b'Sa 



THE TTROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1884. 



spared, be able to point to 500 or 600 lb. the acre: 

 Aud yet poor Cameron was accused of exaggerating ! — 

 I am, yours faithfully, 



A. M. FERGUSON, Junk. 



Bdkgalow Field.— 17,417 plants. (5 acres planted 3ft. 

 l„j 4 ft. = 18,150 jilants.) 



Truneil, December eth-14th, 1882. 

 Picked, February 1st, 1883. 

 Elevation 5,600-5,800 ft. 



4;8,100 lb. green leaf. 

 Acres 5)2,025 lb. made tea 

 405 lb. per acre. 



KORKSTRY IN CEYLON. 

 (From the Ewjinca; Dec. 28tli, 1SS3.) 

 One of the most valuable contributions to our 

 knowledge of the important subject of forestry is tlic 

 report, recently made public by the proprietors ot 

 tile Tropical AgriciiUnrht of Ceylon, by Mr. F. D'.\. 

 VincfUt of the Indi.an Forests Hepavtmout ou the 

 forests of that isl.ind. (".Tiled in by the C olonial Gov 

 erument to inspect tlie condition of the v.ist forests 

 which exist in Ceylon, this officer's report uialces it 

 evident that his advice has not been souglit one whit 

 t.io soon to check the almost ceitan destrnctiou of 

 wliat y(^t remains of v.Tluable forest leserve. The 

 need for urgcnL measures may be estimated by the 

 fact that in the liill country of the island all tliat 

 now icmains of tliis is nut above 100,000 acres, 

 while in the low country, which is estimated to 

 have an uncultiv ated aiea of 9,000,000 acres, only about 

 onc-tbird to one-half cau be said to now consist of 

 forest. The remainder became mostly low scrubby 

 jungle, the only growtli v hich the now impoverished 

 soil can produce, snd fully demonstrates how this 

 impovcrishuient h.is been brought about. For centur- 

 ies it has been the custom of the natives to roughly 



fell a few acres of forest, burning off the logs, and 

 ou the fresli soil so obtained to cultivate one or two 

 crops of grain, and theu to abandon tlie land and 

 seek fresh ground. The result has been that more 

 than one-half of the valnable forests have been de- 

 stroyed ; for over areas so treated by this " chena " 

 cubivatiou, as it is termed, there springs up only 

 a thorny and almost valueless jungle. This absol- 

 utely prevents the growth of really tine timber, the 

 seedlings of which may take root in such spots, as 

 it chokes the young saplings, denying them both the 

 light and air necessary to that growth. Spasmodic 

 efforts appear to have been made to check this pract- 

 ice ; but centuries of usage, and therefore of almost 

 prescribed riglit, have rendered it most difficult hitherto 

 to do so. As for the so called Forest Department of 

 Ceylon, whish was inagurated about ten years back 

 or so, there seems every reasou to fear that it has 

 been prodnctive of little good. The few officers ap- 

 pointed to it were wholly untrained in forestry, and, 

 with the best will in i he world, they have been able 

 to accomplish but little. Indeed tar. Vincent points 

 out that the rivaky between the officers of tbe se- 

 veral provinces to make tlieir charges return revenue 

 has resulted most injuriously, w-hile their efforts to 

 nurseries ot valuable trees have been so ill-directed 

 that the results ni3 to the present have been almost « (7. 

 The forests of Ceylon abound in most valuable 

 woods. Its ebony is famed in China, and has almost 

 the entire monopoly of that market. Satinwotxl fur- 

 nishes tlie most durable of woods, while pali and 

 halmalilla are also most useful. But years of the de- 

 structive process we have referred to have thinned 

 off such trees to an alaruring extent, until even the 

 supply of satin sleepers for the local railways is seri- 

 ously threatened. Between 30,000 and 45,000 of these 

 are now required annually, aud as railway extension 

 in the island becomes more developed, a much larger 

 nimiber will certainly be used up. A satinwocd sleeper 

 Mr, Vincent states to outlast two to three of creo- 

 soted pine; but he writes, " To cut 30,000 satinwood 

 sleepers — re((Uiring 6,000 trees annually — from the 

 forest, would at present mean the speedy extermin- 

 ation of the tree, although when the forests are so 

 largo 6,000 stems a year of our principal timber is 

 no exorliitant demand." The ebony supply also is 

 daily becoming shorter. It has been the custom for 

 the Government officials to issue licences to fell a 

 certain number of ebony trees, and in thcii' search 

 after those suitable the fellers have tapped hu- dreds 

 of immature trees to ascertain if they coutain the 

 valuable black -hearting, and those so treated have 

 rapidly decayed, denuiling the forest of this tree to 

 a far greater ext' nt than the commercial demand 

 for the wood would have caused. It is evident that 

 if so wasteful a course be longer permitted, the time ; 

 is not far distant when all hope of the forests being 

 remunerative to the Government will cease. 



As to the mountain zone, independently of the ne- 

 cessity ol reserves i<l ticcs to protect the sources of ■ 

 mountain streams and for general climatic influences, 

 they serve in Ceylon another most important funetiou, 

 that of wind screens. To those who have not visited 

 Ceylon, it is difficult to realise what the force of the , 

 wind is in the hill country, isolated as that portion 

 of the island is in the centre of va«t surrounding 

 plains stretching on all sides to the seaboard. It is 

 no uneomm' n thing for carts heavily laden w-ith pro- 

 duce to be wind bound for days at particular spots 

 or to hear of those rash enough to attempt to pass 

 such spots being blown over the precipice— bullocks 

 and all. Then, again, one of the chief obstacles to 

 cultivation in the hills is this same enemy the wind, 

 which often blasts in a single night the hopes of 

 the planter whose lands have not been wisely chosen 

 in a sheltered spot. To guard against such disaster* 



