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instance, for poles and shafts of light and heavy vehicles, for undercarriage work, 
swivel-trees, spokes and rims, axle beds, plough-bars, handles of axes, picks, shovels, 
forks, hoes and hammers, and all other similar purposes. It is further used for telegraph 
poles, for planking of bridges and jetties, and for structures in water. For railway 
sleepers it was formerly largely employed, but during late years it has given way to the 
wood of E. rostrata for this purpose. Settlers used the wood of E. globulus for fencing, 
especially for rails, where it is readily obtainable (Mueller). 
The following table taken from Rankine's Manual of Civil Engineering, shows 
the comparative durability of some kinds of timber for ship-building (in the old days), 
as estimated by the Committee of Lloyds : 
Twelve years : Teak, British Oak, Mora, Greenheart, Irpnbark, Saul. Ten 
years : Bay Mahogany, Cedar (Juniperus iirginiana). Nine years : European 
Continental Oak, Chestnut, Blue Gum, Stringybark (Eucalyptus obliquq), down to four 
years, which is the length of time assessed to Hemlock Pine (North America). 
In Tasmania, this timber is usually procured by hand-sawyers, who cut up the 
trees where they fall in the forest. It makes the very best planking for ship's bottoms. 
It has the property of swelling under water to such an extent that it becomes a matter 
of some difficulty to find the seams when the vessels are put on the slips for coppering. 
B.ut much judgment is required in selecting the timber. All pieces that contain 
heart-wood or sap-wood must be rejected. These are both worthless, and soon decay. 
The true serviceable Blue Gum must come from the circumference of the tree, about 
midway between the bark and the centre (Tenison Woods). 
In 1 865 there was taken out of the old Hobart Courthouse a beam of this wood 
which had remained there for forty-five years. It was as sound as when fresh felled. 
Planks from Tasmania, between 80 and 90 feet in length, were shown at the London 
International Exhibition of 1862. 
A sample of this timber, sent from Victoria to the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 
was tested by Mr. Allan Ransome. He reported : ' By way of testing the sample 
sent, a sleeper was adzed and bored, and a panel planed. Both experiments proved 
very satisfactory, the latter especially so, as the wood was f ound to plane as well against 
the grain as with &" 
The following account of this timber, written in the old ship-building days, 
by an English expert (Laslett) will be of interest : 
Eucalyptus ylobulus is a, tree of straight growth, and attains a height of 20Q to 300 feet, with a 
diameter of from 6 to 25 fest. Like the Jarrah (#. rnarginoia), it is characteristic of the large? t>v0es that, 
while they appear to be healthy and vigorous, and continue to increase in height an,d bulk, the centre wastes 
away near the root, and, when felled, they are often found hollow for some considerable distance up 
from the butt. The dimensions of the serviceable logs which the trees yield will, therefore, depend much 
upon its soundness ; but unquestionably very large scantlings can be procured from it if required. The 
wood is of a pale straw colour, hard, heavy, moderately strong, tough, and with the grain twisted or 
curled. In seasoning, deep shakes occur from the surface, and it shrinks and warps considerably. 
