236 FOEEST TREES. 



seedlings while they are very small. This is natural, 

 as the raiyat derives no benefit from the growth of 

 sandalwood, while by its removal he protects his 

 fields from the encroachment of improductive 

 growth, and evades the responsibility which would 

 fall upon him should trees exist in his holding. This 

 is the most serious form of destruction the autho- 

 rities have to deal with, and the best remedy would 

 be to ofEer the raiyat a share in the profits arising 

 from sandal cultivation. If the remuneration was 

 sufficient, he would then nourish the tree in every 

 nook and corner not required for the pro- 

 duction of food and raiment. But it is equally 

 if not more important that the cultivation of sandal 

 should be pushed in semi-barren tracts, where the 

 raiyat has but little control, and where the cultivation 

 of field crops would be out of the question. This is 

 all the more desirable when it is known that the 

 finest quality of sandalwood is produced on poor 

 rocky soils. Associated in such places with Lantana — 

 the latter as a nurse — there is a wide field in Mysore 

 for the artificial propagation and extension of this 

 valuable tree. Seeing the advantage of such pro- 

 duction, the local Forest Department has already 

 adopted measures both for the improvement of 

 natural growth, and the planting of entirely new 

 areas. 



The bark and alburnum — sapwood — of the sandal 

 tree are comparatively useless products, and the 

 value of the duramen or heartwood depends almost 

 wholly on the presence of a fragrant essential oil of 

 high specific gravity. Protracted growth appears 

 to favour the development of oil in the cells, bo that 

 very aged trees, whether of medium or small 

 growth, are usually the most fragrant and oleiferous. 

 Itf is for this reason that some persons deprecate 

 the felling of sandal until it has altogether ceased to 

 vegetate. But with this species, the span of life is 



