THE TIMBERS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 215 



Gum. It is used extensively throughout the Colony where it 

 grows for cheap rough fencing. 



Softwoods. 



I take this class of timber under one heading, as unfortunately 

 their varieties are few in number. It is hardly a matter for 

 surprise that all men who trade directly or indirectly in the soft- 

 woods of this Colony, should have protectionist principles. The 

 Sydney market is flooded with imported timbers, such as pine — 

 Oregon, Baltic, etc. — and yet our pines, beeches, etc. are in almost 

 every way equal to the imported article. Unfortunately we can- 

 not produce our own softwoods at as cheap a rate as we can import, 

 and as long as such a state of things is in existence, we must be 

 content to see our timbers take a second place and limit their uses 

 to the districts in which they are found. 



Our red cedar is so well known that it is needless to comment 

 on its beauty and value in cabinet work. Unfortunately it is 

 disappearing from our forests, and before many years matured 

 trees will be a thing of the past. 



Fancy, Figured and Brush Timbers. 

 I should very much like to devote a few pages of this paper to 

 a detailed description of the above timbers, but at the present 

 time all I might say regarding their merits would go for nothing, 

 as the time is not yet ripe for their general use in cabinet or 

 furniture work. A visit to the Technological Museum will give 

 some idea of what this country possesses in the way of beautiful 

 grained timbers of various colours, but so far as their practical 

 use is concerned we are again face to face with the question of 

 due seasoning, as in their natural state they more or less crack 

 and warp. Our beans ; rosewood, yellow-woods, sycamore, tulip- 

 wood, sassafras, and a variety of other species need but to be seen 

 to be admired. Yet we can do but little with them until we find 

 the way to lessen their natural weight and season them. True, 

 there are in use a few of the open grained varieties, but only to 

 a very small extent. Our pencil cedar, myall, rosewood, silky 



