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Walnut, and it is taken for that timber when polished. It would last indefinitely 
in dry situations. It is really valuable for panelling, and perhaps framing. 
Blackwood is strikingly like American Walnut in most respects, in fact the former 
is probably often substituted for the latter without the purchaser being any the 
wiser, the incentive being that Walnut brings about four times the price in the 
Sydney market. If Blackwood be treated with lime-water or potash, the deception 
will be complete. Blackwood is pushing itself forward on its own merits, but it 
has to fight against a good deal of the prejudice which is shown to Australian 
timbers, largely caused by unseasoned timber having so often been supplied. It 
requires fair play in the matter of seasoning, and w ill well repay any reasonable care 
expended on it. The similarities of Walnut and Blackwood are not confined to 
outward appearance, for their properties appear much the same, hence a knowledge 
of the many uses to which the former timber is put is useful as a guide to the 
capabilities of our Blackwood. A good deal of it possesses a “ broken grain ” and 
satiny lustre which are exceedingly ornamental. Nothing, in my opinion, resembles 
the figure of picked samples so strongly as the South African mineral crocidolite, 
which, as is well knowm, has a characteristic and beautiful appearance. The figured 
wood is cut into veneers. It takes a fine polish. A drawback to this valuable 
timber is that it does not take the glue as well as many others. Bosewood behaves 
similarly to glue; I do not know the reason of this, it may he from the presence of 
oil cells. It was largely used for oil casks, chiefly for the Hobart whaling trade. 
The Liglitwood was chiefly used for this purpose. As regards its use for wine casks, 
Mr. Thomas Hardy, of Adelaide, has pointed out that this timber is open to the 
objection that it leaks through the pores when sawn ; but it is tight when split on 
the quarter. Mr. Hubert de Castella, the well-known Victorian vigneron, in giving 
evidence before the Vegetable Products Commission of that State says :— 
I do not think that Lightwood is a very good wood for casks; it gives a slight taste ; I tried 
Liglitwood; I had thirteen large casks made from Lightwood, and we exchanged them for Oak. Even 
after a year or two, and wine had been in it, we thought it gave a slight taste to the wine—an oily taste. 
Subsequently, Mr. de Castella said :— 
On a former occasion I made a few remarks on casks, a subject which is of the greatest importance 
to the wine industry in this country. I was in hope that this might have provoked some discussion; 
but in this I have been disappointed ; and now again I venture to urge the importance of the matter. 
.I have used Blackwood since 1863, and found it in every respect equal to Oak. By 
Blackwood I do not mean what is often supposed to be the same, namely, Lightwood, which is utterly 
unsuitable for wine, though good enough for tallow. 
As a charcoal wood, its charcoal burns with intense heat; but almost as fast 
without blowing as it does with, which is of course objected to by blacksmiths. 
Blackwood is not proof against white ants. Its specific gravity, according to Baron 
von Mueller, is from - 664 to ‘777, i.e., the weight of a cubic foot of the dry timber 
varies between 41 lb. and 48 lb. Mr. Gamble gives the weight per cubic foot of an 
Indian-grown specimen at 36 lb., and states that it was cut from a tree 20 years old, 
