224 
TIMBER 
Grey Gum {E. pro^nnqua) is very like red ironbark, but 
can be detected by its brittleness — a chip of grey gum 
bent between the fingers will snap instantly ; it is, how- 
ever, very durable and much appreciated for piles and 
girders of bridges, etc. It also makes good railway 
sleepers. 
Weight, seasoned, about 65 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Murray Red Gum {E. rostrata) is the common river gum 
of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. The timber 
is in colour of various shades of red, and is said to resist 
white ants, but of its general qualities there is difference of 
opinion. It is difficult to work, but is used for general 
engineering and building work and for street paving. Its 
average hardness, according to tests made by M. Eudeloff, 
lies between ash and hornbeam. It is close and inter- 
locked in grain and liable to gum veins, but is considered 
the durable wood of Victoria. The New South Wales 
variety shells badly and shrinks unevenly. 
Weight about 56 to 60 lbs. per cubic foot, seasoned. 
Forest Red Gum {E. tereticornis) is of a deep red colour, 
hard and inlocked in grain, and suitable for the same 
purposes as Murray red gum. 
Sydney Blue Gum (E. saligna) produces a timber of pale 
red colour, straight in grain, easy to work, and which as a 
hardwood is much appreciated by carpenters and joiners ; 
it rarely splits or warps after drying, but is short in grain, 
and under some conditions decays quickly ; for instance, 
blue gum telegraph poles have a life of only eight or nine 
years, and in swampy districts will only last three or four 
years. It is most widely used in the colony for the felloes 
of wheels, and it is also useful for furniture making. 
Weight about 66 lbs. per cubic foot. 
