TECTONA 733 



cultivation of field crops. The cost amounted to Rs. 112 per acre up to 1884, 

 and Rs. 120 per acre up to 1904. 



The earlier Burma plantations were formed without the aid of field crops, 

 and have accordingly been designated ' regular i3lantations '. The idea of 

 combining the raising of teak with the practice of shifting cultivation (taungya), 

 so prevalent among the jungle people of Burma, originated with Dr. Brandis, 

 though the credit of applying it in its practical details in the Tharrawaddy 

 forests appears to belong to Colonel W. J. Seaton, who was in charge of those 

 forests from about 1863 to 1870. Taungya plantations were commenced in 

 Tharrawaddy on a small scale in 1869, and since 1873 have been extended 

 almost continuously. These plantations have proved a cheap and efficient 

 means of raising teak plantations on a large scale, and are admirably adapted 

 to the habits of the jungle population. They have been formed extensively 

 in many parts of Burma. In 1917 the total area of teak plantations, including 

 6,021 acres of teak mixed with cutch {Acacia Catechu), was 71,731 acres, of 

 which no less than 68,364 acres consisted of taungya plantations. 



Details regarding the method of formation and tending of taungya planta- 

 tions, with figures of cost, are given below. The mistake of scattering these 

 plantations in small isolated blocks is referred to on p. 735 ; but for this 

 mistake the potential value of the teak plantations of Burma as profit-earning 

 concerns would be much higher than it is. There is nevertheless a great future 

 before the taungya system in Burma, provided definite concentrated blocks of 

 forest are set aside for planting up under regular schemes ; in particular the 

 conversion of blocks of evergreen or semi-evergreen forest into profitable teak 

 plantations holds out considerable promise. The labour difficulty might be 

 got over where possible by the establishment of forest villages ; the necessary 

 increase of staff for purposes of supervision could well be justified on financial 

 grounds wherever the choice of site has been carefully made. Perhaps the only 

 serious obstacle to the extension of teak plantations, as far as labour con- 

 ditions will permit, is the risk of encouraging the spread of the bee-hole borer. 

 This danger is sufficiently real to form a valid reason for avoiding pure planta- 

 tions of teak over large areas and for finding suitable species for growing in 

 mixture with the teak. 



United Provinces. The plantation at Ramgarh in the Gorakhpur district, 

 which has regenerated itself in a remarkable manner, has already been referred 

 to. Recently teak has been tried in connexion with afforestation work in 

 ravine lands in the Etawah district, and has shown rapid growth in the earlier 

 years. Teak trees are planted, and grow moderately well if they escape frost, 

 as far north as Dehra Dun. There is a small plantation at Lachiwala in the 

 Dun, but it has been cut back repeatedly by frost, and may be regarded as 

 a complete failure. 



Bihar and Orissa. Within recent years teak plantations have been formed 

 in the Puri district. 



Bengal. There is a plantation at Bamunpokri in the Darjeeling tarai, 

 and a small one, dating from 1869, in the Lower Tondu forest near Gorumara 

 in the Jalpaiguri district ; both of these have succeeded fairly well. The 

 latter was at one time reported to be a failure, but when I visited it in 1915 

 I found it looking healthy, although it appeared to have suffered from Mant 



