24 FOREST CULTURE AND 
most likely be needed within the next few years for 
this purpose. 
‘¢The number of sleepers which are used annually 
on the existing lines of railway, to replace decayed 
sleepers, is about forty thousand; and there can be no 
doubt that renewals at this rate at least must be con- 
tinued for many years to come. Each sleeper con- 
tains three and one eighth cubic feet of timber, and 
for renewals Red Gum timber is used exclusively, the 
principal supplies being obtained from the Murray 
River. 
«‘The length of fencing, which is renewed annually 
on the existing lines, may be taken at eighteen miles, 
and the quantity of timber in a mile of fencing is about 
three thousand cubic feet ; the timber used in renew- 
ing fencing is Messmate, Peppermint, and Stringy- 
bark, and the durability of these timbers when used 
for fencing may be taken at ten years. 
‘‘There are at present nearly one hundred and 
twenty miles of new railway in course of construction, 
and sixty miles more will be undertaken before the 
close of this year. The new line of railway, the 
North-eastern, will be one hundred and eighty-one 
miles long, and for each mile two thousand sleepers 
are required, which at three and one eighth cubic feet 
per sleeper gives six thousand two hundred and fifty 
cubic feet per mile ; or, for the whole length of one 
hundred and eighty-one miles, one million one hundred 
and thirty-one thousand two hundred and fifty cubic 
feet will be required for sleepers. The timber to be 
used in these sleepers will be Red Gum, Iron-bark, or 
Box. Ihave no actual experience of the durability 
of these timbers when used for sleepers ; but I believe 
