34 
into the wood without previous boring, for fear of splitting the timber. Another 
drawback is its great inflammability. It may readily be dressed up to a smooth and 
glossy surface. 
Principal uses. —It is extensively used in buildings liable to attack by white 
ants; and I think if its value were better known in the coast districts it would be 
employed to a greater extent. It is used to an enormous extent a couple of hundred 
miles or more back from the coast for house-blocks, linings, and ceilings of bouses. 
Land carriage would effectually stand in the way of our profitably shipping this 
timber, even if an outside demand were to spring up for it, of which we have no 
evidence at present. It is one of the most luxurious firewoods I know of ; it burns 
well, and in burning emits a delicious fragrance very generally admired. My idea 
is that the small pieces produced in saw-mills would sell at a remunerative price, as 
a superior kind of fuel for drawing-rooms, &c., if people could only readily obtain 
it. This may appear to be only a trifling matter, but I think that minor uses of our 
timbers (and above all, utilisation of waste) should be looked to. In developing 
such enterprises of magnitude as the wood-block trade, or the getting out of railway 
sleepers and timbers for bridge work, we should not lose sight of the smaller 
possibilities of some of our timbers. Nevertheless, Mr. Forester J. G. Postletbwaite, 
of Grenfell, a man of great experience with western timbers, being asked to give a 
list of the best six fuel woods of his district, adds the caution :— 
I do not give Pine as a good fuel wood for general use as it is too dangerous, throwing out sparks 
and burning too fiercely, but it is the best for heating boilers and bakers’ ovens. 
The ordinary “ Colonial Pine ” of the Sydney market is the Richmond River 
Pine, called also Hoop Pine, White Pine, or Maryborough Pine ( Araucaria 
Cimninghamii) . Cypress Pine is often known as Colonial Pine in the districts in 
which it grows, and confusion has arisen, ere now, in interpreting “ Colonial Pine ” 
in contracts. 
White Ants and Cypress Pine. —I have already referred to the fact that 
while this pine is very resistant it is not absolutely so. Following is some evidence 
in the matter :— 
If only fully matured timber be used, that is the dark yellow-coloured wood, ants will not touch it. 
It is only the light yellow-coloured timber (which is cut from trees not fully grown or matured) that the 
ants will attack. I find from inquiries that white ants attack this timber either growing or when fallen, 
so far as the sap wood and bark is concerned. They will also attack the fresh cut timber before the sap 
dries. There are four varieties recognised in the western districts.—(J. V. de Coque.) These are white, 
red, and yellow (see C. robusta ), and black ( C. calcarata), which last timber Mr. de Coque issues a warning 
against. 
Both Black and White Pine are of a very durable quality, and are extensively used in the building 
trade, for which they are much prized on account of their white ant resisting qualities. I have examined 
pine timber that has been in use in buildings for forty years, and find it still perfectly sound. I consider 
it is a great oversight that this timber is not introduced by the building trades into Sydney, where the 
white ant is so destructive.—(Forester Condell, Narrandera.) 
A house in my district is built of hardwood, with the exception of the ceilings and lining-boards. 
A set of pigeon-holes, 9 feet x 4 feet, made out of imported pine, in one of the rooms, is, together with all 
the wood in the building, excepting our own colonial pine cut in the district, showing signs of white ants. 
