TASMANIAN TIMBERS. 



beams, flaor-boards ; wheelwrights' work, for naves, shafts, 

 swingletreee, felloes, spokes, and body work. It is very 

 durable, both in the water — especially searwater — and in the 

 air. 



In the Exhibition held in Hob art, in 1894, amongst the 

 Government exhibits was a sample of bridge-decking that 

 had been about fifty years under foot-traffic, and which was 

 still hard and sound. A timber also was shown which 

 formed part of the original Bridgewater Ferry punt, built 

 in 1818. The punt had been destroyed by blasting about 

 fifty years before, and the wreck had been lying on the 

 foreshore, between high and low water mark, and where 

 there is Teredo, ever since. This timber, when cut out and 

 planed in 1894, showed no sign of decay, and beyond being 

 stained by the iron fastenings the wood was absolutely 

 fresh. At the same Exhibition were shown bent shafts, 

 turned naves, spokes, and hammer-handles, all cut from 

 Blue Gum timber. 



In Tasmania the rainfall of different districts varies from 

 twenty to sixty inches per annum; the Government Rail- 

 ways are ballasted with gravel, and on these railways Blue 

 Gum sleepers six feet six by nine inches by five inches have 

 an average life of fourteen years. 



The life of the wharf-piling in Hobart is reported to be 

 twenty-five years. These piles) are up to eighty feet in 

 length, and are driven in forty feet of sea-water, where they 

 are subject to the attacks of the Teredo. The oldest wharf 

 now in use was erected in 1868, and has stood till now 

 (1902) without renewal. The waggon ferry-steamer plying 

 across Hobart Harbour, built of Blue gum, has been run- 

 ning about fifty years without any repair or caulking to the 

 hull. 



Throughout the country there are several small factories, 

 where the essential oil is extracted from the leaves. This 

 oil is exported for medicinal use and for varnish to various 

 parts of the world, and is probably the only example in 

 which what may be termed the " by-product '' of a tree is 



