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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 319, 26 September 1874, Page 4

The barque Brunette has arrived in Lyttelton, bringing for the General Government, 14,694 sleepers or " ties'" as they are termed in the United States. In a telegram' reeeived recently from San.Francisco, it was stated that several vessels were loading with these ties, and that it was considered the New Zealand Governoaent had madi a mistake in obtaining them. The following (says the Lyttelton Times), is the, result of ao examination and inquiries made respecting the sleepers;-^— They are somewhat different in size and length to those at present used on our railways. The ties are of redwood, and such ae are used on the Pacific railway. They were originally cut out for that great line, but owing to their not being the required length, they were solely .rejected on that account. The timber has proved itself admirably adapted" for the purpose required, or for any work' where the service of timber is required to be embedded in the earth.. The measurement of eacb is _jin by 7in by 7ft., The sleejwrs weigh about 561bs, and can be landed in port at the rate of 3s 6d each, or thereabouts. A writer in the London jRfeW relates his experience in reclaiming wet pastures. He has found shallow droning tbe most advantageous, and that the tiles may be safely laid either near the surface or further apart than io draining arable land. Having tried lime and farra-yard manure as top dressings after drainage, he was led to substitute bone-dust, and found it raudh more beneficial than either or both of the former. On a thin light soil, 10Q0 .lbs of bones produced a fide, rich, thick herbage, in place of tbe coarse grasses and, sedges that grew previous to the draining, On heavier clfys the quantity of bones was increased with good effect. An outlay of £20 per acre in bones he found was returned iq a very short period, while the benefit was still apparent after the expiration of 20 years.

If any doubt exists in the minds of Europeans as to the weight carrying powers of a Chinaman, the Reefton Courier professes to be able to set it at rest. One day. last week, a party of European miners living about eight miles from Reef ton, called for tenders for packing provisions from Cronadin to their hat, a distance of about five miles; A tender waa received from a Chinaman; who undertook to carry tbe required loading at a rate of Is per cwt., and stipulated that each load should not weigh less than 4owt. When it is understood that 3cwt. is considered to be a fair IdAd for a packhorse, we are able to see what sort of stuff Chinamen are made of.—Westport Times. I