132 ESSAYS ON THE BEST METHOD OF PLANTING 



which should be protected by being placed in tins contain- 

 ing- kerosine oil. 



The next thing to be done is to select a portion of the 

 land obtained, for the formation of a nursery in the immedi- 

 ate neighbourhood of fresh water. 



As Casuarina plantations should be formed only on the 

 sandy banks of rivers, or near the seashore, water is gene- 

 rally to be found within a few feet of the surface. It will, 

 therefore, be necessary to sink a well. To do this no 

 great outlay is needed, for it is not necessary that the well 

 should last longer than two years at the most. In Trichino- 

 poly, in the sandy soil of the banks of the Cauvery, there 

 known as "Padugay" land I found the following con- 

 trivance answer splendidly: 



I made an open cylinder of basket-work, of a creeper I 

 found growing in the neighbourhood, resembling osier in its 

 qualities. The cylinder, four feet in diameter by six feet in 

 height, I placed over the spot where I wished to sink my well. 

 A man then got into the basket and scooped away the sandy 

 soil at the bottom, which he handed up in a vessel to men 

 seated on the rim of the cylinder to press it down. As the 

 soil was undermined, the basket-work sank till it became flush 

 with the surface of the earth, when another six feet of creeper 

 was woven on to it, and the previous process repea/ted. In 

 this manner when a depth of seven feet of water had been 

 obtained, the well was completed, and a Picottah rigged up. 

 For about a fortnight after, the water of the well is foul and 

 useless, owing to the putrefaction of the bark, leaves and 

 small twigs of the creeper ; but if it is daily baled out, it 

 becomes clear and sweet again. 



The nursery beds should be raised to a height of three 

 inches and should be oblongs of fourteen feet in length by 

 three and a half in width, with path-ways of a foot in width 

 between each. 



As the best distance to plant Casuarina is six feet by six, 

 you will require 1,200 plants, and making an allowance of 



