BULLET AND SHOT 



of thorns. It is impatient of injury by cattle and 

 by fire, and, requiring shade while young, grows 

 well in clumps of thorny bushes. As the essential 

 oil, upon which its commercial value depends, is 

 developed only in the heart-wood, the growth of 

 the tree should not be too rapid, and hence sandal- 

 wood from dry, stony situations is more valuable 

 than that grown in moister localities and in richer 

 soil, although in the latter case the trees grow to 

 far larger dimensions. 



Sandal trees are not felled, but are uprooted, the 

 roots containing much oil, and being, therefore, 

 very valuable. The mature trees, after being 

 uprooted, are divested of most of the valueless 

 white or sap-wood, and are then carted to the 

 nearest sandal store (or l< kothi " as it is locally 

 termed) to undergo the preparation necessary 

 before sale. In the kothi, the trunk is sawn into 

 lengths ; the outside portions, consisting of any 

 still adherent white wood and a little heart-wood, 

 are removed by adzing, and the lengths, or billets, 

 are planed, and finally smoothed by the use of 

 sand-paper. The branches are similarly treated, 

 and the roots divested of bark and white wood, 

 their interstices being at the same time freed from 

 any adherent or contained soil. All the different 

 products of manufacture are separately stored, the 

 billets and chips being sorted into various classes, 

 and a largely attended auction sale is held annually 

 in each kothi, at which lots of convenient size 

 (from three to seven, and in the case of chips 

 many more, tons) of each class are exposed for 



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