I 92 JKANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



he had already pointed out, easier. He further stated that he 

 would, if offered Norway and home timber sleepers, everything 

 else being equal, prefer the Norway. 



Captain Stirling thanked Mr Chrystal for his statement, 

 which gave the deputation speakers a line to go on, and stated 

 that the main point in the contentions of the deputation was that 

 the prices have gone up for foreign sleepers, but not in the same 

 proportion for home sleepers within recent date, that if the prices 

 were compared five or six years ago it would be found that they 

 were then almost identical, but that the foreign sleeper had been 

 rising in price, although there had not been a corresponding rise 

 in the price of home sleepers, and that the interests represented 

 in the deputation would do everything possible to put both 

 prices on a level. He then intimated that he would call upon 

 two or three speakers able to deal with the question of the 

 quality of the home-grown Scots pine and the question of 

 supplies, and stated that the remarks of these delegates would 

 go a long way towards dealing with the points raised by 

 Mr Chrystal. 



Mr Tom Jones, of Messrs James Jones & Sons, Ltd., Larbert, 

 said he thought it right to tell the representatives of the railway 

 companies exactly what was in his mind in speaking that day, 

 and, to put it shortly, it was simply this : — 



That he thought the railway companies of the United 

 Kingdom on principle should give to the home timber merchants 

 as good prices as they were giving to the foreign timber 

 merchants, for timber of equal value for their purposes. At the 

 present moment the home timber merchants were selling their 

 sleepers at 3s. and 3s. 2d., and, in some cases, were paying a 

 considerable amount of carriage to the depot of the railway 

 company, whilst the foreign merchant was getting about 4s. yd., 

 or a difference roughly of about is. 5d. per sleeper. Whilst he 

 was not prepared to prove that the home sleeper was superior 

 to the foreign one, although he believed that to be the case, 

 still the fact remained that the long experience of the railway 

 companies themselves proved that the home sleeper was just 

 as good as the foreign one. They were quite aware that they 

 could not supply all the railway companies' wants, but that was 

 no reason why they should not be able to supply v/hat they had 

 at as good prices as those given to the foreigners ; and if the 

 companies would give at the present time the same price for 



