PARRAMATTA DISTRICT. 89 



bor and other materials for industrial purposes, they despise the 

 noble trees around them, and too frequently ignore the existence 

 of plants and shrubs, which from their medicinal and other pro- 

 perties, might be turned to practical account. On the present 

 occasion, I propose directing the attention of my readers to some 

 of the most useful woods of the district, with a view of inducing 

 those, who have the time and opportunity, to assist in developing 

 our resources and in ascertaining the adaptation of indigenous 

 material to the purposes of the artisan. In the Parramatta dis- 

 trict, there are about twenty species of " Gum Trees," or Eucalypti, 

 many of which are highly useful, as they afford good timber, resins 

 of a medicinal character, and also volatile oils. The " Blue Gum," 

 or E. rostrata, is a very hard compact wood, and when properly 

 seasoned, is exceedingly durable, being well adapted for heavy 

 deck framing, the beams and knees of vessels, and for planking 

 above the light-water mark. This valuable tree, which formerly 

 abounded on the Toongabbie Creek, is not so plentiful as it was 

 in past years, and it is to be regretted that in the early days of 

 the colony, when stumping and burning off was the order of the 

 day, little attention was paid to the preservation of this Gum and 

 other species calculated to be useful in after times. In Victoria, 

 the Blue Gum has been much used for railway sleepers, and has 

 also been employed for making various articles of furniture. The 

 "Iron Bark," or E. paniculate, is known as one of our hardest 

 and heaviest woods. Of this wood, there are two kinds with white, 

 and one with red flowers. Passing over some of the ordinary 

 purposes for which* it is usually employed, it appears from a re- 

 port published in Melbourne, to which we are indebted for much 

 of this information respecting our common woods, that Iron Bark, 

 from its great strength and tenacity and close grain, is highly 

 useful to the coachmaker and wheelwright for poles and shafts of 

 carriages, and spokes of wheels. Its greasy nature also renders 

 this wood very serviceable to the mill-wright for the cogs of heavy 

 wheels. For this purpose, Mr. Dight of Melbourne and others 

 engaged in similar pursuits, have been accustomed to send to 

 this colony for Iron Bark, and it has also been worked up in 

 various ways in ship-building. It seems rather curious that this 

 wood should be imported into Victoria, when the same species of 

 * Catalogue of the Victorian Exhibition, 1861. 

 M 



