Dr. H. F. C. Cleghorn on the Hedge Plants of India. 235 



of rivers and nullahs; the formation of Ghauts, by which the 

 inland traffic reaches the coast ; the abolition of transit duties ; 

 the extension of made roads ; the increased number and better 

 construction of labour-carts, arising from increased facilities of 

 intercourse ; and the completion of other public works, as Moo- 

 saffir-Khanahs, Choultries, Travellers' Bungalows, &c. Let us 

 hope that as the various impediments are successively removed, 

 in process of time our modes and systems will be better under- 

 stood and appreciated ; the lands will be more generally manured, 

 the fields enclosed, and the roadsides fenced ; additional tracts 

 cultivated, and English improvements gradually introduced into 

 Hindostan, — giving an impetus to commerce throughout the 

 country. 



As the climate widely varies in different parts of the Peninsula, 

 so the aspect of the country, the soils and productions of the 

 districts, the modes of cultivation, and the facilities of traffic 

 differ in an extraordinary degree, and those cultivators accus- 

 tomed to one method of agriculture can seldom manage any 

 other. 



The arid sands of Madras, the undulating plateau of Mysore, 

 the extensive plains of the Deccan, the primaeval forests of Coorg 

 and Malabar, the jungles of Hydrabad and Nuggur, present 

 botanical and geological features strikingly dissimilar*. There 

 is as much variety in the surface of the ground as there is in 

 different parts of Europe : indeed so complete is the contrast 

 between the extreme sterility of some tracts of the Carnatic 

 plains, which exhibit a painfully barren picture of desolation 

 from the total absence of wood, and the luxuriant arboreous 

 vegetation of the Neilgherry slopes, which the researches of 

 Wight prove to possess one of the richest floras in the world, 

 that no two countries in Europe display more opposite charac- 

 teristics. The climate of the former is remarkable for excessive 

 drought, so that European furniture invariably cracks and warps, 

 whereas in the vicinity of the Malabar Ghauts the south-west 

 monsoon is felt in full force, and the fall of rain exceeds 120 

 inches in the season, producing an atmosphere so charged with 

 humidity that the lancet in my pocket has been covered with 

 rust in a few days. It must be clear, therefore, that in suggest- 

 ing as worthy of trial any vegetable products calculated to enrich 

 and improve the country, great attention must be paid to the 

 question of local applicability. The effects of moisture greatly 

 favour the growth of most species, while a very dry state of the 

 air is incompatible with the life of others. 



* Hence the importance of specific habitats being given to evei-y speci- 

 men in our Indian herbaria; not such a vague one as "India Orientalis" 

 or " Monies Hindostanice." 



16* 



