T Con on and Characteristics of Colony Timber. 301 



wallaba shingles, vat staves and paling pickets are not as durable as 

 those made from the split timber. Wallaba machine-dresses without 

 difficulty and it presents a beautifully smooth surface. Vat staves 

 dressed by hand soon become sticky 



Silverbally (Brown) .(Neclandra Sp.). 

 Although not as hard as greenheart and fairly easy to saw, silver- 

 bally is not as nice a timber to tackle from the sawyer's point of view. 

 This wood machine-dresses and turns w r ell and really offers no difficulty 

 to the workman. Owing to its great elasticity brown silverbally yields 

 readily when planking a boat or when used in similar manner. 



For some reason or other this wood is not beloved by the insects 

 and vermin so fond of destroying clothing and books, and although a bit 

 on the heavy side, and possessing no beauty for furniture, I have seen 

 brown silverbally used to advantage in the making of a wardrobe and 

 book-case. 



Keritee (Nectandra Sp.). 



During the sawing process this wood gives off a strong odour resem- 

 bling that of cedrela odorata, but soon loses it after a few days' 

 exposure to the air. It is much used for purposes similar to those to 

 which silverbally is applied. 



Crabwood (Carapa Guiancnsis). 

 Owing to the great demand for crabwood it is sawn particularly 

 green and more so than any other of our timbers. The frame saw soon 

 makes short work of crabwood, but one does not realise how difficult it is 

 to saw by hand when green until attempted with the ordinary bench saw. 

 Unless an unusual set is put on the teeth one would never get through the 

 piece with a dozen trials, and it is amusing to see the novice at the job. 



Unfortunately crabwood has a peculiar and most annoying tendency 

 to split, and more so when cured to the " bone dry " point than in its green 

 state. For this reason carpenters, when on a contract job, do not as a 

 rule like to use it, as a gimlet has to be frequently employed before a 

 nail is driven. 



As described under greenheart, Loracine has been used with good 

 effect, especially on the ends of planks. These ends failed to shew up 

 any signs of season checking even when the scab of this wood preserva- 

 tive had been removed some eight months afterwards. 



The worthy gentlemen of the saw also object to use scantlings of 

 crabwood because they warp. If entirely submerged in water for a few 

 days there is no difficulty in working scantlings of crabwood into the 

 required places without the aid of union screw r s, clamps, etc. 



Scantlings from most of our timbers do certainly warp unless 

 the required size is taken down the centre of the log. It is, however, 

 inadvisable to adopt such a method with small sizes, from 6" x 6 " down- 



