45 



carpentry, door-frames, sills and joists, buggy and dray shafts, and other 



portions of t!u> bodies of vehicles, wheelwrighting. farm implements, boat 

 timbers, rip waggons, railway buildings, railway and other bridges (laminated 

 arches of railway bridges, sheeting, wings, wales and decking, hand-railing, 

 braces, ballast guards, walings, girders). 



Spnt ted Gum is largely replacing American Hickory in the coach factories 

 along the coast for waggons, buggies, sulkies. &c.. and large orders are beinj? 

 filled for coach 1'actories in Sydney and elsewhere, care being taken to cut the 

 timber free from sap. heart, and gum-veins. 



I'sits i OK WHICH SpoiTKn GVM is RECOMMENDED BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS. 



There is no difference of opinion as to its value for inside work for coach- 

 builders' purposes, and for such purposes as levers and handles, and rods for 

 artesian bores, where great strength and elasticity are required. 



In coachbuilding in this State. Spotted Gum has largely superseded Hickory, 

 as already stated, and although not quite so elastic and strong as the best 

 Hickory, is a very good substitute and cheaper. 



Providing timber is matured and free from sap, no more suitable timber 

 can be used for railway waggon building in Europe. Its strength and elasticity 

 make it excellent for the purpose, particularly as railway engineers at home 

 object to Ironbark owing to its excessive weight. They constantly ask for 

 suitable hardwoods of less weight. The objection to the use of Blaekbutt for 

 the purpose is the presence of concentric gum-veins and its more fissile nature, 

 generally. The Ilawkesbury and Singleton Spotted Gum are excellent as 

 regards freedom from gum-veins. We have also seen Spotted Gum from the 

 South Coast, comparatively free from the same. 



As regards outside work, its value for fence-rails is indisputable, while it 

 bears a good reputation for deck-planking, as already spoken of in allusion to 

 its durability. 



SPOTTED GUM PARTICULARLY CONSIDERED WITH RESPECT TO ITS FITNESS OB 

 OTHERWISE FOR PAVING. 



Hardly any situation affords so severe a test of the durability of a timber 

 as paving. A wood pavement is constantly watered and in contact with 

 decaying vegetable matter. It is, therefore, desirable that the blocks should 

 be as well-seasoned as practicable, in order to reduce the liability of fungus 

 growths to attack the tissues of the wood. On the other hand, we must guard 

 against over-seasoning, which would result in the blocks absorbing an inordi- 

 nate proportion of water, which would cause them to swell, to the destruction 

 of the pavement, and perhaps the causing of injuries to buildings, tram-lines, 

 &c. 



Spotted Gum (like other hardwoods) is, when cut at the mills, immediately 

 loaded into vessels. When landed in Sydney, the lengths are cut at once Into 

 blocks, and if at once placed in the streets, are as free to decay through the 

 sap being unable to escape as are all other hardwoods. 



The balance of evidence is strongly in favour of the use of Spotted Gum for 

 planking and decking, but as regards paving-blocks we have very little infor- 

 mation in these replies. 



Mr. Gustavo Fischer, Mr. R. W. Richards, and Mr. Moir, who have used It 

 in the Sydney streets, are not in favour of it. Mr. Richards, in a report* to 

 the Forest Department, under date 31st October, 1893. states, page 2: "The 

 wearing surfaces of the blocks of Spotted Gum from King-street were thickly, 

 impregnated with gravel and extraneous matter, causing an irregularity of 

 surface, the sides of the block in section showing a quick intention to split, the 

 top edges of wearing surfaces were frayed over on each side for about one 

 quarter of an inch in plan and section. Spotted Gum is a treacherous timber 

 to deal with, inasmuch as if the tree is not fully matured, the blocks there- 

 from, painted with tar, laid in the work, enclosed air-tight, prevent the sap 

 from escaping, and its fermentation sets up ' dry-rot.' This has occurred in' 



" Wood Pavements in Sydney, 1880-1893. Fcap., Sydney, n.d. (1894). 



