Dec.,1 Hardy, The Forests of Victoria. i i < 



1915 J J J 



the mills is cut and dried in huge sheltered stacks half a mile 

 long, and weighing from 10,000 to 15,000 tons, then turned by 

 means of retorts into charcoal, pyroligneous acid, and gas. 

 The pyroligneous acid is separated into water, acetic acid, 

 wood spirit, tar and creosote oils, &c. Methyl alcohol is pro- 

 duced for the manufacture of formalin, and acetone for cordite. 



In the oil industry several species of eucalyptus are used, 

 but chiefly the Narrow-leaved Peppermint, the Broad-leaved 

 Peppermint, Red Ironbark, and Blue Mallee, the chief centres 

 being in the Ingle wood, Bendigo, and Trentham districts. Crude 

 eucalyptus oil — which is obtained by steam forced through the 

 leaves in stills — is a complex mixture from which, by further 

 distillation, the chemist extracts the constituents at pleasure, 

 through his knowledge of the various boiling-points. That 

 these constituents have different volatility is easily demon- 

 strated by putting a few drops of an oil on a handkerchief and 

 noticing the pungent, fresh smell and the still strong and 

 aromatic but less pungent stale or after-smell. The species 

 which yields the most does not necessarily yield the best oil. 

 The following and perhaps extreme limits, resulting from many 

 tests, I take from Baker and Smith's work : — Eucalyptus 

 amygdalina, 3.4 per cent., or 33 lbs. per 1,000 lbs. leaves ; 

 E. rubida, .008 per cent., or 1 lb. per 1,000 ; while the Broad- 

 leaved (Blue-leaf) Peppermint, E. dives, reaches 2 per cent., or 

 even 3 per cent., of crude oil. 



Two typical seasoning works may be mentioned, one being 

 a State enterprise and the other a private concern. The State 

 seasoning works at Newport were started a few years ago by 

 Mr. Mackay, in order that the Forests Department, aware of 

 the excellent timber available, could guarantee, almost un- 

 shrinkable flooring-boards of mountain hardwoods for public 

 buildings, the best raw material only being used. The heal 

 of the drying chambers is supplied by steam radiators. The 

 Victorian Hardwoods and Sawmilling Co. carry on their 

 " powellizing " of timber (taken from the forests of the Upper 

 Latrobe and sources of the Little Yarra) at Powelltmvn, which 

 is reached from Yarra Junction, on the Warburton line, by 

 means of a private narrow-gauge railway of about to miles 

 in length. There the timber is sawn and impregnated with a 

 saccharine liquid in which other chemicals are employed, this 

 scheme being to substitute the artificially prepared substance 

 for the saj) and protoplasm which, decaying in situ, tend to 

 pave the way for bacterial and fungal attacks. The timber 

 treated at the State works is mainly Mountain Ash, Yellow 

 Stringybark. and Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon ; at the 

 Powelltown works the chief species used is Mountain Ash, 

 E. regnans. 



