428 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 452. 



ularly handsome and graceful appearance. The bed these 

 Musas are growing in is about five feet in depth, com- 

 posed of good rich soil, and they have had plenty of water. 



The hardy Nymphasas in the ponds in this garden, particu- 

 larly N. Marliacea chromatilla, grew so luxuriantly this sea- 

 son that many of the leaves were forced several inches above 

 the water. During the hot weather these became much shriv- 

 eled and sunburnt, and by the end of July were unsightly. As 

 an experiment, the leaves were all mown off about six inches 

 below the surface of the water. New growth and flowers soon 

 followed, and for the past six weeks the plants have borne 

 more flowers, and with their fresh green leaves have been 

 even more attractive than they were in spring. Whether this 

 will have any ill effect on the vitality of the plants remains to 

 be seen ; but it is preferable, in my opinion, to have the two 

 crops of flowers, even at the expense of the plants. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. Edward J. Canning. 



Asparagus Rust. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In the last issue of Garden and Forest attention is 

 called in the Notes to Professor Halsted's recent article on the 

 Asparagus rust, Puccinia Asparagi, from which it is inferred 

 that the malady is probably confined to a few localities. I 

 wish to state in this connection that the Asparagus-plants at 

 the Agricultural College here are completely covered with the 

 same rust this fall, although I cannot say how far it has been 

 disseminated in other parts of the state, neither have I noticed 

 it on the College plants previous to this year. 



Massachusetts Agric'i College, Amherst, Mass. 



G. E. Stone. 



The Forest. 

 The Burma Teak Forests. — XII. 



PORTIONS OF THE FORESTS MAY EVENTUALLY BE GIVEN UP FOR 

 THE EXTENSION OF CULTIVATION. 



IT is not unreasonable to suppose that the time will come when 

 the timber requirements of the country, and the demands 

 of the world's markets, can be provided from a much smaller 

 area than that at present reserved. Many of the Karens are 

 taking to a more settled, a more civilized system of cultivation ; 

 they make permanent paddy-fields in the place of their shift- 

 ing toungyas, but this must necessarily be a slow process, 

 and meanwhile the increasing yield of the forests will make it 

 possible to find room for them even beyond the areas assigned 

 to them under the present settlement. The real strength of 

 the gigantic British Indian Empire consists in the prosperity 

 and contentment of its inhabitants. The British nation may 

 well be proud of having accomplished this — of having estab- 

 lished a strong, "just and considerate Government among the 

 numerous nationalities of British India. It may not be gen- 

 erally known that those provinces of India which are under 

 British government have nearly one-third the area of the United 

 States, without Alaska, while the population is much larger — 

 namely, 225,000000. Including the native states, the British 

 Indian Empire at present has an area of one and a half million 

 square miles, with a population of 300,000,000. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



It has been stated that strong opposition was raised in the 

 earlier days against the demarcation of reserved forests in 

 Burma. Even some of the principal forest officers, after I had 

 left Burma, supported this opposition, and their strongest 

 argument was that the natural forests should be left to the 

 Karens, and that for the supply of Teak timber in the future 

 we should exclusively rely upon plantations made, if possible, 

 in the open country outside the forests. All mature timber in 

 the forests could then be cut at once, and this would give a 

 powerful stimulus to the trade and prosperity of the country. 



Fortunately, these views did not at that time prevail. Slowly, 

 but steadily, the forest revenue had increased. The merchants 

 of Rangoon were as anxious as they had been in i860 to get 

 the forests into their own hands, or, at least, to girdle as much 

 timber as they wished. But the steadily growing surplus 

 revenue was accepted by the Government as proof that the 

 system initiated in 1856 was a good one and ought to be main- 

 tained. And when in 1886 upper Burma was annexed the good 

 financial results of forest management in lower Burma led to 

 the adoption of a similar system for the new territory. The forests 

 of upper Burma are exceedingly rich ; large quantities of old 

 limber, girdled by the holders of forest leases under the King, 

 are being brought out, and it has been possible largely to con- 



tinue girdling operations. The surplus forest revenue of 

 upper Burma is very large, amounting during the five years 

 ending 1893-4 to 1,436,000 rupees a year. 



The far-sighted forest policy laid down by Lord Dalhousie, 

 and carried out by Sir Arthur Phayre, made it possible to 

 initiate a good system ; its maintenance, however, is chiefly 

 due to the growing surplus forest revenue. Nay, it is not too 

 much to say that the Burma surplus forest revenue has largely 

 contributed to the establishment and maintenance of a good 

 forest policy in the British Indian Empire. The figures for the 

 five years ending with 1893-4 stand as follows : 



British India. Burma. 



Mean annual Rupees. Rupees. 



Gross revenue, 15,949,000 4,978,000 



Expenditure 8,603,000 1,672.000 



Surplus revenue, 7,346,000 3 306,000 



The mean annual surplus forest revenue of Burma amounts 

 to forty-five per cent, of that produced by the forests of the 

 whole British Indian Empire. 



The reader may ask whether too much stress has not here 

 been laid upon the production of surplus revenue from the 

 forests. The value to the nation of well-managed public for- 

 ests consists less in the annual surplus revenue which they 

 give than in the accumulated capital value which they repre- 

 sent, the supply of timber and other produce which they yield 

 and in the protection which they afford to agricultural and 

 other interests. The real advantages of good forest manage- 

 ment, however, are not yet recognized everywhere. In Eng- 

 land, at least, and probably also in the United States, most 

 people will be disposed to judge the management of forests by 

 the surplus revenue they yield. 



Though the present paper has extended to great length, I 

 have no right to expect that the reader has fully understood 

 the leading facts connected with forest management in Burma. 

 A few practical points, however, have, I trust, been promi- 

 nent. These I should like to recapitulate and particularly to 

 submit them to those who may in the United States have-to 

 undertake the management of forests similarly constituted. 



First. Collect data as soon as possible regarding the market- 

 able species, growing stock, rate of growth and their require- 

 ments. 



Second. Cut sparingly, regulating your cuttings, according to 

 circumstances, by area or by volume. 



Third. Select the trees to be cut with due regard to the 

 maintenance of the most valuable species. 



Fourth. Increase the proportion of the more valuable kinds 

 by planting or by other means. 



Fifth. Resist, if possible, the temptation to make a big boom 

 at the outset, and form your plans so as to secure a sustained 

 and, if possible, a steadily increasing yield from the forests. 



Sixth. If the question has to be decided which areas should 

 be selected to be demarcated as reserved or state forests it is 

 best at the outset to make these areas as large as possible. 

 Hereafter, when the yield of these areas is known, it will be 

 easy to give up such portions as may be less valuable for the 

 extension of cultivation and in order to provide local labor in 

 the forests. 



Bonn, Germany. Dietrich Brandts. 



[This installment concludes the instructive chapter in 

 the history of skilled forest management which Sir Dietrich 

 Brandis has been kind enough to provide for our readers. 

 It is, perhaps, the most important experiment of the kind 

 which has been inaugurated during the century, and, con- 

 sidering the difficulties encountered, the most successful in 

 a large way, so that a sketch of it by the originator of the 

 scheme has a value which every student of forestry will 

 appreciate. In response to requests of correspondents, we 

 shall publish a small edition of these articles in pamphlet 

 form.— Ed.] 



Recent Publications. 



Camping in the Canadian Rockies. By Walter Dwight 

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 many text illustrations from photographs by the author. 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1S96. 



This book is not a record of pioneer life, nor the work 

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 to do it, and who takes photographs with much more skill 

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