APRit I, 1887.] IHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



sesssaas 



SOME OF OUR COLONIAL WOODS. 



BY ALLEN KANSOME. 



Cevlon. 

 With the exception of satin wood, which is already 

 well known in the English market, none of the timbers 

 of Ceylon are likely to find a sale in this country, 

 for although there are many varieties, which from 

 their fine figure, and diversity of colour, are adapted 

 for ornamental furniture and cabinet work, they are, 

 "enerally speaking, of small growth, and are not found 

 fn suflicient quantities to be advantageously imported 

 into England. Moreover, some of the larger descrip- 

 tions of trees which are worked up by natives of the 

 colony, contain a great quantity of very fine grit, 

 which quickly blunts the tools, and would render them 

 very costly to work at the high wages paid to our 

 skilled workmen. For the reasons just mentioned, I 

 do not propose to describe further such Ceylon timbers 

 as were submitted for trial. 



Victoria. 



Blackwood (Acacia melanoxyJoH). — This wood is 

 higly prized in the colony. Being close-grained, heavy, 

 strong, and flexible, beautifully marked, and richly- 

 coloured, it is much used by cabinet-makers, coach- 

 builders, coopers, and by railway carriage and agricul- 

 tural implement makers. Samples of both old and 

 young trees were sent for trial; the former were 

 made into joiners' specimens, the latter into casks. 

 The figure of the old growth wood was very fine, and 

 the surface left by the cutters all that could be de- 

 sired. The casks also proved a complete success. It 

 is stated that timber of from ten to twenty years' 

 growth is the most suitable for coopers' work, and 

 as the tree is readily propagated, the supply could 

 be made to keep the pace with the demand for this 

 purpose. Large quantities of this timber are found 

 in Tasmania as well as Victoria. The wood, which 

 seasons well, has already being imported into England 

 in small quantities, and sold at the docks at from 

 28. to 3s. per cubic foot, at which prices it would 

 certainly be worth while to import it much more 

 largely. 



Blue Gum (EiwalT/ptus ylohulus). — This is a hard 

 light-coloured timber of great strength, tenacity and 

 durability. The tree, which is found in Tasmania as 

 well as Victoria, attains a colossal size. By way of 

 testing the samples sent, a sleeper was adzed and 

 bored, and a panel planed. Both experiments proved 

 very satisfactory, the latter especially so, as the wood 

 was found to plane as well against the grain as with 

 it. Being plentiful, it is largely used in the colony 

 for beams and joists in buildings, and also for railway 

 sleepers, piers, and bridges. 



Red Own (Eucalyptus rostrata). — This is a very 

 hard, compact wood, of a reddish-brown colour, and 

 is found throughout the colony, along river flats and 

 open valleys. It is largely used for fencing posts, and 

 is well adapted for engineering works and buildings 

 when required to withstand a vertical pres.iure, al- 

 though, on account of its short grain, it is not con- 

 sidered trustworthy to support a heavy transverse 

 strain. It has the reputation of being the best of 

 all the gums for railway sleepers, being almost in- 

 destructible in damp soil. 



SotTTH Australia. 

 Blue Cruin{Evcalyptuslencoxylon). — This wood, which 

 is also found in the colony of Victoria, where it is known 

 by the name of "iron bark," is considered one of the 

 most valuable woods in the colony, the trees growing 

 to a height of 100 ft., with an average diameter of 

 ;ii ft. It pos!5esses great strength and tenacity, and 

 has a close and straight grain, on which account it is 

 largely used by the coachmaker and wheelwright for 

 shafts and spokes. It is also extensively used for 

 railways sleepi-rs and piles. 



The ^xperimtiuts on this wood were in every case 

 moat satisfactory. 



Western Australia. 

 Farrah (Euciili/ptus viurc/inata.)— This timber abounds 

 iu the i-outh-Wt stern portions of the colony, and the 

 htt-ii grows on the iron-stone conglomerate bills, the 



finest quality being, as a rule, found at the highest 

 elevations. Stems have been found measuring &a 

 much as 80 ft. to the first branch, with a circum- 

 stance of '62 ft., a height of 5 ft. from the ground. 

 Visitors to the Colonial Exhibition cannot fail to 

 have observed a fine log of this timber, 5 ft. in 

 diameter, which, with its polished end, of a deep 

 claret colour, was quite a centre of attraction in the 

 Western Australian Court. 



The jarrah timber is hard, touch, and durable, 

 and being proaf against the ravages of the teredo, 

 and white ant, it is highly esteemed for piles, dock- 

 work, and ship-building purposes, as well as for rail- 

 way sleepers and building constructions. 



To retain the valuable properties of the jarrah 

 rejuires a somewhat special process of seasoning! 

 and it is above all important that it should not be 

 felled during the rainy season. 



The system of seasoning jarrah, which is found 

 to give the best results, is as follows : — About four 

 or five weeks before the tree is to be felled, it is 

 girdled ; thus effectually preventing any fresh sap 

 from rising, and as the leaves continue to draw the 

 sap out of the tree it becomes partially seasoned 

 before it is cut down , as much as 3 lb. of water 

 per cubic foot, being extracted from the standing 

 log in this manner- When the leaves have withered 

 the tree is felled, and at once removed to the saw 

 mill, where it is converted into .scantlings or boards 

 of the sizes required, which are then stacked, and 

 entirely covered with saw-dust until properly seasoned. 

 If not treated as above described, jarrah will re- 

 main imperfectly seasoned for many years, and if 

 the heart is allowed to remain in the log, it cracks 

 and splits to such an extent as to render it almost 

 useless, while, on the other hand, if seasoned and 

 converted in the above manner, it yields very sound 

 boards and scantlings. 



A portion of a jarrah pile which was taken out of 

 Perth Bridge, over the River Swan, after having been 

 for 35 years and 9 months between wind and water, 

 was exhibited, and shows no sign of decay, nor trace 

 of the ravages of the teredo ; and a short piece of 

 saroe wood, also exhibited, which has served as a 

 tram-rail on the jetty at Bussleton for 42 years, shows 

 how very little it has sufi'ered from the constant wear 

 of the wheels upon it during that period. 



Jarrah is frequently very handsomely figured, being 

 shaded, or mottled with dark waves and veins, and not- 

 withstanding its density and hardness, it is easily 

 worked by machinery. It takes a very fine polish, 

 and might be used to advantage for shop front fittings 

 counter-tops, and cabinet work. Its greatest uses, how- 

 ever, will undoubtedly be for sleepers and piles for 

 harbour work, and as it can be imported and sold in 

 thi.s country for £6 per load of 50 cubic feet, it will 

 probably, when better known, to a great extent super- 

 sede greenheart for dock gates, and other work for 

 which the latter is now generally employed. 



Karri [Eucaylptus divcrsiculor) — This timber also 

 grows in great abundance in the south-west portion of 

 Western Australia, and when sawn up and partially 

 seasoned, so closely resembles jarrah in appearance, 

 that anyone not conversant with both timbers, 

 would find it difficult to tell them from one 

 another, although in many points they differ materially. 

 The karri grows to an enormous size, some trees being 

 no less than 300 ft. in height by 60 ft. in circum- 

 ference. 



Energetic steps are now being taken to introduce 

 both karri and jarrah largely into this country, .nnd 

 those interested in karri claim for it all the attributes 

 and advantages of jarrah, and it must be admitted 

 that it stands a great transverse strain than that wood ; 

 but while its suitability for internal work is well 

 established, it is open to question whether it will last 

 as long as jarrah in coatact with the ground, or for 

 marine structures. 



Karri timber, iu the shape of squared logs, flitches, 

 and planks of various sizes, can now be bought 

 at the docks at from £7 to £S per loa«| of ;"() mh'w 

 feet, 



