xx.] INDIAN TEAK. 115 



the greater the length, the greater is the difficulty of 

 moving and getting them out of the forests to the streams, 

 and the increased danger when there of entanglement 

 in the short bends of the water-courses. Another is, 

 that the long logs were, until quite lately, liable to some 

 trifling duty; while upon the short pieces coming from 

 the forests, no charge whatever was levied on their arrival 

 at Moulmein. 



It is the practice in Burmah to girdle the Teak trees 

 three years before they intend to fell them ; a complete 

 ring of the bark and sapwood being cut through and 

 removed in order to kill the tree. This object is very 

 soon obtained, as in a few days, or at most a few weeks, 

 the tree is dead ; the natural juices contained in it are, 

 therefore, gradually run off by the root while the tree 

 stands. This and the great heat of the climate com- 

 bined, seasons the wood, and renders the log which, in 

 its green state would have a specific gravity of at least 

 i 'ooo, and be difficult to move if felled so much lighter 

 that it floats easily over the shallows of the streams or 

 rivers to the port of shipment. And as usually about a 

 year elapses between the felling and the delivery of the 

 timber in England, it is commonly received in a fit state 

 for immediate use. 



The practice of girdling is, I think, objectionable, 

 inasmuch as the timber dries too rapidly, is liable to 

 become brittle and inelastic, and leads frequently to the 

 loss of many fine trees by breakage in falling ; further, 

 it must be regarded as so much time taken from the 

 limit of its duration, which is of great importance. 



Girdling has been discontinued in the Annamallay 

 forests of Malabar, under the impression that it causes, 

 or at least extends, the heart-shake ; it is, however, 

 practised in Cochin, Travancore, and a few other places ; 



