Destruction of Trees. 89 



or repaired. This is a consideration of the greatest 

 importance, and the more so that an opinion is now 

 beginning to be generally adopted that in certain 

 districts the wholesale felling of the forest has been 

 altogether a mistake from the cultivator's point of 

 view, and that plantations now become extinct 

 would have been flourishing to this day had the 

 forest shade been at least partially retained, instead 

 of having been ruthlessly done away with by means 

 of axe and fire. As a matter of health, comfort, 

 and taste also, it is most desirable to leave, at any 

 rate, some of the more picturesque and symmetri- 

 cally-formed trees standing about the spot chosen 

 for the planter's bungalow and coolie lines. 



Five or six weeks after the felling and lopping, 

 that is as soon as sufficiently dry, the debris should 

 be set on fire, so as to get the ground clear. The 

 " coolie lines " may be run up in a very short time, 

 from the natural materials abundantly at hand on 

 all sides. It is very important to provide the coolies 

 with proper shelter and accommodation, and the 

 planter should remember that although he may be 

 willing to undergo hardship and to " rough it," the 

 coolies should be made as comfortable as possible 

 according to their accustomed mode of life. The 

 great thing is to guard against sickness and keep 

 the gang in good heart, from the outset They will 

 then give the estate a good name, say it is lucky > 



