TASMANIAN TIMBEES. 49 



IDENTIFICATION OP TIMBER. 



As before mentioned, the/ identification and differentiation 

 of the above-mentioned timbers, if not absolutely impossible, 

 requires a lifelong acquaintance with the subject. The 

 present botanical classification is not exact ; each name may- 

 be said to cover several closely-allied varieties, rather than 

 one specific kind. The bushman and the man who lives 

 amongst timber would scout the idea of Gum-topped Stringy 

 Bark being called a Peppermint; but Peppermint is a divi- 

 sion to which this tree comes nearest botanically. Then 

 trees, acknowledged to be of exactly the same kind, will 

 produce very different timber, according to where they grow. 

 For instance, upon a rocky eminence or in a sheltered river- 

 bottom, the timber will differ in texture, in colour, in dura- 

 bility, and in weight, according to soil and situation. 



Then, as to durability. Timber cut when the sap is in 

 full flow will shrink and warp to a very much greater ex- 

 tent than that which is cut when the tree, either through 

 cold weather or from drought, is in a dormant stage; it 

 will also decay more readily. 



Of course, when a mill has to be kept cutting logs, it is 

 difficult to arrange all the felling at the most suitable time 

 of the year ; but if the tree is ring-barked six months be- 

 fore it is letlecl, the timber got out of it will be of a better 

 quality than that taken from a tree in full growth. Young 

 and free-gr«j'vn trees will give a very different class of tim- 

 ber to that got from a slow-growing tree of the same class. 

 To these difficulties must be added the fact that timber from 

 all the varieties of trees before-named is put upon the 

 market as '' Tasmanian Hardwood," and from the descrip- 

 tions of the various sorts given, and from the specific 

 gravities and strengths shown in the accompanying tables, 

 it will be seen that the terms " Hardwood," " Gum," or 

 " Eucalyptus Timber " are not terms under which timber 

 for any special purpose should be bought. 



