220 TIMBER 



Blackbutt (E. patens) attains a height of 120 ft. and is 

 found scattered over the jarrah and karri areas. It pro- 

 duces timber light in colour, hard and dense, and so tough 

 that it will not yield to ordinary splitting processes. The 

 annual rings are fairly clear and rather wide apart. It is 

 suitable for sleepers, street paving blocks, piles, and main 

 timbers of bridges and wharves. Largely used for wagon 

 building, it is rather expensive to work, and has proved very 

 durable in damp situations. Fence posts have been in the 

 ground fifty years, and railway wagons built of blackbutt 

 were in excellent condition after ten years' rough wear. 



TIMBERS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



The forest area of New South Wales resembles that of 

 Western Australia in that it lies largely along the coast- 

 line, and the hardwoods are chiefly eucalypti. 



Ironbark, of which there are four varieties, is the best of 

 the hardwoods of the colony. 



White or Grey Ironbark (E. paniculate) ranks most high. 

 The timber is pale in colour when cut down, darkens on 

 drying, is the hardest of the ironbarks, is rather difficult to 

 work, and cuts almost like horn. Telegraph poles of this 

 timber have remained fairly sound after being erected forty 

 years ; their average life is between thirty and forty years. 1 

 It has stood in some cases for fifty years in bridge timbers 

 in the colony, and in many cases thirty-five years (Mins. of 

 Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. 128). Ironbark may be had in lengths 

 of 60 or 70 ft. It has a certain gumminess in working. 



Weight, when green, 76 Ibs. per cubic foot, and when 

 seasoned about 71 Ibs. 



1 None of the Australian telegraph poles or other timbers are 

 artificially treated. 



