8i2 The yo7iriial of Forestry. 



requires much time to attain the size required for the market. It is thus 

 probable that very few years will see the end for a time of this branch of trade 

 in this part of Persia. Already, in Ghilan, it has become scarce ; but vast 

 forests of it are still to be found in Mazenderun. The governor of Ghilan, 

 with a view to making the Persian Government profit by this rising industry, 

 nas thought fit to obtain the Shah's sanction to prohibit the further cutting 

 of this wood without a special permission, and this measure has given rise to 

 great dissatisfaction both amongst the owners of boxwood forests and those 

 engaged in cutting and exporting this timber. The export of timber (walnut 

 and boxwood) from the province of Ghilan during the year 1875 was valued 

 at £20,OuO, the whole of which came to England. 



The Californian Eedwood. — To illustrate the size attained by this ti'ee 

 the Sonoma Democrat gives the following, which we quote : — " It is very 

 difficult for the people in Europe to realize the immensity of our redwood 

 trees, and we do not wonder at their incredulity. But their enormous size is 

 a fact nevertheless. For instance, Murphy Brothers of this (Sonoma) county 

 cut down and sawed into lumber at their mill a few years ago a tree that 

 measured 375 feet in length and 10 feet in diameter, clear of bark. This tree 

 made by actual measurement 37,000 feet of dressed lumber and 16,000 feet of 

 rough, which sold at the mill at usual prices for 1,080 dols. Other trees in 

 this county measure much larger in diameter, but very few make more lumber 

 than this one." 



AVoOD Fuel in India. — There are forty fuel reserves in the Madras presi- 

 dency, the area of the whole being 5,748 acres. Since the beginning of 

 operations these reserves cost 381,514 rs. and brought in 107,442 rs. In the 

 year 1874-5, 848 acres of land were added to the plantations, the largest 

 area being in the Cuddapah, Trichinopoly, and North Arcot districts. Some 

 plantations in Malabar, Kurnool, and Bellary were given up in the year owing 

 to the ill success which attended the endeavours of the department to get up 

 good plantations. On the abandoned projects about fifteen thousand rupees 

 were spent. It has been estimated that the fuel reserves now under the forest 

 department will be capable of supplying 67,111 tons of firewood annually', 

 against a demand made by the railway company of 128,680 tons. 



Mauritius. — It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of arresting the 

 denudation of our forests, and if we stood in need of any warning against so 

 fatal a proceeding, we should find it in what has taken place in Mauritius 

 within less than the lifetime of a single generation. Twenty years ago it was 

 a sanitarium for invalids from India, to-day it is one of the unhealthiest islands 

 in the world. To what cause is this remarkable change attributable ? The 

 question is answered in the Farmer by Mr. H. Rogers, Senior Assistant- 

 Surgeon, Civil Hospital, Port Louis. He states that it is due almost 

 exclusively to the denudation of the forest lands of the island, which has 

 resulted in a diminished rainfall and increased temperature. — Indian 

 Agriciiliurisf. 



Tree Planting in Algeria.— For some years past the Algerian colonists, 

 encouraged by high prices and the success obtained by the great companies, 

 have begun to make plantations of trees, amongst which Eucalypti predomi- 

 nate. To give still further encouragement, the Government has proposed 

 that plantations should be made in every commune, and it will share the 

 expense. From an inquiry lately held by the Societe cle Climatologie of 

 Algeria, it has been found that wherever the eucalyptus has been planted to a 

 large extent the intermittent fevers, so common in the marshy districts, have 

 diminished in frequency and intensity. 



