32i 



TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Australian Tree Seeds. 



SMALL quantities of 13 varieties of 

 tree seeds selected by the Hon. P. E. 

 Moor while in Australia are now available 

 for free distribution to applicants. The 

 following descriptions of the timber, etc., 

 of the varieties are extracted from "Notes 

 on the Commercial Timbers of New 

 South Wales," by J. H. Maiden, F.L.S., 

 etc., Consulting Botanist to the Depart- 

 ments of Agriculture and Forests : — 



Ikonbaek. 



Names. — We have four ironbarks, 

 three of them of especial value. Tim- 

 bers of this class are so important that 

 it will be interesting " to discriminate 

 them. There is a good deal of confusion 

 in regard to the local names given to 

 ironbarks, and the names I suggest for 

 the four species seem to me the least 

 objectionable. A't the same time the 

 names " Narrow-leaved Ironbark " and 

 "Broad-leaved Ironbark" are too cumber- 

 some for ordinary use, and certainly for 

 persons outside the Colony. It is prob- 

 able that ironbark for the export trade 

 will go forward under two names only, 

 viz., grey ironbark and red ironbark, the 

 first being the white or grey ironbark, 

 and the second including both the 

 "Narrow and Broad-leaved Ironbarks," 

 the timbers of which closely resemble 

 each other. The fourth ironbark, whose 

 botanical name is "Eucalyptus 

 sideroxylon," is mainly an interior species, 

 and will seldom, if ever, be exported. 

 Perhaps timber will go forward under 

 the single generic name of ironbark ! if 

 so, I wish to impress on friends at a dis- 

 tance that our various species of ironbarl< 

 vary a good deal in colour, as a consignee 

 may readily be confused if an ironbark 

 be sent to him different in apparance to 

 that to which he has been accustomed. 

 Because of the great importance of iron- 

 bark, I proceed to deal with these timbers 

 with a little more detail than with iha 

 other hardwoods. 



Table of ironbarks. — The following 

 table l)rings out the princi]ial points in 

 ironbark trees and ironbark timbers, and 

 may help to elucidate them : — 



as c3 



a £ 



S o a 



.2 3 2 



V o 



* 



a 

 a 



-a 

 a 



ci 

 O 



si 



a 



M 



o 



o 



Si 



a 



o 



-a 



"Si 

 a 



03 







arge 



Very brc 



White 



Rather 1 



(A 



a 



a 

 u 



How to tell ironbark. — It is not very 

 easy, in a few words, to give a definition 

 of ironbark. Of course, if the bark i; 

 available, the thing is simple enough, for 

 most of the barks are characteristically 



