Part II.] Pearson: Antiseptic Treatment of Timber. 
13 
Dipterocarpus tuberculatus. 
The In wood of Burma is very common and also of fair dura¬ 
bility. Untreated it is not sufficiently good for sleepers. The Agent, 
Burma Railway Co., reported that “ In ” had proved unsatisfactory 
and only lasted 3 to 4 years. It is mechanically hard enough for 
sleepers but not so hard that it would not readily absorb an antiseptic. 
This timber, if properly seasoned before pickling has a great future 
before it as a sleeper wood. 
PlNUS EXCELSA AND PlNUS LONGIFOLIA. 
The two Pines untreated, are entirely unsuitable for sleepers. About 
a thousand of each were laid down in 1907 in the line near Saharanpur 
as an experiment. They lasted from 27 to 30 months. The timber is 
procurable in large quantities from the Jumna and Tons forests, as also 
in the Punjab. That these Pine woods may answer for sleepers lies in 
the fact that they readily absorb antiseptics. The doubt is as to their 
fitness to withstand wear and tear. 
In the second list all the species have been tried as sleepers, and 
many of them might rightly be put into the first list but for the reason 
that their distribution is either restricted or that though found in many 
parts of India they are not sufficiently numerous. 
CLASS II. 
Bischofia javanica. 
Bischofia javanica is a very fair sleeper wood found in the sub- 
Himalayas from the Jumna eastward into Assam. Also found in the 
Carnatic and on the West Coast and all over Burma. It is fairly 
common in Assam but elsewhere sparsely scattered through the forest. 
It is used as a sleeper wood in Assam and on the Dibru-Sadiya Railway 
and is said to last at least 5 years untreated. 
Terminalia paniculata and Lagerstrcemia microcarpa. 
Terminalia paniculata has been tried for sleepers on the Madras and 
South Mahratta Railway and is given a life of 5 years; Lagerstrcemia 
microcarpa has not been much used for sleepers but is a good sound 
timber. In quality they are probably little inferior to the timbers of 
Class I, but their distribution is limited to the south of India and 
( 86 ) 
