60 FOKEST CULTUEE 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. I have no actual experience of the durability 

 of these timbers when used for sleepers j but I believe 



