Timber.

The principal timber trees of Tasmania, such as the Blue Gum, Stringy Bark, White Gum, or Gum-topped Stringy Bark, Swamp Gum, and Peppermint Tree, furnish a hard, close-grained and strong timber, which is used in ship-building and house-building, and generally for all the purposes to which Oak is applied in England. Huon Pine is very durable, and is employed for boat-building, for which it is peculiarly adapted, and for house-fittings, &c. Blackwood makes excellent naves and spokes, cask staves, &c. Native Myrtle is valuable for house-fittings. Swamp Gum yields the finest palings and other split-stuff in the world. Sassafras affords timber for house-fittings, bench-screws, lasts, &c. Celery-topped Pine is chiefly used for masts and ship's spars. The different kinds of timber in the following list are arranged according to their value. The diameter of the trees is measured at the height of 4 feet from the ground.

Blue Gum.—(Eucalyptus Globulus, Lab.)—The common name is derived from the bluish-grey color of the young plants. Diameter, 5 to 30 feet; average of those felled for use, 6 feet. Height, 150 to 350 feet; sp. gray. about .945 to 1,655. Abundant in the southern and south-western parts of the Island. Cut for house-building, it sells at 8s. to 10s. per superficial feet—for shipbuilding, at 12s. to 14s.

Stringy-Bark.—(Eucalyptus gigantea, Hook. fils.)—Common name taken from the coarse fibrous bark. Diameter, 4 to 24 feet; average of those sawn, about feet. Height, 150 to 300 feet Sp. gray., about '905. Abundant everywhere upon hilly ground. Price, the same as that of Blue Gum.

Swamp Gum.—White Gum.—(Eucalyptus viminalis, Lab.—Common names from its growing to perfection in humid situatons—and from its gigantic white trunk. Diameter, 4 to 18 feet; average, aboiut 5½ feet. Height, 150 to 300 feet: sp. gray, about '885. Growing in foretsts with other kinds of ucalyptus, in rather humid localities. A small variey called the Manna page 109 Tree grows abundantly about Hobart Town and in other places, on dry ground. Price, for general purposes, the same as that of Blue Gum; 5-feet palings, 6s. to 8s per 100.

Gum-topped Stringy-Bark, sometimes called White Gum.—(Eucalyptus gigantea, var.)—A tree resembling the Blue Gum in foliage, with rough bark, similar to Stringy-Bark, towards the stem. It has been found recently that this wood possesses nearly all the properties of strength, solidity, and durability of the Blue Gum—whilst being straight-grained, it is much easier to work. It is very abundant about D'Entrecnsteaux Channel. An old plank from the Hcbart Town Wharf, which has been twenty years in use, may be seen in the Trophy. Price, about the same as Blue Gum.

Peppermint Tree.—(Eucalyptus amygdalina, Lab)—Common name from the odor of the leaves Diameter, 3 to 8 feet; average, about 4 feet. Height, 100 to 150 feet; sp. gray., about .895. The Peppermint Tree abounds throughout the Island, on gravelly and other poor soil. Price, about the same as that of Swamp Gum.

Huon Pine.—(Dacrydium Franklinii, Hook, fil.—So called because it was first discovered on the banks of the Huon River. Diameter, 3 to 8 feet; average, about 4½ feet. Height, 50 to 120 feet; sp. gray., about .650. Abundant in portions of the south-western part of the Island. Price, about 16s. per 100 superficial feet, in the log.

Blackwood.—(Acacia melanoxylon, Br.)—So called from the dark-brown color of the mature wood, which becomes black when washed with lime-water. In moist, shaded localities, the tree grows rapidly, and the wood is of a much lighter color. Hence this variety is called "Lightwood," (in Hobart Town,) to distinguish it from the other. Diameter, 1½ to 4 feet; average, about 2¼ feet. Height, 60 to 130 feet. Sp. grav., about 885. Found throughout the Island, but not abundantly in any one locality. Price, about 12s. to 14s. per 100 feet superficial, in the log.

Native Myrtle.—(Fagus Cunninghamii, Hook.)—Common name from the fancied resemblance of its dark-green leaves to those of the myrtle. Diameter, 2 to 9 feet; average, about 3½ feet. Height, 60 to 180 feet. Sp. grav., about .795. The Native Myrtle exists in great abundance throughout the western half of the island, growing in forests to a great size, in humid situations. Price, about 16s. per 100 feet superficial, in the log.

Celery-Topped Pine.—(Phillocladus rhomboidalis, Rich.)—So called from the fancied similarity in form of the uppor part of the branchlets to celery. Diameter, 1¼ to 2 feet; average, about 1½ feet. Height, 60 to 150 feet. Sp. grav, about .655. Rather common in damp forests in the southern parts of the Island, and in some sub-alpine localities.