AUSTRALIAN PLANTATIONS; 187 



It will be seen from the above,, that the whole of the sum placed 

 at my disposal is exhausted, and a further sum of Es. 299-12-2' 

 expended ; the excess I have met from other funds as a tem- 

 porary arrangement. I have now the honour to request, that a 

 further grant of Es. 2500 may be sanctioned at the early conve- 

 nience of Government. The total expenditure from the com- 

 mencement (March 1856) up to 31st October, has been Es. 10,071- 

 15-2, for which Government possesses about two lacs of trees, 

 which have thus cost less than one Anna per plant. 



9. General Condition of Plantation. — The plantation is, on the 

 whole, in a very promising condition ; and I think that some 

 return may be expected from thinnings in two years. The im- 

 portance of the plantation may be gathered from the simple fact, 

 that Government no*w pay Es. 700 monthly to a contractor for the 

 supply of firewood to the troops in "Wellington. This payment* 

 it must be remembered, is exclusive of the requirements of the 

 Public Works Department, and of the officers of the regiment. 

 The wants of the cantonment and those connected with it are so 

 great, that the natural forests will soon be insufficient to meet them. 



10. I take this opportunity of requesting the sanction of 

 Government to place Corporal Hall, whose great merits I have 

 above mentioned, on my establishment as an overseer. If my re- 

 quest is complied with, I shall employ him partly in conserving 

 the forests in this direction, a duty which he can well perform 

 without prejudice to the plantation. I have no one to the east- 

 Ward of Utakamand to aid in conservancy; and my knowledge 

 of Corporal Hall enables me to make this proposition with full 

 confidence that he will perform these duties efficiently, and that 

 the arrangement, whilst a just recognition of his services, will 

 also be to the advantage of the state. 



Order on the Preceding. Papers. 



tiQth January 1860, Nti. 101. 

 1. In this letter Br Cleghorn relates the progress made in 

 these plantations since the date of his last report of the 10th 

 April 1858, noticed in the order of Government, No. 748, 3d 

 June 1858. 



