216 J. V. DE COQUE. 



oak, and perhaps one or two others, are converted into furniture 

 in Sydney, but only in very limited quantities and at a heavy cost. 



As regards the brush timbers of which so little is known, I 

 submit some specimens to give some idea of the possibility of 

 utilizing them for cabinet work. They do not grow to large sizes 

 in trees, but are plentiful in the Hawkesbury and northern 

 districts, and are cheap to procure. 



I conclude with an account of Cypress Pine. For many years 

 this timber had the reputation of being ant proof, but recently 

 this theory has been upset as several instances are known of white 

 ants destroying it. 



I find from enquiries that white ants attack this timber either 

 growing or when fallen so far as the sap-wood and bark are con- 

 cerned. They will also attack the fresh cut timber before the sap 

 dries. There are four varieties recognised in the western district. 



The black pine is a decidedly inferior timber, spongy and of no 

 durability. The timber 'is dark, also the branchlets and fruit- 

 pods, which are quite black. It decays in the ground in two years. 



The white, red, and yellow varieties, as far as I can gather are 

 of one species, the branchlets are light in colour of bark, also the 

 fruit cones as compared with the black pine. These three dis- 

 tinctions are made owing to the respective colours of the lines 

 running through the timber, but no difference exists as to their 

 durability in works. 



The black pine can be distinguished from the other varieties 

 for weeks after it is cut, as it glistens along the face of the timber 

 like thousands of minute diamonds. The knots of the black pine 

 are not so large, but are much more plentiful throughout the tree; 

 again the black pine invariably grows on the southern and western 

 slopes of the mountains. It is also much more highly scented 

 than the other pines when being cut. 



The white, red, and yellow varieties are in great demand through 

 out the western district for house building. They seem to dry 

 quickly, and have some wonderful records for durability • for 



