the whole scheme collapsed.

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here.