172 NEW SOUTH WALES. 



wliicli it lias been subjected, but because holes liave been made in the 

 sleeper by the renewal of bolts and spikes. Sleepers which have 

 borne the heaviest traffic of the main line near Sydney for twenty-five 

 years are now as sound as the day they were laid. While by no means 

 a scarce timber, it is in such active local demand (particularly for 

 railway purposes), that it would appear not to be desirable to actively 

 stimulate an export trade in it. 



Po le Ha rdicoods. 



Timbers of this character are to a certain extent under a cloud in 

 Europe. The reason is that some of our inferior timbers — those which 

 we in New South Wales would never use except for inferior or tem- 

 porary purposes, and which are of a pale colour — have been exported 

 under misleading names. The man who svibstitutes an inferior timber 

 for a superior one specified, trusting to the ignorance of the purchaser 

 or his inspector not to detect the substitution, is guilty of dishonesty, 

 and I believe the ordinary machinery of the Courts is quite adequate 

 to deal with conduct of this kind. But the best remedy lies in the 

 spread of knowledge in regard to our timbers, and meantime, if a 

 purchaser lacks the knowledge, he should employ a timber expert to 

 inspect for him. A business man, as a rule, obtains expert opinion in 

 regard to the quality of a line he is buying if necessary, and if this 

 principle be applied to timbers, the death-stroke to substitution would 

 be given. I would like to emphasise what I look upon as a great truth, 

 that is, that one of the main reasons why colonial timbers are not more 

 used is because users are nervous through ignorance. I have no 

 intention of touching upon the fiscal question, but I will express the 

 opinion that if it be desired to stimulate the use of our indigenous 

 timbers, and conversely, to discourage the use of imported ones, the 

 best plan will be the diffusion of knowledge concerning the trees in 

 our forests. How many persons in this Colony, learned in Oregon, 

 redwood, spruce, Baltic, and so on, could turn over a heap of sawn 

 stuff from our mills, name the timbers, and then state the most 

 approved uses for them ? The present is not a suitable occasion for 

 discussing the various ways by which a- knowledge of our timbers 

 may be diffused, but the question is connected with our national 

 prosperity, and I should be lacking in my duty if I failed to emphasise 

 the point on every occasion that presents itself. 



One of our best pale hardwoods is the blackbutt {E. pilnlaris, Sm.), 

 a thoroughly safe and well-tried timber, and one so valuable for 

 wood-paving that if the municipal authorities of Europe and Amei'ica 

 knew its real worth, an active demand would spring up for it. We, 

 in New South Wales, look upon this as a timber of the front rank for 

 wood-paving, and we have not only had extensive experience of wood- 

 paving, but also of the merits of our own timbers. Yet in Europe it 

 is mistrusted because of its jjale colour ! 



White mahogany [E. acmenoides, Schau.) is also a valuable timber, 

 but comparatively few know of its merits, because it is often confused 

 with other timbers, particulai'ly stringybark, confusion which has 

 resulted in the appraisement of the durability of stringybark at too 

 high a fio-ure. 



