62 THIRD REPORT ON FOREST OPERATIONS 



circular to the officers of districts regarding the branding of 

 sleepers, of which the following is an extract : — 



" At the time of passing the sleepers, they must be branded 

 with a letter showing the kind of wood according to the table 

 annexed. Zinc labels will be prepared, which, being nailed to the 

 sleeper, will remain legible even after its decay. These will not 

 supersede the branding, but be used in addition to it." 



Mr Eoss, resident engineer at Palghat, is working the Chennat 

 Nair Forest on contract, where there is a large supply of well- 

 grown eriil (14), venge (8), kara-marda (5). He conducts the 

 operations with energy and judgment. The work is occasionally 

 inspected by myself, or the assistant in charge of the Anamalai 

 range. Permission has also been given to the same company to 

 obtain timber for the north-west line from the forests of Nuggur 

 in Mysore, which have lately been placed under the care of Dr 

 Oswald. Mr Brice, resident engineer at Bellary, met me at 

 Hurryhur, and we concluded the arrangements with the Mysore 

 Government. The large and extending timber trade on the 

 Tumbhadra is forming a new and interesting feature of the 

 country. 



Teak, which is more durable than any description of fir, 

 although prepared with creosote, and the best of all woods for 

 sleepers, is considered by the officials of the company too ex- 

 pensive. 



Sal, the next best, is only procurable in any quantity in Orissa. 

 The agent of the Madras Eailway has been negotiating with 

 Messrs Binny and Co. for the purpose of procuring it from the 

 district of Ganjam. The pyengadu of Burmah, which Lieut. 

 Williams recommended in his letter to the chief secretary,* as a 

 superior wood, and suitable for railway purposes, is identical 

 with the erul of Malabar, the jambe' of Canara, and is the Inga 

 xylocarpa of botanists. 



Jarrah or Yarrah {Eucalyptus rostrata), a wood from "Western 

 Australia, was specially noticed in a despatch from Lord Stanley 

 to this Government (9th Jan. 1859), and furnished to the agents 

 of the railways in this presidency. This pseudo mahogany of 



* E. M. C. No. 644, dated 18th Aug. 1859. 



