SANDALWOOD PLANTATIONS. 37 



sandal depends much upon the China market ; at one time 

 it is as high as 9 rupees the maund of 25 Ibs. for first 

 class wood. Roots are bought for Sandalwood oil distil- 

 leries in South Canara where firewood is cheap. Roots at 

 one time were only 2-8-0 the maund, but afterwards 

 they rose to 4-8 the maund so that 3 rupees the 

 mauud over all may be considered a fair average price. 

 I have, many years ago shown, that if we had twenty years Planting opera- 

 ago taken to planting Sandalwood largely, we should now 

 be on the eve of reaping a very large crop, as it is, the 

 department has to wait another ten years at least before 

 any results can be arrived at. 



I may here remark that at Tulli Mulli where the Sandal Keserve blocks 

 plantations are, it would be easy to select, a good block of 

 forest, four square miles at Vyloor the same. At Denkini- 

 cotta, in Salem, the same and various other places but the 

 Mysore plateau, ranging from two to four thousand feet, is 

 undoubtedly the very best site for Sandalwood, and any 

 departure from the conditions, as above laid down, would 

 probably result in failure, for instance, to attempt to 

 grow the tree in Malabar might be a success so far as 

 the growth of the tree is concerned, but the scented 

 oil would be deficient still it should be tried, and as the Sandal in 

 Conservator in Malabar has an experimental garden, it 

 would be well if a few trees were tried there, but judging 

 from what I have seen of Sandal trees growing near Vyloor 

 on deep rich soil on the banks of streams, being nearly a 

 foot in diameter and having no heartwood, though fully 

 twenty years old, I fear it would be a failure, but here we 

 require the chemist to tell us what forms the oil and heart- 

 wood, as the sap wood has no oil ; the same may be said of 

 Cinchona, what forms the alkaloids especially Quinine. A 

 chemist for the departments is more urgently required than 

 a botanist. One thing is almost certain, that trees require 

 minerals to develop their special qualities more than humus Minerals for 

 or nitrogen ; possibly lime, potash, and phosphoric acid are t3 

 the three main ingredients. It is a curious fact that in 

 Wynaad, though there is no free lime in the soil, yet both 



