30 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VI 
(iv) Note on the above experiments. 
Finns longifolia, ‘ Chir.’—The sleepers have been in the line from 5 to 
6 years and, out of 912 laid down, 5 have been removed during that 
period. The only report of white-ants attacking the sleepers comes from 
those laid in the Ranaghat section, Eastern Bengal State Railway,’ where 
one sleeper was found to be severely and six slightly damaged. No dry 
or wet rot has as yet set in so that, as far as the process is concerned, 
the results to date are very satisfactory, when taking into consideration 
that this timber barely lasts two years when laid in the line in an untreated 
state. The reports all mention splitting of the timber, which is in some 
cases serious. This tendency of the timber to split has probably nothing 
to do with the treatment, but is an inherent fault of this species of timber. 
On the other hand, the somewhat unsatisfactory condition of these sleepers 
has, without doubt, been accentuated by insufficient care having been 
exercised in selecting them before treatment, and especially by including 
many sleepers which contained the core of the tree. Again, from 
results obtained by carrying out these experiments, it has been proved 
that in the case of this species of timber the sleepers should be laid heart- 
wood up and sap-wood down, as it is the exposure of the sap-wood to 
hot sun that increases the tendency of the timber to split ; moreover, by 
laying the heart-wood up a much harder bearing surface is presented to 
the rail-seat. The tendency of the rail to cut into the timber is' not 
serious, though bearing-plates are necessary. Taking into consideration 
the class of timber dealt with and the mistakes made in the selection 
and laying of the sleepers, the results to date may be considered extremely 
satisfactory. 
Pinus excelsa, ‘ Kail.’—The sleepers have been in the line from 5 to 
6 years and out of 677 laid down, two have been removed during that 
period. There are no reports of white-ants having attacked the sleepers. 
The tendency of the timber to crack is somewhat less marked than in the 
case of ‘ Chir,’ though the cut at rail-seat is generally deeper than is the 
case in that species. The spikes are holding well though, owing to the 
relative softness of the timber, service plates and screws are absolutely 
necessary. From results to date, the ‘ Kail ’ have shown slightly better 
results than 4 Chir,’ due to the greater tendency of the latter species to 
split. The results to date with Powellized ‘ Kail ’ are distinctly good, 
as the life of the untreated timber when used as a sleeper is not longer 
than that of ‘ Chir.’ 
Dipterocarpus tuberculatus, ‘ In ’ or 4 Eng.’—The sleepers were laid 
down nearly 6 years ago and up to date none have been removed. Their 
condition has changed little since being laid in the line : only fine surface 
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