[Editor: This untitled item, about tree-felling, is an extract from the “Orchard, Vineyard & Garden” section published in The Leader (Melbourne, Vic.), 2 October 1909.]
[A controversy has often arisen]
A controversy has often arisen amongst axemen as to who has felled the largest tree. Many, of course, have felled trees of enormous size, but an Uxbridge (Tasmania) correspondent thinks the laurels have at last fallen to Mr. J. E. Jackson, employed at the Hill View saw mill.
He last week cut down a tree of swamp gum which would be hard to beat. Its measurements in circumference, after being felled off a shoe 25 feet from the ground, were as follow:—
At the butt end it measured 23 feet, at 50 feet farther up 19 feet, and at first limb (110 feet from the butt) 15 feet, thus giving an average girth of 19 feet for the whole trunk.
The writer was present when this giant of the forest was measured, so that the above figures can be relied upon as correct. One remarkable feature of this tree is that, although of immense size, it is of splendid shape, being almost round, while it is perfectly sound, even at the heart.
The mill referred to is at present cutting apple cases, and the cases cut from this one tree will number thousands.
Source:
The Leader (Melbourne, Vic.), 2 October 1909, p. 10 (column 3)
Editor’s notes:
butt = the end of a fixture, particularly a larger or thicker end, commonly a blunt end, usually acting as a base, bottom, support, or handle, such as a cigarette butt, fence post butt, or rifle butt [in this case, the butt of a tree]
girth = the circumference of an object; a person’s waist or middle (especially used regarding someone with a large or fat waist); the part of an animal around which the girth (a strap or band to hold a harness or saddle in place) is fitted
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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