46 



3. — TUART (Euc. gomphocephala). 



A tree attaining a height up to 100 feet, with a bole 35 to 45 feet, and a dia- 

 meter seven to eight feet. 



The bark is of a greyish-white colour and is smoothly crinkled. There are 

 only two trees with which it can be confused, these being the Flooded Gum (Euc. 

 rudis) and the coastal White Gum (Euc decipiens). The- difference from the 

 former is that the bark of the Tuart is persistent, while that of the Flooded Gum 

 peels off from the topmost branches. The coastal White Gum has a rougher bark 

 which usually peels off from the upper branches, but is thicker than that of the 

 Tuart, and more flaky. 



The fruits or "nuts" of the Tuart are very distinctive. They are bell-shaped, 

 over half an inch in length, and half an inch in diameter at the top, which is quite 

 flat. The stalk on which the fruits are arranged is broad and wedge-shaped. 



Weight per cubic foot (green) — 781bs. 



At 12 per cent, moisture — 681bs. 



Transverse strength — 17,9001bs. per square inch. 



Tensile strength — 16,5001bs. per square inch. 



The timber is hard and dense with an interlocked grain; its colour is yellow. 

 It vies with wandoo in strength and toughness. The timber is used for wheel- 

 wright work, especially for the large naves required for the 9ft. wheels of the 

 timber whims. Its main use, along with wandoo, is for railway wagon and truck 

 construction. The Chief Mechanical Engineer in Western Australia, Mr. E. S. 

 Hume, has reduced the maintenance of his trucks from £3 7s. 6d. to 10s. per year 

 per truck by substituting for steel tuart and wandoo in the under carriages. Like 

 that of wandoo, the cutting of tuart, except for departmental purposes, is for- 

 bidden, and its export prohibited. 



It is confined to the limestone formation, and on this formation it stretches 

 in scattered lines from Lake Pinjar southward along the coast as far as iSabina 

 River, some three miles east of Busselton. Curiously enough it is not to be found 

 anywhere else in the State, although limestone occurs all round the coast line. The 

 best tuart is to be found between Sabina River and Capel, and it is doubtful 

 whether it will be possible to reserve more than 5,000 acres of first-class tuart 

 country. Between Sabina River and Capel River the distance is about 12 miles. 



