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Notes on Australian (particularly New South Wales) Timbers for 
Carriage Building. 
I reproduce a short paper T contributed to the Agricultural Gazette for 
August, 1894 :— 
There is undoubtedly an unwise prejudice in the colonies against colonial timbers for carriage¬ 
building, and this feeling is assented to by people who should know better, and who ought to look into the 
merits of the timbers for themselves. Instead of a man who orders a vehicle refusing to listen to his 
coacli-builder who suggests colonial timber, he should allow a conscientious and experienced coach-builder 
to exercise his discretion to some extent. The tradesman’s reputation is at stake, and he will not trifle 
with it. It is not difficult to see how such a state of things exists. Certain timbers in older countries are 
approved for certain uses ; it is easy to continue their use in a new country without troubling to ascertain 
whether a cheap, efficient, or even superior substitute is to hand. Some of our timbers have passed the 
experimental stage for carriage-building, and a user may run no risk with them. 
At the present time colonial timbers are less used in carriage-building than they formerly were, 
owing to the excellent supply of English and American timbers in this market. Notwithstanding this 
competition, some of our colonial timbers are w'orthy of a more prominent position in the coach building 
trade than they receive. I am not so foolish as to advocate their use for sentimental reasons, but I do not 
see why a timber should suffer because it is colonial. Let it be used or not on its merits. 
I suppose a timber could be put in no more trying situation than in one part or other of a carriage. 
In no trade is it more absolutely necessary that timber should be thoroughly seasoned than in that of 
carriage-building. Let us inculcate this lesson in regard to colonial timbers. Let our watchword in regard 
to them be, Season ! Shun unseasoned timber as you would damp clothing. Nature has been so prodigal 
to the people of New South Wales in regard to timbers that they sometimes lose sight of the fact that 
timber is timber after all, and that it is not ready for immediate use, like a crop of apples. Timber, each 
timber, has its season for cutting, just as wheat has. Don’t cut it all the year round, and then grumble at 
it if it warps and splits. Don’t use it almost as soon as it can be converted into sawn stuff, and then 
grumble at it if it twists or decays. 
Season, season, season timber, or, in other words, give it fair play. I practise what I preach. I 
use large quantities of colonial timbers; in fact, I use them wherever I can, but never until they are wall 
seasoned. 
I have jotted down a few notes in regard to colonial timbers for carriage-building, more as 
suggestions than anything else. I am collecting data as to the various colonial timbers used and deemed 
to be suitable to special trades; and I trust these few notes will provoke discussion, and cause additional 
information re carriage-building timbers to be sent in. We are going to be more aggressive. We shall not 
be satisfied with the consumption of our native timbers by our own people, but we desire to foster a trade 
in them with other couptries. 
Cedar (Gedrela australis , F.v.M. (C. Toona, Roxb.)—see Part III of this w r ork). 
This is the first and foremost amongst colonial timbers for carriage-building. Some grades of this, 
with clear, straight grain, dense and tough, make excellent framing for many of the parts of a carriage. In 
fact, I have been informed that Sydney cabs of excellent quality have been built of cedar alone, except the 
wheels and shafts. The features that recommend it for the special use of the carriage-builder are that it 
is light, and easily worked. It bends well for panels when seasoned. If a log be cut through the centre, 
then quartered, and flitches cut from each of these quarters, the result will be that panels even a quarter 
of an inch thick will not split at the ends more than an inch or so,—an important matter in an expensive 
and good timber. Mr. Samuel Lownds informs me that he examined some samples wdiich had been 
exposed to the sun and rain, and also to the drip of water from a galvanized-iron roof for a period of 
three and a half years. The outer surface was almost unrecognisable, but the ends of the boards were 
neither split nor shaken. A board was planed up, and it had not deteriorated in the slightest, the colour 
and grain remaining perfect. Comparing cedar with the best English ash, the former timber remains 
sound under treatment which would cause the latter to be rotten. Our Sydney timber merchants might 
be reminded that cedar which is left floating in the harbour deteriorates for the purpose of the carriage- 
builder. The salt penetrates the timber, and in best grade work the painting and varnishing suffers 
accordingly. 
