{Firewood, &c .......... 91,360tons} s. d. 



Props and Cap-pieces 19.302 pcs. ( oo oo^ A -n 



Laths and Slabs ...... 70^21 pcs. f 23 > 934 n 



Sawn Timber ......... 250,000 feet; 



/Firewood, &c .......... 12,744tons^ 



J Props and Cap-pieces 37,656 pcs. ( n , AQ , ., 



GiPPSLAND ...... < Laths and Slabs ...... 18,802 pcs. > 9 > 508 4 3 



(, Sawn Timber ......... 202,581 feet; __ 



Total Cost ........................ 444,886 14 1 



As a further evidence of the imperative necessity of finding 

 wood by a mode different to the present means of obtaining 

 it, I translate and condense a portion of a letter from an 

 accomplished mining engineer at Clunes (Wolfgang Mueller, 

 Esq.), a spot which once boasted of forest scenery: The fuel 

 required for the steam-engines alone at the mines of Clunes 

 amounts at the present rate of working to not less than 

 1,308,000 cubic feet annually. The nearest forest is ten miles 

 distant; the price per cord (of 128 cubic feet) is 27s. The 

 cost of transit of the above engine-fuel amounts alone to, 

 approximately, .10,000 pro anno, the whole expenditure 

 being about 15,000. The round wood, for subterranean use 

 in the mines of Clunes, now annually comes to 1 60,000 run- 

 ning feet, at a value of 2400; and this round wood cannot 

 now be obtained nearer than from 20 to 25 miles. The sawn 

 and split timber for the Clunes mines has to be carried quite 

 as far, adding about 700 to the wood expenses for these 

 mines, the total being probably not less than 20,000 annually ! 

 No allowance is, however, made in these calculations for the 

 domestic fuel of the miners. The price of wood is trebled 

 already by cartage at that spot. 



No natural local upgrowth, even if not destroyed by fire or 

 traffic, I am confident can come up to this rate of consump- 

 tion; and it is evident that annually the price for wood at 

 these mining works must increase; for many a mine this may 

 become a question altogether as to the possibility of its further 

 remunerative working. The mining operations, moreover, are 

 generally at a yearly increase through new gold discoveries in 

 the district spoken of and elsewhere. Although on the Clunes 

 mines the price of wood has not materially risen during the 

 last six years, it must be borne in mind that remuneration of 

 labour has sunk, indicating in reality a considerable increase 

 in the price of the fuel. New railway lines may certainly 

 bring wood for a time at moderate prices to the miners; but 

 this measure copes not with the real difficulty of the wood 

 question, but only defers it, as such sources of supply will 



