December i, 1S83.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



423 



Guhora, the Dalo Ujah of Oachar, and Premna speciosa 

 of botanists, is a useful tree for posts. It is peculiar in 

 several respects ; the stem is so very rarely straight, and 

 is so generally deeply grooved, that it is seldom sawn. 

 "When young, the centi-al whip-like shoot seems parti- 

 cularly subject to curvature by creepers. The branches 

 also are frequently broken otf by storms, and hence the 

 growth is very crooked ; now and then a straight piece 

 can be got pretty long if grown in forest. There is no 

 ture heart wood, but when old the centre changes from 

 yellow to brown. In any stage it lasts fairly well, partly 

 due to its keeping wet ; small posts of young trees often 

 last 4 or 5 years until dry ; old and large trees will go 

 10 and 12 or more. It is a fairly good t'-ee to secure 

 for the posts of lines, as it is pretty common, and will 

 outlast thatch or walls, which is more than so many 

 others will do. I^arge old Gahoras are good for bridge 

 posts, as they go so long in water. The bark is pale drab 

 color or whity brown and thin, with a flaky surface ; the 

 true bark is not shed apparently, and hence it is a great 

 favourite with orchids of several kinds. The leaf is 4 to 5 

 inches by 2, pointed and serrated. The wood is yellow, 

 and splits readily. 



Toi Antjdi Jamok, or Jamu, one of the I''>'r/ntia, is on 

 the list, but it is seldom large and straight ; when it is, 

 and the young wood removed, it lasts fairly ; small trees 

 of it are good for posts of lines. 



Bor Jamok or Jamou, Etujenuc lancifolia^ is often a 

 large tree, 6 or S feet in girth and 30 feet in the bole. 

 The heart of it lasts pietty well, but not more than half 

 as loug as Nahor, Gondri, or Ajar. 



Sonant^ or Bandolat, Cassia JisUda, is a fine wood for 

 posts and other purposes, but in the plains is not com- 

 mon; near the hills it is more frequently seen,* and is 

 larger, though never a very large tree. The girth 4 to 

 6 feet, and 40 feet stem; the bark is grey, and the seed, 

 a long rod-like pod, a foot or 18 long, n 1 in. thick. The 

 blossom, however, is the most conspicuous feature, a huge 

 panicle of brilliant pale yellow, pea-shaped tlowers, not 

 I unlike Laburnum, but ten times the size. The heart 

 wood is heaii/ and dark, mo^t durable, but unfortunately 

 the tree is rare, and not large. It grows readily from 

 Beed. Planted alternately with Nahor and Ajar, it helps 

 to form a fine avenue. 



Amsla is another wood almost equally good and equally 

 rare in the plains. The heart when young is bright greenish 

 yellow, ami in a variety called Amsilika, the heart is 

 often a brilliant orange ; both last long, and in the hiUs 

 Amsia is often used, and runs to a large size ; the wood 

 dark neutral green. It is so seldom seen in the plains 

 that it is hardly worth recording as an available wood. 

 So far this has been only a li.st of timViers most useful 

 for bridge and bungalow posts. In giving lists of trees, 

 it is better to have some system, or a work of this kind 

 is almost useless for reference. This fiist group therefore 

 has been taken because the need for good wood for posts 

 is so common, and the timbers are few, they are easily 

 picked out ; no doubt the list will be increased as our e.\- 

 perience of the trees extends, and your readers can well 

 understand that it is not given to any single person to 

 know everything. Many trees are almost peculiar to cert- 

 ain localities, and well known perhaps to but few. The 

 next group of trees for many reasons had better be con- 

 fined to those useful for general purposes, and will in- 

 clude many of great size ; a subsequent list to be devoted 

 to box timbers and one for charcoal woods. A list founded 

 on botanical basis would be of less value to a planter 

 than one fouudcil on uses. 



In this, 2ud si-ries of timbers large and small that are 

 good woods, and yet not fit to put in list No. 1, I had 

 best place them in alphabetical order as far as possilde ; 

 and I may here mention that since these notes were begun, 

 the importance of the question of good and bad box 

 woods has considerably increased. 



Tile three samples of wood alluded to by Mr. Gamble, were 

 kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Mann, our Conservator 

 of Forests. It is not easy to verify a tree from a sample 



* In Odylon it is chiefly fovmd in the dry hot plains 

 of the cistern portion of the island. It would be much 

 more common in Colombo, weic it not for the inveterate 

 dt structiveness of the natives, who strip the stem of its 

 balk for metUcJual purpo$eB,— Ep. 



2' square and ^ ' thick (more especially if neither bark 

 nor leaf can be seen.) The sample No. 3, that has the 

 bad reputation, and the lead attached to it as a white 

 film, like paint, may be, as far as I can see, either mango, 

 or wild maugo, Moj-Poreng or Gondri, (Gondserai); these 

 are all extremely alike, and if the wood had a strong 

 aromatic smell when first .sampled, I should say it was 

 Gondri, and may tell you that I have had samples of 

 mango ami Gondserai made and lead attached, closely, 

 between, and shall report the result as time goes on, or 

 the moment I see anything to report. Ere closing this 

 notice to-day, I may tell your readers what — no doubt 

 many know — that there is far less danger from a dry 

 seasoned wood, than one wet or half dry, especially whun 

 heated in the hold of a ship. The quantity of moisture 

 in a wet tea box, or one of uuseasoneil wood, is also far 

 more than most planters or agents would suppose, and in 

 some cases it is exactly half the weight of the box. I 

 append a case where a Simolwood tea box was weighed 

 just as it was made up, and the same when quite dry 

 — in 30 days. 



Nov. 



6th 



7th 



8th 



'Jth 



10th 



11th 



12th 



13th 



14th 



at 



at 



17 



16} 



16 



16 



15 



15^ 



m 



T5k 



lb. 



This should show those who insist on even tares, the utter 

 impossibility of getting them unless the woods are quite 

 dry ; and in the height of the season the planter is often 

 between two stools, contractors suddenly failed to supply 

 boxes [or died], and agents screaming for tea. The moral 

 is, that boxes should be laid in severai mouths ere they 

 are required.— S. E. P. — Indian Tea Gazette. 



■ ♦ 



THE CENTRAL STATES OF COLOMBIA. 



The la.st number of the Proceedings of the Eoyal Geo- 

 gi-aphical Society contained some notes upon these little- 

 known regions by Mr. Whiting, and the following abstract 

 of the more important portions will, we are confident, be read 

 with general interest: — 



A great deal of information has been published respect- 

 ing the lower Atrato, particularly in connection with the 

 projected inter-oceanic canals. The upper portions of this 

 great valley, with their relatively healthy climate and fertile 

 lauds, are accessible by steamer from the Atlantic Ocean, 

 and can also be easily placed in communication with the in- 

 terior and more populated parts of Colombia. The river 

 Atrato at (Juibdii is 250 yards wide and 12 feet deep in 

 ordinary seasons, and small steamers can go up to Llorii. 

 The greater part of the land in the basiu of the Atrato 

 from CJuibdii upwards may be said to be simply hilly, not 

 mountainous, and generally adapted for agriculture. There 

 are few cle.arings, and the virgin forest which covers the 

 greater portion abounds in valuable produce. The course 

 of the upper Atrato was first surveyed by me, and it had 

 been previously believed that the river took a more direct 

 course from the Cordillera down to the main valley. The 

 detour made by the river accounts for the relativi ly open 

 and unbroken country through which it runs. The higher 

 portions of the valley at an elevation of 4,000 and 5,000 

 feet above the sea are very healthy, and here consider- 

 able areas of open prairie land are to be mtt with. 



Every description of trrp'cal produce may be cultivated, 

 as the meau temperature ranges from 60 ° to 80°. Caou- 

 tchouc of the best quality abounds in the wurmor parts, and 

 the ivory nut is very abundant. Promising copper lodes 

 exist near Quibdii and coal is met with in several places. 

 The Atrato itself and all the tributary streams are rich in 

 alluvial gold, which is of very high standard. 



Although the scanty population of these regions detracts 

 from their present -value, there can be no doubt that they 

 will at no very distant day attract attention. As the works 

 upon the Panama Caual advance, so the inhabitable and 

 productive lands in its vicinity will become valuable. For 

 the Atrato valley, with its rich alluviums, contrasts favour- 



» Or a reduction of verj- nearly one-half the oiigina! 

 I weight iu one month.— Ep, 



