402 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1888. 
perfectly creosoted pine wood of Scandinavia mainly 
on the ground of superior elasticity. It was, I suppose, 
on some such ground that a quantity of hard- 
wood (doon) sleepers which Mr. Nowell meant 
to have used on the Nawalapitiya-Nanuoya sec- 
tion were rejected and compensation made to him ? 
Kesiding as I do within a couple of hundred 
yards of the Colombo seaside railway, the quality and 
life-term of the Norwegian sleepers have engaged 
my special attention. I have constant proof before 
me in my " walks abroad," that the merit of 
elasticity in the soft-wood sleepers involves the 
serious demerit of liability to be crushed. In a 
great many cases, too,it becomes speedily evident that 
sleepers blackened with the creosoting process 
and solid looking on the outside are com- 
posed of white sap-wood internally, which 
soon decays from dry rot or some other 
form of " Eremacausis. " The process of 
removing crushed or decayed sleepers has 
gone on for years at a rate calculated to 
give serious thought to an onlooker, and to sug- 
gest the idea that hard-wood sleepers — 
made from timber not only hard but cal- 
culated to resist the aotion of damp earth 
and broken gneiss, laterite or sand bal- 
last—might be cheaper in the end, even if they 
cost twice or thrice the money to begin with. 
We have plenty of excellent timber trees 
in Ceylon, but, unfortunately, the mass of them are 
at such distances inland, with means of carriage so 
ineffective and expensive, that sleepers cannot be 
delivered where they are wanted at the 
railway price of E5 each. We actually want 
railway extension through the densely-forested 
regions of the north-west, north central, northern 
and eastern portion of the island, to secure good 
sleepers for our railways. At present a 
considerable portion of the railway line near 
Colombo is bare of top ballast, and we 
suppose the experiment is being tried of 
ascertaining whether the sleepers will notlast longer 
when fully exposed to atmospheric influences ? 
Iron and steel sleepers are being increasingly used 
in India, and I suppose experiments have been made 
with metal sleepers in Ceylon. But for a long 
time yet, if not always, wooden sleepers will be in 
request, and especially hard wood sleepers. The 
deodar (Himalayan cedar) of India seems to 
be closely analogous in quality to the Norway 
pine, being soft and easily crushed and disintegrated, 
while sal (Shorearolvssta), as a material for hard- 
wood sleepers, seems to occupy the same place on 
the Indian Continent that red-gum wood does in 
Australia. With deodar sleepers, it is asserted in 
an article in the Indian Engineer, correct gauge 
cannot be long maintained, and I suppose the same 
difficulty with Norway pine leads to the constant 
and expensive removals and renewals which I have 
seen for years (since the formation of the line, in fact) 
proceeding on the seaside line. From the article 
referred to, I make a suggestive extract: — 
" From experiments made some years ago, it was 
found that curves of from 1,000 to 1.500 feet radius 
required to be re-spiked to gauge every six months— 
at least, when laid with deodar sleepers — and, in some 
cases, where the traffic, was exceptionally heavy, the 
rails were half-an-iuch wide to gauge three months 
after being laid with new sleepers. The same curves 
laid with good sal sleepers were only from one-eighth 
\ .i oiic-ij aarter of an inch wide after two years' heavy 
wear ; and where the traffic was ordinary, the gauge 
remained correct for over three years. This speaks 
for itself both as regards economy and safety. 
" Afler many yearn' experience in railway working 
and thoroughly examining the statistics' compiled 
from time to time in Europe, America, and Australia, 
the writer can only confirm the opinion which he ex- 
pressed nearly twenty years ago ; that, for Indian 
Railways, no better wooden sleeper has ever been 
known, or is ever likely to be found, and that where- 
ever the use of wood is desirable, or compulsory, only 
the best Nepal sal should be used. First cost is always 
a serious consideration ; but it is high time that 
Railway Managers should know that cheap material 
is seldom, if ever, economical. Twenty-six years ago, 
with the exchange at two shillings per rupee, Sir A. 
M. Rendel expressed his opinion that it was cheaper 
to pay R5-8-0 for sal sleepers than to import creo- 
soted firs, and that it would pay better to give R6 
each for s&l sleepers than to import iron bowl sleep- 
ers from Europe. If this was the case in 1862. 
what can be said now with the exchange at Is 4id 
per rupee." 
The creosoted pine sleepers, discarded after a few 
years' use, realize nothing or next to it, while hard- 
wood sleepers of good quality after a service of 
a score or more of years would still have an 
appreciable selling value. The objection to 
Australian jarrah sleepers was their liability to 
split, but we should think that a proper mode of 
seasoning (perhaps in water ?) would obviate this 
difficulty. Col. Clarke in hia late report, it will 
be remembered, indicated the large and prevalent 
kumbuk tree as a material for Bleepers and we 
trust the timber of this magnificent tree may be so 
utilized. Some, at least, of our many hard-wood 
trees ought to be found suitable in quality and 
cost. To quote again :— 
"From tests made with different descriptions of 
sleepers at Boston, in 1886, it was found that hard- 
wood sleepers at one dollar to lj dollar each were 
cheaper than soft wood sleepers at from 50 to 75 
cents each. 
"Concerning the experiment Mr. Sargent sa^s: — 
' None of the ties which have been removed from the 
track were decayed, with the exception of the ailautus 
taken out in November, 1882, and this stick was de- 
fective and partly decayed when laid down. The other 
ties, when taken out, have been worn out by pressure, 
and not by decay. The whole mass of wood directly 
under the rail has been so crushed and disintegrated 
to the depth of the spike holes (5J in.), that the 
spikes have no hold upon the tie, which has to be 
abandoned. The experiment, if it has done nothing 
else, has confirmed the opinion of the most experi- 
enced Railway Engineers, that ties do not rot out, aud, 
therefore, ability to resist decay in contact with the 
soil, is a less important quality in a wood to be used 
for this purpose, than ability to resist a direct crush- 
ing and wearing pressure." ' 
The following confirms my own observation in 
regard to pine sleepers on the seaside line: — 
,; In addition to the crushing of soft wood sleepers 
complained of in America, creosoted fir sleepers in 
this country, are subject to a dry rot internally. It 
is nothing uncommon to find sleepers of this class 
quite hollow inside, although from outward appear- 
ances, they would be passed as sound, first-class, 
sleepers. Experienced men have often been deceived 
in this way, and although no reason has been given 
for this rapid deterioration which it appears has not 
been found to exist on English Railways, it is, no 
doubt, a source of danger in India on account of the 
difficulty of detecting it." 
The summing up of the article by "Railroader" 
in the Indian Engineer is as follows : — 
The advantages to be gained by the use of sal or 
any other similar sleeper, may be summarized as 
follows : — 
(1.) Less danger from fire. (2.) Correct gauge. 
(3.) Smooth road in consequence of less reuewals. 
(4.) Fewer thefts of spikes. ^5.) Reduced cost of 
maintenance. 
The four first-mentioned, not only represent less 
danger from accidents — aud it must be remembered 
that a very slight accident often costs from R10,000 
to R15,O0O— but the 2nd, and 3rd, also mean less 
wear and tear of both rolling stock and permanent- 
