9 HENRY DEANE. 
of government should be less in proportion as population 
increases, and thus the whole community should be the 
gainer. 
Closer settlement could not take place without railways, 
and when this question presents itself, the need for more 
railways has also to be considered. As pastoral lands 
become cut up and devoted to agricultural purposes, thereby 
inducing a larger population, the produce per acre increases 
in bulk, there is a larger amount of freight to be trans- 
ported, and the revenue to be derived therefrom justifies 
the construction of railways, where previously they would 
not pay. Wool being a high priced article valued by the 
pound, may be conveyed very considerable distances by 
road without the cost of carriage acting asa serious deter- 
rent to its production. Onthe other hand, because a pound 
or two only may be produced on an acre, it certainly does 
not pay to run parallel railways too close to one another, 
probably 50 miles is about the limit to which it would pay 
to bring railways into proximity, and therefore parallel , 
lines may perhaps be economically placed about 100 miles 
apart. When it comes to closer settlement, and instead of 
the land carrying one sheep to two or more acres the soil 
is cultivated and so made to carry from 10 to 20 bushels 
of wheat per acre, it pays to extend the railway system 
and put in parallel lines at closer intervals. The value of 
wheat or other crops does not permit of long cartage by 
road of more than about 15 miles, so that to serve the 
wheat districts the railway should be laid out so as to 
approach each spot within a radius of say, 15 miles, that 
is to say that parallel lines should not be more than double 
that distance or 30 miles apart. 
In laying out a scheme of railways we have also to bear 
in mind that there is another kind of traffic to be provided 
for. The climate of our country is so precarious that while 
