Just a word as to the aims and scope of this booklet. The diflBculty has 

 136611 not in regard to obtaining information, but in deciding what to leave 

 out. If fuller information be desired in regard to a particular timber there 

 will be no difficulty in procuring it. 



In selecting the timbers for notice I have mainly confined myself to those 

 most readily available to the denser populated eastern portion of the polony, 

 and to those most likely to be in demand for export. Many meritorious 

 timbers I have not noticed, as, owing to the expense of land-carriage, their 

 use is mainly confined to the districts in which they are found. 



1. IRONBAEK. 



(An illustrated and descriptive article in regard to the various kinds of New South Wales 

 ironbarka will be found in the AgrlcuUurcd Qazette for October, 1893.) 



Names. — We have four ironbarks, three of them of especial value. Tim- 

 bers of this class are so important that it will be interesting to discriminate 

 them. There is a good deal of confusion in regard to the local names given 

 to ironbarks, and the names I suggest for the four species seem to me the 

 least objectionable. At the same time the names " Narrow-leaved Ironbark" 

 and " Broad-leaved Ironbark " are too cumbersome for ordinary use, and 

 certainly for persons outside the Colony. It is probable that ironbark for 

 the export trade will go forward under two names only, viz., grey ironbark 

 and red ironbark, the first being the white or grey ironbark, and the second 

 including both the " Narrow and BroadJeaved Ironbarks," the timbers of 

 which closely resemble each other. The fourth ironbark, whose botanical 

 name is Eucalyptus sideroxylon, is mainly an interior species, and will seldom, 

 if ever, be exported. Perhaps timber will go forward under the single generic 

 name of ironbark ; if so, I wish to impress on friends at a distance that our 

 various species of ironbark vary a good deal in colour, as a consignee may 

 readily be confused if an ironbark be sent to him different in appearance to 

 that to which he has been accustomed. Because of the great importance of 

 ironbark, I proceed to deal with these timbers with a little more detail than 

 with the other hardwoods. 



Tahle of ironharlcs. — The following table brings out the principal points in 

 ironbark trees and ironbark timbers, and may help to elucidate them : — 



Colour (darkens 

 with age). 



Strength of tim- 

 ber. 

 Bark 



Leaves 



Flowers .. 



Fruits 



White or She Iron- 

 bark. 



(paniculata) . 



Narrow-leaved Iron- 

 bark. 



{crebra). 



Very pale ; pint 

 when fresh. 



Best 



Often pale- coloured, 

 even grey. Fur- 

 rows often anas- 

 tomosing. 



Narrow and medium 



White 



Small 



Medium 



Good 



Very deeply fur- 

 rowed, inferior in 

 depth only (if 

 at all) to iider- 

 oxylon. 



Very narrow 



White 



Very small 



Broad-leaved 

 Ironbark. 



{siderophloia). 



Bed Iron- 

 bark. 



isiderosyylon). 



Medium. A 

 little darker 

 than preced- 

 ing. 



Good 



Often of a flaky 

 character. 



Very broad ... 

 White 

 Rather large ... 



Very dark. 



Inferior. 



Dark; 

 deepest f ijr- 

 rowed. 



Medium ; 



f oUage often 



sparse. 

 Crimson ; 



sometimes 



creamy. 

 Large. 



