46 TASMANIAN TIMHERS. 



will wear out two sets of the Deal or Beech blocks which 

 are largely used in European cities. 



Stringy Bark is evenly hard all through, the annual rings 

 of growth not being so well defined as in Fir timber, and 

 there are no alternate layers of soft spongy wood to absorb 

 moisture. Stringy Bark blocks do not polish under traffic, 

 but give a good foothold for horses. The mode of laying 

 found most successful in Australia is, first, to form a solid 

 concrete foundation, accurately rendered, to the camber and 

 incline of the roadway; second, to dip the blocks in boiling 

 gas-tar, drain them, and again dip and drain ; third, to 

 bed the blocks, end grain up, close together, in hot pitch 

 and tar, grouting as the work proceeds with hot tar, pitch, 

 and sand ; fourth, to pay the surface with a good coat of 

 hot tar and pitch, with plenty of hot, coarse sand, sprinkled 

 as the work is payed. An expansive joint is usually left 

 between the blocking and the kerb. Stringy Bark blocks 

 laid as above will last under heavy traffic from fourteen to 

 twenty years. The Stringy Bark paving of the roadways 

 of the Hobart Market building, laid in 1853, are still doing 

 duty. 



PEPPERMINT {Eucalyptus amygdalina). 



This variety is called amygdalina from its almond-like 

 leaves, and peppermint from the scent of the leaves, which 

 contain a larger percentage of essential oil than those of any 

 other Tasn>anian Gum. This division of the Eucalyptus 

 family produces several very different classes of timber; 

 one variety, growing upon dry ridges and reaching a height 

 of one hundred feet, with two to three feet of diameter, 

 supplies the most durable wood of any of the Gums in the 

 State. It is especially used for sinking in the ground, or 

 for shingles; and fence posts, in districts where it can be 

 obtained, are always specified to be of Peppennint. The 

 wood is more of a brown red than the Blue Gum and 

 Stringy Bark. 



