TBE AGttlCV LTU ttAL JOURNAL 



lurrowed and rugged. To describe it wc 

 must take note of a variety of circum- 

 stances. It is heavy (almost the heaviest 

 of our hardwoods). It is hard, as may 

 be readily seen if it be touched with n 

 plane, or a nail be driven (or attempted 

 to be driven), into it. Its most char^ 

 acteristic property, however, is a certain 

 ''gumminess" in working, which is well 

 brought out under the plane, and its 

 horny texture. The result is that, when 

 planed, ironbark shows the appearance of 

 more or less parallel striae or lines of 

 close-textured wood, strongly resembling 

 horn, while between these," the wood has 

 a more open grain, showing narrow pits 

 which may be seen, even by the naked 

 eye, to be filled with a substance of a 

 resinous texture. In some specimens it 

 is not easy, however, to make out these 

 lines of horny-texture wood, but the 

 resin-pits appear to be always present. 

 Ironbark is more or less curly in tlie 

 grain, consequently it often gives trouble 

 to plane to a perfectly smooth surface. 

 If a blunt tool be used, the ironbark tears 

 , in fairly regular blotches, while to get a 

 perfectly smooth surface the wood often 

 requires to be traversed with the plane, 

 or even to be gone over with the stei;-! 

 scraper. Its hardness and w(^ight often 

 , preclude it from use, perhaps an advan- 

 tage, as otherwise the consumption nf 

 this timber would be inordinate. 



Principal uses, — Ironbark is the king 

 of New South Wales hardwoods, in fact 

 it is not excelled in any part of the con- 

 tinent for combined strength and dura- 

 bility. It is extensively used in bridge- 

 construction, for railway sleepers, for 

 posts, for naves, spokes, shafts, and fram- 

 ^^gj ty the M^agon and carriage-builder<; 

 for large beams in buildings, particularly 

 in stores for heavy goods — in a word, 

 wherever great strength is required. • Fm' 

 such purposes as railM^ay sleepers, it will 

 last an indefinite period, and in many 

 cases has to be taken up, not because it 

 shows signs of decay from exposure on 

 the permanent way, or disintegration, 

 because of the vibration to whicb it has 

 been subjected, but because holes have 

 been made in the sleeper by the renewal 

 of bolts and spikes. T have specimen:' 

 of sleepers which have borne the heaviest 



traffic of the main line near Sydney for 

 twenty-five years, and which are as sound" 

 as the day they were laid. 



A'ViiiTE OK Gkhy Ikonbauk {Eucalyplus 

 panicukUa, Sm.) 

 This is the ironbark usually called as 

 above in the coast districts. It is, how- 

 ever, also called red ironbark m the 

 Moruya and Wagonga districts, and other 

 places. 



The best white ironbark is very pale, 

 the hardest of ironbarks, and cuts almost 

 like horn; some of the same species from' 

 the Moruya district is of a medium red 

 colour, not unlike Sydney blue gum in 

 tint. It is to white ironbark of good 

 quality that all the encomiums wmch 

 have passed on ironbark mav l)e attri- 

 buted. At the same time, timljer l)ut 

 little inferior may be produced by some of 

 the other ironbarks. 



Distribution. — It is rather common in 

 the coast districts and mountain ranges. 

 Northward it extends as far as the 

 Tweed, and southward to near Bega, per- 

 haps further. 



Narrow-leaved Ironbark {Eucahjptm 

 crehra, F. v. M.) 



So called because of its narrow, 

 slender, graceful foliage, the flower-buds, 

 flowers, and fruits being quite small. At 

 Dubbo this timber is called both grey 

 and red ironbark. 



This and the red (broad-leaved) iron- 

 bark may very well go together, as the 

 timbers have much in common. They are 

 of a deep red colour, of about equal hard- 

 ness, and are really valuable timbers, al- 

 though inferior to the best white or grey 

 ironbark. 



Distribution.— The narroAv-leaved iron- 

 bark occurs principally on the eastern 

 side of the Dividing Range, but at least 

 as far soutli as Jervis Bay. It is com- 

 mon about Richmond, Wellington, also 

 Dnbbo to Narrabri. It is widelv diffused, 

 and a number of other localities could be 

 given. 



The Broad-leaved Ironbark (Eurahj- 

 ptns sicJprophloia, Benth.) 

 Perhaps this is the most distinctive 

 name for this species, a characteristic 

 by which it may be readily distinguished, 



