ESSAY ON FUEL PLANTATIONS. 7 1 



It will be seen from the above balance sheet that there 

 are few more profitable investments than a Teak plantation* 

 near the coast and a large town ; but then very few suitable 

 sites are to be found, and where casuarina would flourish, 

 Teak would languish even on the western coast. 



Fuel plantation of a reserved jungle. We have now to 

 consider a fuel plantation of a reserved jungle, such as 

 Streehurrycotta, which at one time, before the formation of 

 casuariua plantations, supplied all Madras with fuel, or we 

 may take some of the fuel reserves along the line of Rail- 

 way. Having selected the site, which should be close to a 

 Railway or possess water-carriage like the Buckingham 

 Canal, make a ditch with a fence at the top for the casua- 

 rina plantation ; but instead of aloes it will be necessary 

 to plant the Mysore thorn, ccesalpinia digyna, (acacia 

 scandens ?) which will present an impenetrable barrier 

 to marauding cattle. The block should be nearly a square, 

 as that shape saves fencing. The area should not be less 

 than one square mile, because to produce any local effect on 

 the atmosphere, and to be of any use at all as a fuel planta- 

 tion, at least 600 acres are required. We will suppose the 

 area to be partly covered with various trees, such as acacias, 

 eugenias, &c., most of the young trees considerably damaged 

 by cattle and the herdsman's bill-hook, and more grass grow- 

 ing than is good for their health. It is of no use commenc- 

 ing operations until the ditch and fence are completed, for, 

 in the dry season, nothing will keep out herdsmen or their 

 cattle but the thorniest of fences, and there is no thorn like 

 the Mysore thorn. Aloes can be cut through iu a moment 

 and only serve as a defence where there is nothing tempting 

 inside. The fence completed, it is necessary to take stock of 

 the standing trees. It is found that about half the area is 

 covered, and that the other half requires artificial aid to ren- 

 der the area productive. This being a semi-natural planta- 

 tion, we shall treat it in the simplest manner, spending but 



* On the western coast in planting out Teak, the trees are taken straight 

 from the beds when six inches high, and put into pits after their tap-roots 

 have been cut back to four inches. 



