CHAPTER XXIII. 



TIMBER TREES OF AUSTRALIA. 



EUCALYPTUS. 



Among the most astonishing advances in economic 

 Botany have been the developments of our knowledge 

 of the timbers of the remarkable and interesting 

 Australian Myrtles belonging to the difficult genus 

 Eucalyptus. The late Mr. Laslett's opinions on these 

 timbers would probably have been more favourable had 

 he obtained better felled and seasoned specimens, and 

 it seems to be the opinion of Australian experts that 

 even the much more favourable reports of the Colonial 

 and Indian Exhibition would have been more so had 

 more carefully chosen pieces been experimented with. 

 In any case it seems clear that much is yet to be done 

 with some of these timbers, and the reader is referred 

 to Maiden's "Australian Native Plants" for further 

 information on their mechanical and other properties. 



TEW ART {Eucalyptus gomphocephala). 



This tree is also often called the White Gum, a name 

 of no value, however, since it is shared by many other 

 Australian trees. Is found principally in the Swan 

 River and King George's Sound district of Western 

 Australia, It is a tree of straight growth and noble 



