FORESTERS’ LIFE IN BURMA 169 
of bamboo; but at present it is impossible to utilize 
more than a few of the most valuable species, and 
attention is chiefly directed to teak for export, and 
to pyinkado for railway sleepers. It is rare to find 
pure teak forests of any great extent; as a rule the 
tree is scattered amongst other species which have 
little marketable value, and in evergreen forests 
some magnificent specimens are observable. During 
native rule the teak was a royal tree, and the 
monopoly has been maintained by the British 
Government, and, as the timber is never felled 
green, there is the less difficulty in enforcing State 
ownership. It is customary to “girdle” the stand- 
ing tree, so that seasoning proceeds during the two 
or more years that elapse before felling, and in this 
condition the logs will float about two-thirds sub- 
merged in fresh water, which would not otherwise 
be the case. As the timber has to traverse some 
hundreds of miles on a journey that frequently takes 
a couple of years before reaching the distant market, 
the importance of this method of seasoning is 
apparent. 
The procedure in the matter of the exploitation 
of teak is as follows: The forester “girdles” such 
trees as he considers are silviculturally fit for re- 
moval, and this involves him in an arduous task, as he 
may only find one suitable stem on every three or 
more acres traversed. After ‘“ girdling” he impresses 
each tree with the Government mark and with the 
year of “girdling,” and so important is this work 
considered that it was, ten years ago, entrusted only 
to European officers, and that not only for the reason 
that the future welfare of the forest depended on 
