Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/207

 CHAPTER XXVI.

THE TIMBER TREES OF AUSTRALIA.

THE TEWART TREE (Eucalyptus).

of the White Gum. Is found principally in the Swan River and King George's Sound district of Western Australia. It is a tree of straight growth and noble dimensions, yielding timber of from 20 to 45 feet in length by from 11 to 28 inches square.

The wood is of a yellowish or straw colour, hard, heavy, tough, strong, and rigid; the texture close, and the grain so twisted and curled as to render it difficult either to cleave or work. It is a very sound wood, possessing few or no defects, with the exception of a mild form of heart and star-shake at the centre, which would necessitate a small amount of waste, if it were required to reduce the logs into thin planks or boards; but, if employed in large scantlings, it will be found a most valuable wood, especially where great strength is needed.

The Tewart shrinks very little in seasoning, and does, not split while undergoing that process; it is also characteristic of this wood that it will bear exposure to all the vicissitudes of weather for a long time without being in any but the least degree affected by it. I have known it subjected to this severe test for fully ten years, and when afterwards converted, it opened out with all