348 



tHM AQttlCV ItUBAL JOVBNAL 



Tasmanian Blue Gum Timber. 



'pHE following correspondence is pub- 

 X lished by order : — 



Department of Lands and Siirveys, 



Lands Office, Hobart, 



13th June, 1901. 

 Sir, — I have the honour to forward 

 you a copy of a letter which I am sending 

 to the Editor of the "jSTatal Mercury" re 

 Tasmanian Blue Gum Timber, and as the 

 "Agricultural Journal" is mentioned as 

 having published the statement com- 

 plained of, may I ask you to kindly give 

 publicity to my letter in your official 

 journal. I beg to forward you a copy of 

 the Crown Lands (-Juide for 1901 referred 

 to in my letter to the "Mercury." 



I have, &c., 



E. A. COUNSEL, 

 Surveyor-Grcneral and Secretary 

 for Lands. 



The Secretary, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Natal, South Africa. 



Department of Lands and Surveys, 



Hobart, Tasmania. 

 12th June, 1901. 



Sir, — My attention has been called to 

 an article appearing in your journal of 

 the 9th of April, 1901, in'which the Hon. 

 Moor's impressions of industrial Australia 

 are set forth at some length, and the in- 

 timation that his views are published Ijv 

 order in the "Agricultural Journal," 

 would appear to indicate that consider- 

 able publicity has been given to his writ- 

 ings. He is quoted as having on several 

 occasions obtained from Mr. Maiden, the 

 Curator of the Botanic Gardens in Syd- 

 ney, N.S.AV., expressions of "regret that 

 we had introduced the Tasnumian Blue 

 Gum (which is regarded as one of the 

 most useless of the Australian woods') 

 into our Colony, a mistake which they 

 said had also been made by some of the 

 European countries." 



Such a statement, coming from this 

 source, would very naturally prejudice 

 buyers against the timber referred to, and 



as it is expected in the near future that 

 a large trade will be opened up for Tas- 

 manian timber in South Africa, I hope 

 you will give equal publicity to this let- 

 ter, and show your readers our side of 

 the question. I have before me a letter 

 from Mr. Maiden, dated 6th June, 1901, 

 in reply to mine asking if he was cor- 

 rectly reported in your journal, in which 

 he states "that an opinion that the Tas- 

 manian Blue Gum is one of the most use- 

 less of the Australian woods does not 

 correctly express my views." Jn this re- 

 spect, therefore, Mr. Moor's statement is 

 not confirmed. 



J\Ir. W. Heyn, of the Timber Depart- 

 ment of the Admiralty Harbour Works, 

 Dover, England, who is at present on an 

 official visit to Tasmania, is purchasing 

 large quantities of Tasmanian Blue Gum 

 for his works, and writes me under date 

 3rd June, 1901, as follows, in reply to a 

 request for his opinion on the timber 

 referred to : — " 1 consider well-selected 

 Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus Glo- 

 bulus) far from Ijeing 'one of the most 

 useless of Ihe Australian woods,' as one of, 

 if not the very best and the most useful 

 for a great many purposes, such as PiL.>' 

 driving (for which we are employing it 

 on our Aduiii-alty Harl)0ur Works, Dover, 

 England), Slee]iers and Paving. Grown 

 on proper soil, it attains to 75 specific 

 gravitv, and for size, strength, and 

 durability, it would he difficult, in my 

 opinion, to find any wood superior to it. 



"I see no reason whatever why this 

 valuable timl)er should not succeed well 

 in Natal. It has l)een introduced with 

 success into other i)arts of Africa, such 

 as the Free State ol' the Congo, and 

 Egypt, and also into India, and instead 

 of 'lieing a mistake.' 1 have always under- 

 stood that it has hwn most useful in 

 many ways, not the least of which have 

 been its deterrent effect on the spread of 

 Malarial Fever, and its most beneficial 

 influence on the general hgyiene of the 

 districts in which it was planted." 



