286 



AUSTRALIAN TIMBER SUPPLIES. 



[Feb. 



Colonel Ward, E.E., made official tests of seventy native woods at 

 the Mint, Sydney, in 1861, reporting that for strength, durability, 

 and elasticity, many of the woods were superior to the ash, the oak, 

 and the best woods of Great Britain. Specimens of the flooded 

 gum taken from a steamer built of it, and plying incessantly 

 for twenty years, were sound throughout. Amongst the other 

 notable woods of the colony may be mentioned the black ironbark 

 {^Eucalyptus Icucoxylon), useful to the coachmaker, wheelwright, and 

 coachbuilder ; the blackwood {Acacia mela7ioxylon), magnificently 

 adapted for cabinet work, as is also the tulipwood {Harimlia 

 pendula). Boat-builders again distinguish the honeysuckle {BanJcsm 

 serrata) as not likely to split with nailing. It is used for veneers, 

 etc., and would make good furniture. The wood is of a dark-red 

 colour, taking a good polish. The following table was furnished 

 to Mr. Simmonds by a Sydney shipbuilder of long experience, 

 embracing in it the cases of vessels sailing from fifteen to thirty 

 years, whose hulls, made of colonial hardwood, were as sound as 

 ever : — 



Irrespective of the immense home consumption in Queensland, 

 there is a large export trade, ranging in value from £30,000 to 

 £60,000. Already the Government have seen it necessary to pass 



