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there is a home demand for some produce which steps should undoubtedly be taken to have supplied, 

 without having recourse to imported material, I refer here especially to the timber required for the 

 Jamaica Railways, both in sleepering the permanent way and in constructing the rolling slock. Con- 

 cerning the latter, I have no information as to the class of timber nor the amount required — but with 

 regard to the sleepers, the late Director of the Public Works Department has bean good enough to 

 afford the following information : — 



" Before the Government purchased the line, the Cashaw sleepers alone were used, except on the 

 part between Spanish Town and Old Harbour, in which pot sleepers had been used. 



" ' The cashaw sleepers are very durable, but unsuitable on account of the impossibility of getting, 

 in suflEcient quantity, straight pieces of sufficient size. An attempt was made early by the Government 

 to procure sawn sleepers of other hardwoods than cashaw, but very few, if any, were used, as the price 

 asked was considered high, and it was impossible to get any guarantee as to the time within which the 

 sleepers would be delivered. It was then decided to use creosoted sleepers, which were procured from 

 England of satisfactory quality at the price of 48. 2d. each, including fi-eight and all other charges. 



" ' These sleepers give satisfactory results, they are light to handle, and the elasticity of the wood 

 enables the spike to take a firm hold, which is not always the case with hardwood sleepers. Cashaw 

 is the only hardwood that has had a full trial, and that wood has been abandoned for the reason stated 

 above. Recent offers have been made to supply, hardwood sleepers at reasonable prices, and arrange- 

 ments are being made for procuring a supply, but, I doubt that they will supersede the creosoted 

 sleepers.' 



" From this it appears the matter of using hardwood for sleepers is not lost sight of, and I would 

 strongly recommend that a series of experiments be undertaken with sleepers of various hardwoods along 

 the Porus line, where it runs through savannah forest. For such a purpose it will be sufficient to adze 

 the sleepers without going to the expense of sawing them, and once laid it will be a matter of careful 

 and continued watching to determine the comparative value of each species for this particular use. 

 Creosoted sleepers have not proved a complete success in all parts of the world. In the dry districts 

 of central India the creosote has a tendencj'^ to come to the surface in times of great heal, and then to 

 be washed away by the torrential rains that follow. Without comparing the climate of southern Ja- 

 maica with that of Central India, it is still possible to imagine the creosoted pine sleepers acting similarly 

 in the districts of Vere during such droughts as have happened in 1884 and 1885, and the sequel to the 

 loss of the creosote is that the rail crushes into the wood and has to be moved into a fresh sleeper. 

 Hardwoods on the other hand, though expensive to handle, are durable and solid, once in their place, 

 and it is for the consideration of the Government how to encourage their utilisation in this and similar 

 ways. With careful treatment the savannah forests could be made to yield cashaw of good size and 

 regular growth, and among the various species grown in the lower levels of the parish of St. Catherine 

 there are other species that will be found suitable with the cashaw, and with the same qualities of 

 toughness and general durability, and that are not attacked by insect life. 



"There are certain species which deserve special consideration, and among these I would especially 

 mention the cedar (Cedrela odorata) as being one of the most important woods in the colony. Not 

 only in Jamaica and the West Indies, throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions, the generality of 

 timbers are so hard, and heavy as to render them unfit for conversion into small articles of common use, 

 while of the species which are neither ver}' hard nor very heavy, the majority are useless, so far as the 

 qualities of the wood are concerned, being spongj% open grained, and without strength in any direction, 

 The species of wood possessing the qualities of strength, elasticity and lightness are few in numbers 

 and when found, as in the cedar, united with beautiful grain and fragrant exhalation, it naturally follows 

 that the wood is in great demand. Like its congeners, the Toon of the East Indies {Cedrela Toona) 

 and the Sydney Cedar of New South Wales (C. austraUs) it is largely used for all pm-poses, and it is 

 to be hoped that the West Indian species will not share the fate of the Australian one, which is now 

 only to be found in certain undisturbed spots for the most part up the out-of-the-way feeders of the 

 rivers from the coast ranges in New South Wales and Queensland. Already in Sydney it is considered 

 a bois de luxe, and scarcely used, except in wainscot and other work of interior finish, whereas it was 

 formerly in general use, where now redwood from California is employed. There is no doubt a large 

 supply of Cedar trees in Jamaica, but they are for the most part mature trees, numbers of them de- 

 caying. But there is, so far as I have seen, a dearth of \^oung cedar plants, and even of middle sized 

 trees. With the increase of penkeeping the pastures have been preserved from all foreign growth, and 

 the natural regeneration of such species as prefer an open forest waste has been seriously interfered with. 

 It is possible, therefore, at no distant time that cedar timber will not be forthcoming to supply the 

 quantity the island is called upon for, and on this account I would urge on pro^jrietors the protection 

 of such seedlings as appear even in their pastures, until such time as from their height or thickness of 

 stem they can withstand the cattle. It is a hardy species growing in rocky soil where few others can 

 exist, and I believe will repay attention. 



" Mahogany is another wood which deserves attention. In the past, Jamaica mahogany was much 

 prized in English markets, where it fetched, when good, u higher price than the Central American 

 timber, on account of its hardness and curly mottled grain. Of late years the small amount of wood 

 that has reached England from this source has been of very inferior quality, and in London the brokers 

 are of opinion that all the good timber has been cut out. ... In other West Indian islands, 

 not ably in Barbados and Antigua, mahogany has been largely planted and protected, and in J amaica 

 I am sure that proprietors would do well to follow the example, or at any rate, even if they do not 

 sow or plant they might well protect the young natural growth of mahogany and other valuable wood 

 on their estate, or, as I suggest elsewhere, force their tenants to such action before the rendition of 

 yam clearances. 



" LogwQod^ again, is a tree which might with advantage be made the object of intelligent study 



