SOUTH AFRICAN TIMBER 205 



Hard Pear (Olini'a cymosa) is a very hard, tough, yellowish 

 wood, and in common with red pear and milk wood is used 

 for wagon construction and wheelwrights' work generally, 

 but they are only used to a small extent, as they cannot be 

 obtained in large section or in any great quantity, and none 

 of them are quite reliable or satisfactory for heavy work. 



Ironwood is a common name for many hardwoods in 

 different parts of the world. The wood known by this name 

 in Cape Colony is Sideroxylon inerme. The Dutch name is 

 Melkhout. It is largely used for boat-building, and for the 

 decking of bridges is considered practically indestructible, 

 even when exposed to excessive heat or damp, but being 

 excessively hard it is difficult to work and too expensive for 

 ordinary use. The colour varies from light to dark brown, 

 with black streaks, and the proportion of brownish sap wood 

 is often large. 



Weight up to 73 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



Yellowwood or Geelhout, of which there are two varieties, 

 the upright and ordinary, is found in large quantities of 

 great length and diameter. The ordinary variety (Podo- 

 carpus elongate), of light yellow colour, is only suitable for 

 indoor work unless artificially treated with creosote or 

 other preservative, and even after careful treatment it 

 is liable to bend and warp. The uprigtit yellowwood 

 (Podocarpus thunbergii) is much stronger arid more durable, 

 but so far, owing to absence of roads and railways, the cost 

 of transporting large trees is too great. The colour is a 

 brownish white, the grain close and even and of smooth 

 surface. The larger portion of the timber felled is used for 

 railway sleepers, but even for this purpose the supply is 

 insufficient ; it is also used for ceilings and flooring boards. 



It has been but little used in constructional work, so that 

 its true value has not yet been ascertained. A timber bridge 



