FUEL PLANTATIONS IN INDIA. 



years, surround itself with thousands of smaller ones if 

 planted by itself, especially if a ditch one foot deep is cut 

 through the roots at a distance of twenty or thirty yards 

 from the stem, and afterwards other concentric rings are cut 

 within and without the first one at intervals of six feet. Every 

 root severed will throw up suckers. In grass-land, wattle 

 might be sown broadcast, after ploughing up the ground 

 carefully. Seed can be obtained on the hills at about three 

 annas per pound. It should be sown, like wheat or barley, on 

 soil well pulverised by frequent ploughings and thoroughly 

 saturated by the early monsoon showers, and then harrowed 

 in. As this system has never been tried, to my knowledge, 

 on the hills, I merely throw this out as a suggestion. The 

 seedlings should grow up exactly like the sucker crop that 

 succeeds a clean felling of wattle, and must be treated the 

 same way, the produce will be about equal to a sucker crop. 

 In making a fuel plantation of the wattle all that is neces- 

 sary is to plant the land up with seedlings 12 feet X 6 feet, 

 in holes two feet cube, dropping a few seeds in as well into 

 each hole, for the greater the number of roots the better and 

 sooner will the plantation get on. This should be done in 

 June, when the south-west monsoon bursts, and in cloudy 

 weather. If the plantation is carefully protected from 

 cattle, for goats eat the leaves greedily the first crop will 

 be ready to fell at the end of the seventh year, and each tree 

 will produce, on an average, including the branches, about 

 ten cubic feet of wood, weighing at GOlbs. per cubic foot 

 about GOOlbs. or a total of 360,0001bs. per acre, calculating 

 600 trees to the acre at 12 feet X 6 feet. This would 

 produce about 160 tons and valued at 8 Rupees per ton, 

 Rs. 1,280. 



The cost of cartage would come to about Rs. 320 at two 

 rupees per ton, for it cannot be done cheaper on the hills, 

 where rates are rather dear and even if the plantation were 

 not more than a mile from the market. 



The cost of pitting would be about Rs. 7-8 per acre of 

 planting Rs. 2. 



