Amil 188G.] EDITORIAL SOTES. 727 



Editorial Motes. 



Ox another page will be fuuiid an account of an interesting 

 exhibit of various woods at present rare in commerce which has 

 been prepared by the firm of ]\Iessrs. Shillinglaw & Son of Edin- 

 burgh, under the instructions of the Indian Government, for the 

 Indian and Colonial Exhibition forthcoming this season in London. 



A COMPANY has been formed in Bombay under the name of the 

 Siam Forest Company, which will work a large concession of forest 

 rights which have been granted to it by the King of Siam. The 

 forests conceded to it are situated in the Valley of Moung Gnan, 

 about 30 miles to the east of the town of Laikon, and they cover 

 an area of over 2000 miles, much of the teak contained in them 

 being of unusually large dimensions. The country is intersected by 

 rivers which run into the great Menam River, — " Mother of Waters," 

 as the Siamese name is, — on which the capital Bankok stands, and 

 which will be the crreat outlet for the trade. 



We gather from the recently issued annual report on the State 

 Forest Administration in South Australia, that active operations are 

 Ijeing carried on in that colony with the view of increasing the 

 forest area. The work is done chiefly by means of planting, though 

 there is incidental mention in the report of natural reproduction 

 being also taken advantage of where available. Farmers and others 

 are encouraged to plant Ijy the free distribution of trees by the 

 Government. During the last four years £1300 has been spent in 

 this way, with the result that 400,000 trees are alive and well 

 established. By comparison with the well-known large require- 

 ments of the colony in respect of the ameliorating effects of forest 

 growth throughout its area, these operations may be looked upon as 

 insignificant ; but they are, as far as they go, beneficial and in the 

 right direction. Circulars are distributed with the plants, which are 

 to be returned to the Conservator of Forests in due time, with a 

 report on the amount of success that has attended the planting of 

 the trees sent to each recipient. Could not something of this sort 

 be done by the owners of waste lands and the occupiers of the 

 same in this country ? It should be possible by some such scheme 



