MANAGEMENT OF TKAK FORESTS. 



was burnt on the Ana.nallies in the following manner : It 



appeared that a very large quantity o! Teak leaves was 



drive,, by wind against the stack of timber and lodged 



there; when the forest was on fire, sparks caught the infla.n- 



nmble Teak leaves, and these being set a light, communicate 



fire to the stuck. No one found it out for two or three days 



when the alarm was given, the Forest officer wa 3 miles away, 



water was not available.and the huge stack oE timber burnt on. 



It was specially fine timber, having been selected for the bnil< 



in- of a frigate, and the loss was great. At last the Pores! 



officer arrived, and by means of his elephants, put out the fire 



by buryiu<r the ends of the logs in the ground. 1 he expe, 



ence obtained by the fire was, always burn the grass for two 



hundred yards round your Depot, never leave more than o 



hundred logs in one place. The Depots may be two hundred 



yards apart. Teak on fire never flares up, it simply smoul- other . 



ders slowly, so if it catches fire, by burying the end m earth 



and excluding the air, the fire is soon put out. I have often seen H to put out 



sparks carried two and three hundred yards in a fierce wind. 



In constructing a main road through a forest, it is adv.sable Main Bead. 



to have it on easy gradients, with many feeders, it must 



alwaysbeborneiumiud that dragging costs more than carting, 



in fact your dragging should never cost more than one anna Dragging. 



a cubic foot, for instance, if yon cut fifty thousand cub.c feet 



in a year, the cost of your elephants should not exceed 3,12 



Rupees per annum, and as every elephant costs at least 6 



Rupees a month, five elephants should suffice, but i 



drag where you should cart, two annas a cub 1C foot will not 



be enough. In making your bridges, it is advisable to have Bridges. 



the abutments of rough stone and kura murra* beams 



across, and over them a bamboo mat. 



Elephants should not be allowed over bridges, nor should 

 they be allowed on the main roads in wet weather, as a full 

 grown elephant weighs five tons, and they cut up the roads 

 dreadfully. Wild elephants frequently destroy forest bridges. 

 If they (Forest elephants,) must go on the main road, the 

 banks of the stream should be sloped down on both sides to 

 * Terminalia coriacca. 



