38 DRY FORESTS. 



Teak and Blackwood, if wounded near the ground, contrive 

 Free Lime. to absorb large quantities of lime, it may be seen encrusting 



the tree on the surface as far as four feet in height and six 

 inches wide so hard is the lime that it destroys circular 

 saws, and the Curumburs use it for chewing with betel. 

 Here we have an iustance of a tree eliminating from the soil, 

 a mineral that is not visible, and one that only exists incor- 

 porated, with another substance, such as Hornblend. The 

 laboratory of nature is a very subtle process. It is probable 

 that the Ceara Rubber Manihot Glaziovii will be found an 

 excellent nurse for Sandalwood trees. I have found Sandal- 

 wood grow well near trees of the Ficus tribe, elastica espe- 

 cially, and the experiment is well worth trying. It would, of 

 course, be necessary to train the rubber tree, so that it did 

 not overshadow the sandal, as there are few trees that grow 

 under the shadow of others ; in fact, forty-nine out of fifty 

 kinds of trees require shelter not absolute shade only partial. 

 There is a further advantage in using the ficus tribe as they 

 readily grow from cuttings. Ficus elastica could easily be 

 procured ; probably at the end of twenty years, it would be 

 found advisable to cut out the rubber trees after having 

 taken rubber from them for ten years. 



There is another point, in using the Ficus or Euphorbia- 

 ceous tribe such as Siphonia elastica for nurses, they take 

 and require but little moisture from the earth, nearly all 

 they require is absorbed from the air. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ON DRY FORESTS. 



Shutting up por. Fo RESTS of this nature such as those on the Nullamullies in 

 Kurnool, Salem, South Arcot, &c., should be treated as 

 I recommended some years ago, viz., a portion to be rigor- 

 ously shut up for a period of at least ten years. No man or 

 head of cattle allowed within the enclosed area which may 

 be one hundred or a thousand acres. In dry forests it will 

 be found that banks of streams are best for enclosures, there 



