for Agricultural Purposes. 
387 
It attracted little attention in England, but the French farmers 
caught the idea for their sugar-beet crops ; and the same system, 
made much lighter and with wicker-work baskets for carriages, 
was used by M. Henri Corbin, near Paris. The idea was im- 
proved upon by M. Decauville, of Petit Bourg, and has been 
still further developed by Messrs. Fowler, of Leeds, who showed 
a system of steel rails and steel sleepers at Kilburn in 1879. 
I saw a somewhat similar system at Messrs. Howards' Works 
at Bedford, in 18G2, but there is no special system to be recom- 
mended. Having a line to lay in some asphalte works in Paris, 
I purchased the rails at the Creusot Works, and had the wag- 
gons made at my works ; and any Farmers' Club or local Agri- 
cultural Association can act in the same way, taking the borough 
architect or local surveyor as engineer, and avoiding other pro- 
fessional expenses. 
Suppose a line be laid from Bedford to Kimbolton on the 
high road, the local officials supplying the staff for a fair extra 
remuneration ; the result would pay the subscribers directly, 
and evidently the indirect advantages to all would be very 
great. 
At the present moment a miniature line of railway is running 
in Paris, from the Porte Maillot to the Jardin d'Acclimatation, 
in the Bois de Boulogne : the rails are laid upon longitudinal 
sleepers on the common road ; the gauge is 1 ft. 9 in. The 
carriages are on the Irish jaunting-car plan, hold 20 people, and 
are drawn by one mule at a trot. 
In 1867 Larmanjat's plan of an engine and train running upon 
one single central line of rail was tried in Paris ; but, although 
since worked in France and Portugal, it does not seem to have 
had any practical success. 
It is necessary to draw attention to the distinction between a 
simple railway and a tramway as laid in towns. The latter has 
often a double line of rails, and is therefore much more expensive. 
In light railways laid on high roads, double rails are only 
necessary for crossings and sidings. 
Light Railway in French Flanders. — There is a light railway 
running on the high roads from Lille to adjacent villages, Lille 
being the centre. 
The capital of the Company is 204,000Z. sterling. The 
gauge is that of the town tramway, 4 feet 8j inches, therefore 
not a narrow gauge. 
The tariffs may be subdivided into a highroad-tax and the 
price of transport. For goods the rate is Zd. per ton ; but this 
rate varies with the distance, Zd. being the minimum. It may 
be considered that the highroad-tax is represented by one-fourth 
the rate, and the price of transport the other three-fourths. 
