FIREWOOD. 147 



cess by which similar waste tracts may be made productive. 

 An undulating surface must first be formed, and then a few 

 clumps of bushes may be laid down ; this is the beginning of a 

 jungle. When a belt of trees or bushes is once established in 

 such a situation, it should be kept undisturbed as long as it will 

 serve the purpose of protecting the trees within, though it may 

 be of no other value. I remember Pulicat fifteen years ago, when 

 the old Dutch station was almost without a tree ; but now there 

 are avenues and ornamental shrubs round the fort and on both 

 sides of the backwater. 



The kind of trees suitable for planting admits of some doubt, 

 and may perhaps be learned from some of the residents at En- 

 nore and Coromandel. The Gasuarina thrives well, and fur- 

 nishes a useful wood, which, however, does not answer for fuel, 

 as it does not split easily, and yields little wood when pollarded. 

 Besides, it would be better to plant quick-growing woods. 



There are numerous and excellent works on planting, such as 

 Loudon's "Arboretum Britannicum;" Brown's "Forester," 1861; 

 Pontey's " Forest Pruner ; " Monteath's " Forester's Guide ; " 

 Mathew on "Arboriculture;" and all the operations connected 

 with it, as the growth of trees for timber, for scenic effect, &c. ; 

 but I know of no work in England, or even in Germany (where 

 the forests are under an organised system of management), 

 affording information on the statistics of wood fuel. I am not 

 aware of any statistical records, although such are not wanting 

 with regard to peat and coal, which constitute the principal fuel 

 of Great Britain, where the raising of trees for firewood does not 

 constitute any part of forestry. As to the area necessary to pro- 

 duce a continual supply of firewood for 700,000 people, we have 

 no available data for the basis of calculation ; and as to the 

 number of years necessary for the reproduction of the jungle, it 

 seems to me that although seven years is found to be a sufficient 

 period of rest on the western coast, it is too short for the renewal 

 of hard wood on the eastern coast. The best kinds of wood to 

 rear for fuel are the quickest growers of the country, such as the 

 firs in Scotland, the poplar and willow in England, the beech in 

 Germany, and the various species of cassia, ficus, &c. in India, 

 which grow rapidly, and sow or extend themselves. As a general 



