60 THIRD REPORT ON FOREST OPERATIONS 



Suitability of Gali-Paravattam ■» 



Hill for Coffee, 15th Dec. 1859, \ G. 0. 10th Jan. 1860, No. 73. 

 No. 874. J 



Second Report on the Australian "i 

 Plantation near Wellington, I G. 0. 20th Jan. 1860, No. 101. 

 15th Dec. 1859, No. 877. J 



The Forests and Fuel of the} 



Nilgiri Hills, 8th Nov. 1859, I G. O. 20th March 1860, No. 425. 

 No. 836. J 



3. Pressure on Forests. — There are many causes at work which 

 are gradually thinning the ranks of our indigenous forests. The 

 first, and by far the most formidable of these, is railway require- 

 ments. It is scarcely credible the many thousands of large 

 forest trees which have been felled in the neighbourhood of the 

 various lines of railway within the last few years. Another source 

 of diminution, affecting only scrubby copse and minor forest, is 

 the extension of cultivation consequent upon the reduction of the 

 land-tax and increased facilities of communication. There is 

 every probability that the clearing both of the forest and jungle 

 will go on so long as grain maintains its present tempting 

 price. 



4. Military Requirements. — The barracks at Wellington are 

 now nearly finished, and there has not been much pressure during 

 the year from the gun-carriage factory or arsenals; the only 

 special references have been with regard to materials for gun- 

 stocks and saddletrees. , The palavu-wood (Mimusops indica) is 

 in large demand by the Ordnance Department for gun-stocks. 

 Until recently it was not included among the reserved woods, 

 and the tree accordingly was extensively cut for private pur- 

 poses. Steps, however, have now been taken to prevent this 

 wood being removed ; and the collector of Tinnevelly (where the 

 tree chiefly grows) has been requested to inform the subordinate 

 revenue officers in his district that all private cutting of palavu 

 is restricted. The ber tree (Zizyphus jujuba) is approved for 

 saddletrees. 



5. E. M. Dockyard. — A reference was made from the Secretary 

 of State for India, through the Government of Bombay, as to 

 the possibility of supplying a durable timber called Ayni or 

 Angili (Artocarpus hirsutd) for the Eoyal Navy. The officers 



