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2 kilometres of branch line were laid in two days by 

 two men, and trains of heavily laden trucks pass 

 over it without accident. One kind of truck serves 

 for the carriage of material of all kinds. 



When used for the carriage of logs a horizontal 

 revolving plate is fixed on the top, furnished either 

 with an iron crescent-shaped support or a horizontal 

 bed on which the ends of the log i-est between 

 movable vertical arms. The revolving plates admit 

 of a pair of trucks with the log loaded upon them 

 being taken round curves. 



For lifting the logs on to the trucks, numerous 

 devices have beeu invented. The two in use in the 

 Kottenforat, consist of a double crane, which raises 

 up the log vertically, and an inclined plane, up which it 

 is rolled. 



The crane, which is capable of lifting 9,900 lb. is 

 placed astride the log. It consists of two uprights 

 joined at the top by a movable pin. The uprights 

 are made of wood, strengthened with iron, and they 

 are hinged into horizontal pieces, which rest upon the 

 ground. The log which has been previously rolled 

 on the rails, is gripped by a powerful iron pincers, 

 and is then raised by chains and pulley worked by 

 two hand levers. By this ajjparatus logs of consider- 

 able size are easily raised to the required height by 

 two men, working at the two levers. The log having 

 been raised high enough to clear the top of the 

 truck (2i-3 feet) the two trucks are passed under- 

 neath, and the log is gently lowered upon them. It 

 is then secured by chains terminating in conveniently 

 shaped wedges which are driven into the log to 

 make all fast. An oak log measuring about 36 cubic 

 feet was raised upon the trucks and secured in four 

 minutes. Each half of the apparatus is easily carried 

 by one man. 



The inclined plane is formed by two bars or beams 

 built of iron and wood, resting partly on the ground 

 and partly on the truck. To each beam is attached 

 a chain which is passed round the log and over a 

 wheel, and the chains are then hauled in by means 

 f hand levers similar to those used with the crane 

 previously described. The log is thus rolled up over 

 the trucks, when the beams are removed and the 

 log is allowed to lie between the rests on the revolving 

 plates. This arrangement is regarded as safer for 

 the workmen than the crane. 



A third arrangement, which from its easy construc- 

 tion may perhaps be more suitable for work iu India, 

 but which is not in use in the Kottenforst, consists 

 of a tripod. From the apex a set of pulleys is sus- 

 pended, by means of which the log is raised. 



When a sufficient number of logs have been loaded 

 up, the trucks are coupled together, a coupling pole 

 being put in when the logs project, so that the 

 ordinary chains and hooks are too short. The horse 

 is attached by a chain to the last truck, so that the 

 driver is able to see the whole train before him. 

 It is said that on level ground one horse will draw a 

 train loaded with about five tons of timber. The 

 short train on which we travelled, was formed of 

 three pairs of trucks with logs aggregating about 

 110 eubic feet of oak timbor, and it was dragged 

 along on the main line at a sharp trot without slack- 

 ing speed at the curves, not the ^slightest difficulty 

 being experienced. The trucks are provided with brakes 

 to be used in case of necessity. 



In order to carry fuel, a platform about 12 feet 

 long and 4 feet wide, is laid on a pair of trucks. 

 When earth or gravel has to be carried, an ingeniously 

 arranged tip cart is substituted for the platform: 



The cost of the wbole line laid down, including 

 rolling stock and all apparatus, was 25,000 Marks 

 paid to the manufacturer, plus 800 Marks expended 

 on the earthwork for the main line. This corresponds 

 to an average cost of .£252 per running mile, and 

 it is estimated that the plant will last 15 years. — Indian 

 Forester. 



[It is possible that a similar tramway might be 

 profitably used in some of the forests io the North- 

 past portions of Ceylon.— Ed,J 



Dispersion of Plants by Birds. — In an interesting 

 article iu Nature (Dec. 16, p. 151) on the dispersion of 

 plants by birds, Mr. D. Morris points out that the pi- 

 mento industry in Jamaica depends entirely for its ex- 

 istence on the offices of frugivorus birds. It is thought 

 by the planters in the island that the seeds in passing 

 through the birds undergo some fermentation which fits 

 them better for vegetation than those gathered im- 

 mediately from the tree, and that no other plan is likely 

 to produce good pimento walks, although it has been 

 shown in the Botanical Garden there that young 

 plants can be raised otherwise if carefully treated. 

 — I'liarmaceutical Journal. 



Firming the Soil. — Considering that the best far- 

 mers so long knew the advantage of rolling their 

 fields after seed sowing, it was always a matter of 

 surprise that the practice had never become part of 

 good gardening, and still more of a surprise when Mr. 

 Henderson's paper on firming the soil appeared in 

 our columns, at the objections some made agains it. 

 Yet the evidences of the value of such a practice 

 could be stumbled against almost any day. The 

 American Agriculturist recently gives an illustrattion 

 of this, which is worth repeating here. " Peter 

 Henderson, the author of ' Gardening for Profit,' iu 

 insisting upon the great importance of firming the 

 soil over seeds and plants, writes us: 'It was rather 

 an amusing incident that first brought to the attention 

 of a truck farmer, of Charleston, S. 0., the importance 

 of firming the soil. It seems that a gentleman of 

 color, having the constitutional weakness for chickens 

 peculiar to some of his race, got into a hen-roost 

 and helped himself bountifully. In evading a high- 

 road, he struck a bee-line through a newly sown 

 turnip field, where he left tracks that led to his detec- 

 tion. But these tracks did more. They showed to 

 Squire Buncombe, whose chickens had sufifered, that 

 wherever the foot of the colored citizen had fallen, 

 there he had a "stand" of turnips and nowhere 

 else (for they had been loosely sown and the weather 

 was dry). The lesson was heeded, and has been worth 

 tens of thousands of dollars to the farmers of South 

 Carolina, who, it seems, were never before sufficiently 

 alive to the importance of firming the soil until the 

 unfortunate negro showed them the way,' " — Gardeners' 

 MoptMt/. 



Fiji and its Industries : Opium, Bang, and Gdn- 

 JAH. — The Governor of Fiji gave his official consent 

 on July 28 to two Ordiances affecting these drugs. 

 Ordiance XI. 1886 is "To prohibit the growth and use 

 of bang or gunjah. Bang consists of the dried leaf of 

 the Indian hemp, and gunjah or gunja of the flower- 

 ing tops of the female plant. They are favourite nar- 

 cotics of the coolies from Hindustan. Indian hemp, 

 Cannabis Sativa is the same species as that grown in 

 Europe for fibi-e, but it does not excrete its narcotic 

 resin in cold climates. A penalty is now imposed in 

 Fiji on everyone proved to be growing bang or gunja for 

 private use or otherwise, or found in possession of or 

 selling or giving to any person either of these arti- 

 cles, £25 or imprisonment for three months for the 

 first offence, and £60 or six months imprisonment for 

 the second. Kegistered medical practitioners and 

 registered licensed chemists and druggists may sell 

 bang or gunjah for purely medical purposes, but the 

 burden of proof rests on the vendor. Police officers 

 may visit suspected places and seize all the prohibited 

 articles found ; owners or managers may destroy any 

 found growing on their plantations ; and part of the 

 fine paid into court may be awarded to informers. Or- 

 dinance XIV. 1886, " to amend Ordinance VI. of 1878 

 with regard to Indian Immigrants, " by section 6 

 imposes a penalty of £20 or three months imprison- 

 ment on any Indian immigrant found in possession of 

 opium or any preparation coqtaining opium or any of 

 its ingredients, and the same punishment on any person 

 selling or giving the same to an immigrant. Any 

 opium or its preparations found iu possession of an 

 immigrant may be seized by plantation managers 

 or the police. The manufacture of copra has been 

 utterly abandoned in some quarters, by Europeans 

 and natives alike, for more remunerative enterpriees, 

 ^Ohmiit and Druggist, 



