34 R. H. CAMBAGE. 



rough furrowed bark on the trunk, but with softer fissile 

 timber, viz.: — E. Sieberiana, which belongs to the Moun- 

 tain Ash group, flourishes from sea level up to an elevation 

 of about 3,500 feet on the ocean side of the mountains but 

 is almost unknown west of the Main Divide. E. Smithii 

 is another species with furrowed bark on the lower part of 

 the bole, and is found east of the Main Divide below an 

 altitude of 3,000 feet. 



Timbers. 



These may broadly be grouped under two heads viz.: — 

 Texture and colour, the former of which may be subdivided 

 into hard and soft, and the latter into dark and pale. In 

 arranging Eucalyptus timbers into hard and soft groups it 

 is found that the hardest occur in the Interior where the 

 conditions are the most arid and the trees of slowest 

 growth, though the hardest are not necessarily the strongest. 

 The second in degree of hardness are found on the Western 

 Slopes, the third on the Coastal Area, and the fourth or 

 softest in the Mountain Region. The Coastal Area con- 

 tains both hard and soft Eucalyptus timbers, members of 

 the Ironbark group such as E. pcmiculata, siderophloia and 

 crebra, also E. hemiphloia of the Box group being amongst 

 the hardest. It might perhaps be expected that the 

 decrease in hardness would accord with the increase in 

 rainfall, but although this progression applies so far as 

 the Interior and the Western Slopes are concerned, it is 

 in the division with the third highest rainfall and not the 

 fourth, viz., in the cold Mountain Region where there are 

 the least hardwoods. 



In studying the dark and pale coloured timbers, it is 

 noted that in the warmer parts both colours occur, while 

 in the Mountain Region, above an altitude of 3,500 feet in 

 latitude 32°, and at diminishing elevations to the south- 

 ward, the prevailing colour of Eucalyptus timbers is pale, 



