226 
TIMBER 
brown to dull red. The sapwood is of a light colour. It 
polishes well. Warps and shrinks badly. 
Weight, seasoned, about 57 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Cedar or Red Cedar {Cedrala australis) somewhat resembles 
Honduras mahogany, but is lighter. It is easily worked 
and durable and used for the better kinds of furniture, 
house joinery and cabinet-making, and extensively for panels 
in railway carriages. It is one of the best of the native 
softwoods for panelling and interior work. Some of the 
wood is handsomely marked. 
Weight about 28 lbs. to 35 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Rosewood (Dijsoxylon fraserianum) is a similar timber to 
red cedar, of reddish colour, and obtains its name from the 
odour of the wood when freshly cut. It is used for similar 
purposes to cedar, but is heavier. 
Weight about 50 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Red Bean {Dysoxylon mudleri) is a similar wood to, and 
often sold as, cedar. Of a uniform deep red colour, it is a 
good furniture wood, and can be used for the same purposes 
as any of the softer mahoganies. When freshly cut the 
timber smells like a Swede turnip, hence it is sometimes 
called Turnip wood. 
Onion Wood {Owenai cepiodora) derives its name from the 
smell of the wood, which, however, does not last long. It 
is often sold as bastard cedar. 
White Beech. (Gmelina leicliliardtii), a tree of 100 to 150 ft. 
high and 3 to 5 ft. diameter, furnishes timber which 
can be put to use soon after being cut, although it is better 
for seasoning, and is in common use for ordinary carpentry 
purposes, roof-stocks for carriages and wagons ; it is also 
used for vats and casks, and for some classes of coopers' 
