352 TEAK-PLANTATIONS. Chap. XXT. 



nurseries for replenishing the teak forests, as nearly all tlie 

 fine timber had been felled many years ago. There is a 

 great deal in North Canara of small size, and still more in 

 Cochin and Travancore; but the reckless system of felling 

 threatened the same results as has already overtaken the 

 supply of chinchona-bark in South America. The only forests 

 containing teak, in Malabar, in which Government has a 

 proprietary right, are 25 square miles in the Palghat talook, 

 where all the mature trees have long since gone to the 

 Bombay dockyard ; but in 1842 leases of forest-land were 

 obtained from the Zamorin for the cultivation of teak, 70 to 

 80 square miles in extent, chiefly in the Ernaad talook, 

 near Nellamboor. This most important and now successful 

 measure is due to the zeal and perseverance of Mr. Conolly, 

 and there is a good prospect of tlie stock of teak-timber in 

 these forests being eventually replenished. The trees, how- 

 ever, require a growth of 60 or 80 years to reach a matmaty 

 fitting the wood for shipbuilding; but it is then unequalled 

 by any other known timber ; it does not injure iron, and is 

 not liable to shrink in width. 



It was some time before the method of inducing the teak- 

 seeds to germinate was discovered, and several experiments 

 were tried. In the forests it was observed that the seeds 

 were prepared for growth by losing the hard outer shell 

 through the warmth caused by fires which annually consume 

 the brushwood. Mr. Conolly, therefore, burnt a coating of 

 hay over the ground where the seeds were sown. This trial 

 was unsuccessful, and in 1843 it was found that the best 

 method was to steep the nuts in water for tliirty-six hours, 

 then sow them in holes four inches apart, and half an inch 

 under the surface, covering the beds with straw, so as to 

 prevent evaporation, and gently watering them every even- 

 ing. By following this plan the seeds germinated, and 

 sprouted in from four to eight weeks. In 1844 as many as 



