Vol,. XVm. No 439. 



THE AORICULTrrilAL .VEWS, 



51 



warnmt, either the employment of sufficiently skilled 

 individuals, or to ensure the provision of means of carry- 

 ing on the industry. In the latter category, some such 

 matters as transport, whether by land or sea, or the 

 securing of snfificiently large markets such as to warrant 

 the continuance of the industry, must be taken into 

 account 



It may be well to give consideration to the position 

 of some of the staple products of the \Ve-.i, Indies, in 

 order to see what an the strong and ih-i weak points 

 in their position. Some consideration of these matters 

 will be given in another article. 



The point wh'ch may be enforced now is that the 

 attention which will, ofnecessity.bedrawn to the possi- 

 bilities of development in tropical countries whose dis- 

 posal will be the concern of the Peace Conference, vvill 

 lead to the development of industries which may serinus- 

 ly compete with thosenow constituting the stiples of 

 the West Indies, and th.it the strength of the West 

 Indian position lies largely in being in p>ssession of the 

 field. To retain this po-ition involves the earnest care 

 and definite study on the part of all concerned in the 

 welfare of the colonies, whether their concern is on the 

 side of government and administration, or whether it; 

 is agricultural and commercial. 



OASUARINA WOODS IN MAURITIUS. 



In the editorial in the Agricultural News. Jnly 1^, 1918, 

 reference was made to the pos-ibility of the es'aVillshraent in 

 areas beyond the beaches in West Indian islands of regularly 

 grown woods, such as Casuarina. with a view to sapplyiug 

 fuel. 



Dr. H A. Terapany, Director of Aericulture, Mauri- 

 tius, in noticing thi.s editorial, writrs to aay that in Mauritius 

 the practice suggested is thoroughly well establis^hed and 

 forms an alu'ost indisperaabie adjunct of the sugar industry. 

 The following information is chiefly derived from Dr. Tem- 

 panv's letter. It seems that under an old French decree of 

 1807 the who'e of the lands along the sea coast of Mauriti' s, 

 to a minimum depth of 81 mttnsfrora high water-mark, 

 form part of the 'Domaine publique'. The sequestrated lands 

 have remained the property of the Government ever since. 

 For many years the Government was in the habit of leasing 

 these lands to adjoining sugar properties, and the habit of 

 planting them in trees gradually became general. Not only 

 did their value as sources of fuel become recojnized, but also 

 to some extent their utility as shelter belts to inland cultiva- 

 tion. Casuarina equisetifolia became generally regarded as 

 the most suitable tree for the purpose of planting on this 

 «ea-coast belt. 



In 1895 the Government passed an Ordinance regulating 

 the leases of these lands, and prescribing that wiih certain 

 few exceptions they should only be leased for tree planting 

 purposes. Special forms of leases were drafted under rhe 

 < )rdinance, in which the conditions were strictly speciBed. The 

 manner in which the leases were allotted WaS by public 



auction. The leases contained provisions fjr regulating 

 cuttinij and repUnting. 



The total area of these lands, which are known in 

 Manriiiu.s as the 'Pas Ot- mictriq'ies', i« appro\imitely about 

 6.:<00 aTes. Of thi-" are< about 4,4: 10 acres are at present under 

 Casuarina '.ipiisetifo'ia, locally known as 'Filao'. The remiin- 

 der is either under coo nuts or mixed species of trees, or is 

 barren unprodur^tive land. It is howevtt contemplated thai; 

 the P.is G^ imetriques on the leewnrd coa.st of the island 

 should ultimately be tranoform'd into coco-nut plantations, 

 to the amoui t ot about 1.500 acres, the balance continuing 

 toremiin avail-ible for Casuarina pi anting. 



In the leases granted, the distances apart for planting, 

 and the syitem of felling are indica'ed. TIjo mo-ft usual, 

 system ailoptedis to p'ant the Casuarina trees at; distincea 

 frjin 10 to 12 't-et apart, and tocut them all down at an averager 

 age of ten to twelve years. At ihi.s age eleven trees op an 

 average give about 90 cubic feet ot wooJ, while the average 

 weight of that am lunt \\ 2,200 kilo.?. If the trees are 

 all wed 10 grow longer, the j'ield is greatly improved; trees, 

 of fifteen ycirs old give the stme amount of wood for an 

 nveiaje "f six trees with cnsidera'-ly greater weiuht; while 

 1rec« of twenty years o: age only re;j'tire four trees 

 to kive the .same result. The Indian Forest Dep.art- 

 ment, it is state.), have arrived at the concl'i.sion that the 

 most sa'i-factory rota' ion for Casuarina is thirty years, com 

 prising a system f.l intprmedia'e fellings at diflTerent ages, 

 and clear cutting at thirty. This ."system, Dr. Tempany- 

 states, will .'-hortly come into force in Jlauritius. 



The Cisuar'na wood is 'used vtry laigely in Mauritius as 

 additional fuel for the stigir factories, althiugh the domaud 

 for it has somewhat di clined in recent years, as iroprovementa 

 have been installed in the factories by the installation of 

 green tnpgissfurnace«. There is ttill, however, locally a large- 

 demand for fuel. The fuel value of Casuarina wood is high, 

 and is calculated to be very nearly double that of ordinary 

 mixed forest wood. The price piid for Cisuarina wood in 

 Miuritius is high enough to make the Casuarina plantations 

 very paying inve.^lmt^nls. Apart from fuel value, Ctsuarina. 

 wo.)d ran be med for beams and supports, although it is not 

 suitabla for making planks, and does not last if imbedded in 

 the ground. 



Another interes'ing point in connexion with the.se 

 Casuarina woods in Mauritius is the way in which they have 

 been utilized for pasturage. A grass, locally known as 'herbe- 

 bourrique' {Stenotapkrum glabrum, syn. complanatum), wilt 

 grow right up to the bas-e of the trunks of Casuarinas, and 

 thrive huuriantly under their chade. The practice in 'M.iuri- 

 tias is to establish this grass between the rows of the Casua 

 rina tre-".", and as soon as these have attained sufficient size;- 

 ihat is to say from foir to five years old, cattle are regularly*- 

 pastured between them. 



This grass, S. glabrum, which is described under several' 

 other specific synonyms oocurs, according to Grisebach, in 

 most of the smaller West Indian islands, especially in sandy 

 tracts near to the sea, hut it has never been considered of 

 special value in these islands for pasturage. It would b* 

 well worth while investigating its value in this connexion, a* 

 its property of growing right up to the base of trees, and 

 under relatively heavy shade would render it peculiarly useful. 



Dr. Tempany also forwards a photograph of one of the 

 tropical Casuarina plantations in Mauritius, with this grass 

 growing.through it, which shows that, apart from the economic 

 importance of the system, these Casuarina plantations pos.set* 

 great value from an aes-thetic point of view. He says that, 

 they make the littoral of Mauritius the most charnsJBg that 

 he^has ever seen in any tropical country 



