22 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jaw., 1899. 
HOW TO TAKE OFF A SHEET OF BARK. 
Tf the sap is well up, this is an easy process. First cut the bark through to 
the sapwood at a height of 2 or 3 feet from the ground. Next prop your 
forked sapling against the tree, and, standing on the forks, cut round the tree 
at whatever height you wish your sheet of bark to be. Then make a perpen- 
dicular cut, connecting the upper and lower cuts. Be sure that the bark is 
cut quite through, or in taking it off it will be almost sure to split when you 
reach the unsevered part. Now take a sapling about the size of a hoe handle, 
and cut one end to a wedge-shape, but only flatten one side. 
If both sides are flattened, there is danger of the pole piercing the bark 
and splitting it. The edge of the perpendicular cut may now be opencd flap- 
like with the axe. Then detach the bark by inserting the pole between the 
bark and the wood, moving it regularly from top to bottom. If the sap is weil . 
up, the bark will come off clean. It will be necessary for one man to stand 
by to prevent the detached sheet from falling on its back on the ground, in 
which case it will usually split in half. If alone, put a widely forked prop 
behind it and work very gently at the last. ‘The sheet will then slip off and 
lean against the tree. Should the bark stick at any point, a gentle pounding 
on the outside with the back of an axe will cause it to become detached. Now 
you haye your sheet of bark, but it is a stiff cylinder, and any attempt to 
flatten it out will result in its destruction by cracking in several places. To 
avoid this (if stringy bark), tear off a quantity of the rough outer bark, lean 
the sheet against the tree, green side in, and set fire to the rough fibrous bark 
piled inside it. Keep the fire going as long as small reports are heard. This 
process steams the bark, after which it may be laid on its back, and it will 
generally open out flat as a pancake. It is a good plan to shave off all the 
rough outside fibre with a shovel, because the soft covering retains moisture in 
wet weather. Pile several sheets one on the other, and load the heap with 
logs. They will thus retain their flat shape, and become as stiff as boards. 
Two good men can easily take off forty sheets a day. With box bark, the 
burning is not so necessary ; sti!l a good steaming does no harm. 
In the early days of Gympie Gold Field, I have taken off sheets of 
ironbark, but this is laborious work, owing to the thick rough outer bark which 
has to be chopped off before attempting to remove the sheet, and even then 
the result is not satisfactory, as this bark readily splits in removal. 
Where there is plenty of ti-tree, or paper bark, the process of humpy- 
roofing is much simpler. The thin paper-like bark laid over the sapling rafters 
and battens forms a covering perfectly impervious to rain. 1 once lived 
through a rainy season for six months under such a roof, and no rain ever got 
through it. 
The bark being ready, a few rough posts and saplings form the frame- 
work, and now the greenhide cut into strips has to do its duty. Through 
holes bored in the bark, a strip of hide is passed, a wooden toggle being 
inserted on the outside, and the ends of the hide tied firmly round the sapling 
battens. The sides of the hut are formed in the same manner, and a couple 
of sheets form the ridge-capping. To keep the roof in position, three heavy 
saplings are laid longitudinatiy on each side, and held together by doglegs 
pune on to them with wooden treenails. Such a hut can be built in a day. 
ith the interior arrangements this paper need not deal. 
PREPARING THE TOOLS. 
The first thing to do is to set up the grindstone; the next, to sharpen and 
set the saw. Both the style of sharpening and setting depend upon the nature 
of the timber to be worked. For hardwood a needle point is required, and a 
flat setting sufficient to allow the saw to run easily without jamming. [or 
pine, a broad tooth and wider setting are needed. The handles of the saw 
should be about cight to ten inches long wedges into the eyes. The running- 
out axe requires a stout handle some 4 feet long to aftord good leverage 
power. 
