THE TIMBER OP TASMANIA. — BLUE GUM. 101 



. an infinite variety of uses — by the shipwright, the millwright, the carpen- 

 ter, and the engineer. We have great colonial works constructed of it — as, 

 for instance, the bridge across the Derwent at Bridgewater, which measures 

 96 feet in length, with a roadway of 24 feet, and which is built entirely of 

 this timber upon piles of from 65 feet to 90 feet each in length. The engi- 

 neers of the great railway jetty in Hobson's Bay, which is to form the sea 

 terminus of the railway system of the colony of Victoria, have, as already 

 mentioned, obtained piles of enormous length of the Tasmanian blue gum 

 for this work. We need not multiply these instances, but we will refer to 

 one case of the use of this timber in the island, as affording a striking 

 proof of its value as an inestimable material. At a mill in Hobart Town, a 

 water-wheel constructed of blue gum has been in constant use for upwards 

 of twenty years, and, on removing with a penknife the external coating that 

 has accumulated during that period, it is found that the wood is as sound 

 as on the day it was first used. 



As the best means of bringing the valuable properties of this timber and 

 other of our hard woods practically under the notice of English engineers, 

 we believe it is not unlikely that the Colonial Parliament will, during its 

 present session, vote a sum of money for the gratuitous distribution in 

 England of properly selected specimens to be practically tested in actual 

 works. We say, properly selected specimens, because it is not fair to the 

 colony that timber cut full of sap, or otherwise under conditions favourable 

 to premature decay, should be taken as samples of what the woods of Tas- 

 mania really are. And to prevent an inferior article being sent into the 

 market, and generally to promote the development of an export trade in 

 timber, it has been suggested that a Government Inspector should be 

 appointed whose duty it should be to certify to the proper quality of the 

 wood, and to impress each end of it with an official stamp, which shall be a 

 guarantee as to its genuineness and value, and to imitate which shall be 

 felony. The impression prevails here that the timber supply of Europe is 

 rapidly contracting ; that the engineering world will soon be anxiously 

 casting about them for new sources of supply ; and that nothing is wanting 

 to give Tasmanian hard woods a preference over all others but to secure 

 for them a fair and sufficient test. This it is hoped that the steps now pro- 

 posed to take in order to get them actually laid down on some railway line 

 and otherwise used in bridges, &c, at the expense of the colony, will 

 effect. And it is further hoped that by taking the guarantee we have 

 named for the quality of the material, we shall succeed in keeping up the 

 character of our timber in the English market. 



The blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), as we have seen, is one of the 

 largest of forest trees in the known world. From observations made on 

 the annual lines of growth, it would appear to attain its full magnitude in 

 about 300 years. There can, however, be little doubt that trees of the 

 blue gum now exist in Tasmanian forests which have witnessed the revolu- 

 tions of more than a thousand years. Naturally the tree prevails at the 

 southern end of the island, and along the eastern coast, and on some of the 



