quarters, etc., 11 acres near the Canal Department Best House was recently 

 cleared at the request of that Department leaving only 39'2 acres of true blanks 

 due mostly to high ground. 



4. The outer boundary is marked by a trench with solid stone pillars at 



the angles. Smaller stones at the corners of 

 compartments show the numbers of the compart- 

 ments. As a rule one square-topped stone is placed where four compartments 

 meet and indicates by numbers carved on the faces of the stone the numbers of 

 the compartments. 



5. A detailed description of the growing stock compartment by com- 



. ,. partment is given in Appendix II and a list of all 



Oeneral doicription of the growing .. . . , " A , ,, . 



,ioc k . woody plants found growing naturally in the 



plantation as well as of plants which have been 



planted and are still found in the compartments (except when represented by a 

 single specimen) but not including those which have only survived in the rest 

 house garden or along the metalled road from the rest house to the railway 

 station, is given in Appendix III. Excluding the standards which are mostly 

 sissoo, fully 80 per cent, of the growing stock now consists of mulberry (Morua 

 alba}. This species has spread naturally throughout the plantation being spread 

 mainly by water. 



6. The advent of the mulberry was looked upon as an evil and more 



,, or less energetic steps have been taken from time 



Competition between mulberry and , ,. ' . , ,. - 1 . , ,, , ,, 



,: 8foo . to time to assist the sissoo at the expense of the 



mulberry. Thus in compartments 1, '2, 121, 122 and 123 in 1898-99 mulberry 

 was cut back over 247 acres when the growth was one year old. There is noth- 

 ing now to show for this work and the measures taken were evidently quite 

 insufficient to ensure the preservation of the sissoo. The crop in compartments 

 66, 67 and 68 which were sown with sissoo in 1901-02 and have not yet been 

 felled, is now in many places pure mulberry. In this case it is almost certain 

 that the sissoo has not been suppressed by the more rapidly growing mulberry 

 but that it has been killed over considerable areas by Forties lucidus, and if the 

 mulberry had not appeared the ground would probably be blank. 



7. The sissoo undoubtedly yields a better firewood and a more valuable 



timber than the mulberry and at first sight it 



Relative ralue of mulberry nd BIBSOO. ,, , . ,, , J ... , . " 



would seem advisable to do something to assist 



the former at the expense of the latter. On the other hand the yield of mul- 

 berry per acre is considerably greater and even at present prices with a 20 years 

 rotation there is little difference in value between an acre of mulberry and sissoo. 

 The present average prices of sissoo firewood are based on wood which is largely 

 cut from standards so that if figures were available showing the value of sissoo fire- 

 wood from crops 20 years old without any thicker pieces obtained from standards, 

 the difference in price of sissoo and mulberry firewood would probably disappear 

 completely. A 20 years old mulberry crop yields a fair amount of timber 

 t even under present conditions and if properly thinned would probably yield 

 ' considerably more, so that it is probable that the mulberry is actually the more 

 profitable of the two. 



8. It is not proposed to make any calculations in support of the above 

 contention as no figures are available showing the value of sissoo firewood cut 

 from crops 20 years old and also owing to the fluctuations of the market the 

 calculation if made might not hold good for any length of time. There are, 

 however, other reasons why the mulberry should be accepted with gratitude and 

 why it would be unwise to try to maintain any considerable proportion of sissoo. 

 Recent experiments have shown that repeated cutting back of mulberry in a 

 compartment during the two years following the felling of the crop at a total 

 cost of Es. 6 per acre has not been sufficient to ensure the maintenance of the 

 sissoo. Quite apart from any question of expense it would be a mistake to 

 employ labour, the supply of which has hitherto been inadequate on a work of 

 doubtful value. The areas sown up with sissoo about 1900 are now rapidly 

 becoming mulberry crops owing to the sissoo being killed off wholesale by 



