143 



2. Its alleged Special Tendency to Miakiness. Mr. Kobor't Kaleski, who 

 formerly resided on the Dorrigo, wrote to me some years ago: 



Rosewood grows about 120 to K'.n f<vt. about 12 foet girth, sometime-* ro:m<I 

 in barrel, sometimes very spurry; clean barrel like rest, of scrub timbers. 

 Faultiest tree for the mill in N.S.W., apparently sound trees shaking and 

 splitting when broken down on the bench. Will not take glue, and will last im- 

 posts and blocks about eight years in the ground. Never loses scent: goes l'< 

 same soil as Cedar. Mature trees nearly always rotten inside, often only a 

 shell; sort of white ant responsible for this; goes in at the bottom of spurs* 

 and works upwards. (Jenerally grows in dumps like Cedar. J'.ell runs from 

 W. to X.S. : large quantity at X.K. to Paddy's Plain. Is at. present being out 

 for (Jermany for the mills. Very protly figuring, woolly to work, grain 

 short, for building stuff. Farrly durable in weather; fair amount available 

 lias red seed (fruit. .1. II. M.) something like a small cherry. 



Out of 100,000 feet standing, which I bought on speculation. I could only 

 find :JO,OOO to fall, and 40 per cent, of that proved to be faulty when dowi., 

 some apparently sound trees splitting in halves, when hitting the ground, from 

 vnd to end. Its drawing weight is .'.00 feet to a ton. Very liable to develop 

 shakes after Ix'ing sawn a few weeks. Tree always unsound if dead branch^: 

 on top. My own selection contained more IJosewood than any one I know of 

 on the Dorrigo. 



This is an exact copy. In 1893 I wrote, after a careful inspection of the 

 Dorrigo : 



Rosewood. A fine tree 5 feet (5 inches in diameter and 140 feet to the first: 

 branch was seen, but although the northern portion of the Dorrigo is full of 

 .Rosewood (merchantable), say 4 feet in diameter, it does not attain the san.v 

 magnificent dimensions that it does in parts of the coast; districts. 



Nearly all our brush timbers lack tensile strength, and, particularly when 

 they attain a large size, they require careful felling, otherwise the logs may 

 he injured. In Europe, the injury to timber in falling- is very carefully 

 guarded against, but here special precautions to break the fall of a larg- 

 tree, e.g., by dropping it on smaller worthless timber, is very rarely thought 

 of. Cedar is often shaken by careless felling. I have already stated that 

 the Rosewood trees of the Dorrigo are not so fine as those of the. coast belt, 

 and if the large percentage of over-mature trees on the Dorrigo be as stated 1 

 by Mr. Kaleski, then the sooner, in any rational system of forestry, they ar< . 

 cut out to make room for young growth the better. Over-mature trees only 

 cumber the ground, and arc a hindrance and a perplexity to the forester. 



In view of Mr. Kaleski's very strong language, " Faultiest tree for the 

 mill in X.S.W.," the following passage from the report of Mr. BoormaUj^ 

 Collector, Botanic Gardens, to me, is interesting. lie wrote me from the 

 Macpherson Range, and had never seen Mr. Kaleski's report : 



This (Rosewood) is a very large tree, of immense timber-producing qualities, 

 as, in addition to size, it is perfectly sound throughout. 



I want to get at the truth in regard to our timbers. I always state, their 

 alleged defects when I know them, for we must be as careful in stating 

 defects as in attributing excellencies. 

 Size. 



One of the largest trees in the district in which it is found, varying in heigth 

 from 70 to 100 feet, and from 4 to ~> feet in diameter (C. Moore, /or. <-it.) 



Tall and massive trees of KKl-140 feet. 20 to 30 feet at base. Acacia Creek,. 

 Macphersou Range, N.S.W. (W. Dunn and J. L. Roorman.) 



Following is another report from Mr. Boormaii to me: 



It readies the height of si M40 feel, whilst its girth measurements are any- 

 thing between 20-40 feet. 



