Vol. XIV. No. 346. 



THE A<;i; [CULTURAL NEWS 



253 



TEAK ON WASTE LAND. 



The subject-matter of the / ■ Agrit id 



twist 'n)>/ Forestt r 1&15, is compo i d 



oi i omprehensive report l>\ I »r. E. B < lopelaud, 

 Deanofthe Philippine Collegi Lgriculfcure, on his 



visit to Java undertaken to furnish a basis for 

 conclusions as to the desirable procedure in regard to 

 ,-i number of economic and agricultural matters in the 



Philippines. In more ways thai <■ it is a verj 



important report and will doubl less reci ivi 

 widespread attention in th< ropics. r>.ing of 

 a considerable length, and dealing with a diversity of 



subjects in a i 'e or less detailed manner, a gem 



review in this journal would is believed, serve 



as useful a purpose as a treatment of so oi its 



subjects individually. The following extracl shows 

 what [)r. Copeland says as regards teak, the cultivation 

 of which is not without interest or possibilities in the 

 West [ndies. Teak grows well on high mountain 



landsand is a most valuable v I forlbuilding purposes, 



as it is perfectly resistant to termites and other pests. 

 The growth of this tree has been very satisfactory in 

 many of the Wesl Indian islands, and several large 

 specimens can be seen in the Botanic Gardens, 

 Dominica, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Jamaica, as well 

 as in private gardens and similar situations in other 

 colonies. I >r. < iopeland says: 



While .lava is ;i conspicuously irn iilutainoiis island, thr 

 mountains are isolated from one another, ami there is no great 

 plateau area above the limits of cultivation. The result is 



that the natural forest of Ja\ dpies an altogether 



ignificant area, and th i\ the products di the natural forest 3 

 arc of practically no economic important whatever. Of the 

 family Dipterocarpaceae, for instance, which compose the 

 great Imlk of the commercial 1 if the Philippines 



Agricultural News, Vol. XIV, N~". 345, p. 233] I did 

 not see one tree in Java 1 tcept those in the Botanic Gardens 



at Buitenzorg. The large im e oi the Forest Service is 



derived then almost altogether from forests which arc not 



merely under control, but are 1 1 d^of trees planted 1 >\- 



haml. and afterwards attended to with a care which is 

 unfortunate!} often wanting in orchards and coco-nut grove 

 in the Philippines. The crop is always teak. The teak 

 ts of Java occupy approximately 7<Ht,0<H> hectares. The 

 country where teak is planted o'riginallj contained teak ami 

 a mixture of other trees in a state of nature, and as it has 

 been lumbered off, teak, inpurestand, bas been systematically 

 planted in its place. There was 1 Mmc when these teak 

 plantations were seriously damaged bj fire. The cultural 

 system oi Java does not permit damage of this kind to 

 continue indefinitely, and after various attempts to handle 

 the fire problem in other ways, recourse was had to planting, 



with the teak, trees which would 1 p the ground in such 



condition that the spread of fire should be impossible. For 

 this purpose, it was natural that leguminous plants should be 

 chosen in order that the ground could be enriched at 

 the same time that it is protected The first choice for 

 this work was formerly given to a species of [ndigofera. 

 About six years ago, Leuca >. the [pil-ipil of 



the Philippines, was tested extensively for this purpose, and 

 proved so superior to any other plai t,< tcept on very low 



lying ground where [ndigofera thrives better, the use of 

 Leucaena glauca is icon universal in the teak forests. It is 

 interesting to note that the procedure adopted on this very 

 extensive scale in Java is the same which has been demon- 



d by the i | 1 iartment of this • 



whicli we working here. The 



' ire plat 1 ne time on 



' made clean enough for anj agric Itural crop. 



Both are rapid grou ti,,. 



omi I ji nm wl 



and is planted thicl 1 



pletely and mike the gi iwth ol gt iss or wi eds imp 



' <rass is praetic dlj unknown now in the Javan b 



and with its elimination, all danger from fire in 



plantings has disappear! I In 



reaches a height of 10 metres in two years. The Leucaena 



is pollarded when it reai fies •< diami 1 tl I ntim 



;u 'd the stems and foliag t down are permitted to 



upon the ground. It -row.- again from the stumps, and in 

 this way continue- to shell, , t|,,. ground I", ah 



is nut planted in the very wet v md in 



the drier region which is devoted to it, it would 1 

 the drier seasons, itself shade the ground complete! 



tn eliminate the possibility of the 11 the 



ground is thickly covered with its dry le 



HEDGES. 



In the Agricultural News for March 13, 1915, 

 there appeared a leading article dealing with l, 

 importance of enclosures from various aspects. Part id' 

 this article was assigned to a brief account of tin; 

 different West Indian plaints suitable fur hedges but 

 im definite data were presented. In the following 

 note, which concerns observations made in Montserral 

 in 1904, will be found some useful facts which should 

 be compared with more recent information obtainable 

 locally in 1 be different islands: 



Rows of the following plants were grown to test their 

 suitability for hedges, and also to compare the rate and 

 habits "f growth of each: 



Cushaw (A cacia tortuosa), raised fn m seed 1903; height, 

 1.1 feet; dense growth. 



Logwood (Haeniaioxylon cami raised from 



seed 1902; height. 5 feel.' 



Wild coffee (Clei idendron acuUatum), raised from 

 cuttings 1903; height, 2| led. 



Myrtle lime (Triphasia trifoliata), raised from seed 

 L903; height. \ ', feet. 



Bread-and-cheese (Pithecolobium unguis rut, 1. raised From 

 seed 1902. Has been cul back several times. Now a dense 



hedge, '_' feet high. 



It is probable that the cushaw and logwood will be 

 found to In. the best plants for the purpose oi hedg 

 Seeds can readily lie obtained from the wild plants in May. 

 As both plants are rapid growers it is better to sow th, 

 in the positi 'equired than to transplant. 



The cost of establishing hedges with these plants must 

 vaiy with the nature of the land. Approximately thi 

 per mile will lie as follows: - 



£ 



I ', , Heeling seed 



Breaking up I md 

 Sow ing seed 

 Two weedings 



d. 

 11 



10 (I 







.3 h 



Total Li 



Tl ost of trimming and supplying would lie about 



lis. per mile per annum. A double row, with interspace of 



1 foot, should lie sown. 



