734 XLVI. VERBENACEAE 



of early tending. It is situated on well-drained sandy loam along a high 

 bank : the rainfall here is about 160 in., and frost is unknown. At the time 

 of my visit it was 46 years old, and the trees were found to have an average 

 and maximum girth of 3 ft. 9 in. and 5 ft. 4 in. respectively, omitting sup- 

 pressed stems, which is a fair rate of growth. The Sitapahar plantations along 

 the Karnafuli river in the Chittagong hill tracts were commenced in 1872 and 

 continued in subsequent years, but a severe cyclone in October 1897 devastated 

 the plantations and destroyed a large proportion of the trees ; within recent 

 years further plantations have been formed under the taungya system in this 

 locality, and plantation work is being continued on a fairly large scale. 



Assam. The Kulsi teak plantations in the Kamrup district, formed in 

 1872 and following years, have done well ; there is also a plantation at Makum 

 near Dibrugarh. 



Andamans. Teak plantations in the Andamans were started in 1883 

 and continued spasmodically. From 1883 to 1889 teak and padauk (Ptero- 

 carpus dalbergioides) were raised in mixture, but the former outgrew and 

 suppressed the latter. The teak has done well both on padauk soil and on ever- 

 green soil, but rather better on the former than on the latter. The cultivation 

 of teak promises to be highly successful, and to be more remunerative than 

 that of the indigenous padauk ; the growth is nearly, if not quite, up to the 

 average for Burma. The earlier plantations were formed by transplanting 

 from the nursery, and the later ones by direct sowing. 



Arakan. There is a small plantation dating from 1825 on the Thade 

 stream behind Sandoway. In 1915 there were 106 trees in it, of which seven 

 were over 7 ft. in girth, the largest being 12 ft. 3 in. in girth, A plantation 

 formed about the same time in the plains near Taunggok in the Sandoway 

 district is reported to have been a failure. There is a plantation in the Uthalin 

 valley dating from about 1870. In the Akyab subdivision there are numbers 

 of small plantations formed between 1872 and 1875. In 1918 the number of 

 plantations dating from before 1900 was about 100, aggregating 195 acres, 

 the largest being 32 acres, while many of them were less than 1 acre in area. 

 From 1900 onwards plantations have been extended considerably, and on 

 suitable well-drained sites the growth is good. 



Choice of site. The importance of careful selection of sites for teak planta- 

 tions has not always been fully realized. Perhaps the most essential factor is 

 good drainage, since badly drained ground, or ground liable to inundation for 

 many days at a time, is totally unsuitable for the growth of teak. Laterite 

 should be avoided if the rock is anywhere near the surface ; this is well illus- 

 trated at Nilambur, where the plantations formed on low laterite hills have 

 not produced anything but small-sized trees, and in many cases have proved 

 an entire failure. Similarly poor shallow soil should be avoided, since although 

 teak can persist on such ground the trees remain stunted, and plantations 

 formed in such localities cannot be expected to prove financially successful. 



Teak can be grown successfully on ground which is not naturall}^ teak- 

 producing, even within its habitat. Some of the most promising teak planta- 

 tions in Burma have been formed on ground which previously supported 

 evergreen forest. The soil of tropical evergreen forest being particularly 

 fertile, the growth of the teak on such ground is often very good ; the growth 



