2l>0 
Timber 
Blackbutt (E.. patens) attains a height of 120 ft. and is 
found scattered over the jarrah and karri areas. It pro- 
duces timber light in colour, hard and dense, and so tough 
that it will not yield to ordinary splitting processes. The 
annual rings are fairly clear and rather wide apart. It is 
suitable for sleepers, street paving blocks, piles, and main 
timbers of bridges and wharves. Largely used for wagon 
building, it is rather expensive to work, and has proved very 
durable in damp situations. Fence posts have been in the 
ground fifty years, and railway wagons built of blackbutt 
were in excellent condition after ten years' rough wear. 
Timbers of New South Wales. 
The forest area of New South Wales resembles that of 
Western Australia in that it lies largely along the coast- 
line, and the hardwoods are chiefly eucalypti. 
Ironbark, of which there are four varieties, is the best of 
the hardwoods of the colony. 
White or Grey Ironbark {E. yaniculata) ranks most high. 
The timber is pale in colour when cut down, darkens on 
drying, is the hardest of the ironbarks, is rather difficult to 
work, and cuts almost like horn. Telegraph poles of this 
timber have remained fairly sound after being erected forty 
years ; their average life is between thirty and forty years. ^ 
It has stood in some cases for fifty years in bridge timbers 
in the colony, and in many cases thirty-five years (Mins. of 
Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. 128). Ironbark may be had in lengths 
of 60 or 70 ft. It has a certain gumminess in working. 
Weight, when green, 76 lbs. per cubic foot, and when 
seasoned about 71 lbs. 
1 None of the Austrahan telegraph poles or other timbers are 
artificially treated. 
