744 VICTORIA.
.short branch to Williamstown, the port of Melbourne, of a length of 107 miles. The Geelong and Melbourne line was purchased by the Government in 1860, and an extension from Sandhurst to the river Murray atEchuca, of a length of 46 miles, has since been constructed. A third main line, from Melbourne to Belvoir district, 186 miles in length, was commenced in 1869. The whole of the railways of the colony are state property, with the exception of a line, 17 miles long, called the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay United, serving the local traffic of the chief city of Victoria.
The following table shows the length, cost of construction, and traffic of the railways of Victoria : —
Name of Railways
Length of line opened
at commence- ment of 1869
Cost of construction
Number of
miles
travelled in
the year
1863
Total cost
Average
cost per
mile
Melbourne, Sandhurst, and Echuca 1 Melbourne, Geelong,
and Ballarat 1 "Williamstown Branch . Melbourne and Hob- son's Bay United
Total .
Miles }• 254
J } "
£ 10,855,760
850,297
&
42,739
50,017
1,138,128 400,836
271
11,706,057
43,196
1,538,964
The total gross revenue of the above railways, in the year 1868, amounted to 712,765/., of which 282,931/. were derived from passenger traffic.
The extent of land under cultivation in the colony was 507,798 acres in 1863; 479,463 acres in 1864; 530,196 acres in 1865; 592,915 acres in 1866 ; 631,207 acres in 1867 ; and 712,865 acres in 1868. At the end of 1868, the number of acres in 'runs' Avas 28,505,344. The number of live stock in the colony, at the end of March 1869, was to the amount of 143,943 horses ; 693,682 cattle ; 9,756,819 sheep; and 136,206 pigs. At the end of March 1865, the number of sheep was 8,835,380, so that they increased at the rate of nearly a million in four years. — (Communication of the Governor of Victoria to the Statesman's Year-book.)
