split-stuff

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


timber sawn into lengths andthen split.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 159:

«`Sawed stuff' and `split stuff,' by which is meant timberwhich is sawn into regular forms and thicknesses, asflooring boards, joints, battens, &c., and that which is split into `posts and rails,' slabs, or paling. Some ofthe species of eucalyptus, or gum-trees, are peculiarlyadapted for splitting. The peppermint-tree ( Eucalyptuspiperita) and the `Stringy Bark' are remarkable for theperfectly straight grain which they often exhibit, and aresplit with surprising evenness and regularity into paling andboards for `weather-boarding' houses and other purposes, inlengths of six or eight feet by one foot wide, and half orone-third of an inch thick. . . . Any curve in a tree rendersit unfit for splitting, but the crooked – grained wood is bestfor sawing. . . . All houses in the colony, with fewexceptions, are roofed with split shingles.»

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

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