194 AVENUES. 



the people will grow wood for themselves as they now do grain. 

 Even restricted as above proposed, it may be doubted whether it 

 would not be better in the long run for Government to trust to 

 supplies from private enterprise than to plant on its own account ; 

 but each case must be considered on its own merits with a ten- 

 dency against, rather than for Government interposition. In 

 particular and special cases, as at Wellington (firewood), and at 

 Nellambur (teak), Government plantations will be formed ; but 

 I should deprecate such a step, which is much more costly than 

 conservancy of reserved tracts. 



(3.) The reservation, &c, of jungles are very important sub- 

 jects, and are now engaging my attention. In the selection of 

 these I am desirous of taking counsel with the collector and en- 

 gineer of the district. 



4. Avenue trees are of immense consequence to the trunk 

 roads of the country, and in some districts, they are nearly as 

 essential to the convenience of travellers as a smooth surface. 

 It has been proved, I think, that carts travel further in a shady 

 road than in an exposed tract. 



5. Those who have seen the beautiful avenues of the dupada 

 maram (Vateria indicd),* the jak {Artocarpus integrifolia), and 

 Lagerstromia regina in Canara and Malabar, sal in Gumsur, and 

 those of the tamarind, banyan, and mango in Salem and Mysore, 

 cannot fail to appreciate their value and importance. 



6. In the favoured climate of Mysore, the system has been to 

 reduce the rent to ryots or patels planting avenues. Eows of 

 useful trees yielding fruit — mango, tamarind, and jamun — are kept 

 up and watered by ryots on waste land till they are in a flourish- 

 ing state ; they are then counted, and the ryots receive so much 

 land rent free, or reduced, for so many hundred trees, according 

 to a scale. 



7. Seeds and seedlings are procurable nearly at cost price from 

 the public gardens at Madras, Bangalore, and Utakamand. Dis- 

 trict engineers may confidently expect the best counsel and advice 

 from myself and assistants ; but the executive management and 



* This tree forms beautiful avenues in Nagar, Malabar, and Canara, the 

 foliage is dense, and the blossom very fragrant. It was a favourite with 

 the ancient Rajahs, and there are magnificent old trees near Bednore, &c. 



