^40 



FOREST TREES. 



oil, such as has recently been distilled by Mr. Petrie 

 Hay of Hunsur, is worth two rupees an ounce. It 

 is a product for which there is a growing demand 

 in arts, medicine, and perfumery. Sandalwood 

 carving is pre-eminently a local hand industry of 

 great antiquity, handed down from father to son 

 for many generations ; but it is practically confined 

 to one or two small towns, and perhaps a few hamlets 

 in Shimoga, the north-west corner of the province, 

 Sagar and Sorab being the principal seats of manu- 

 facture. These carvings vary in price from one to 

 a thousand rupees, and consist of a great variety of 

 articles, the more prominent being small cabinets, 

 temples, swami figures, boxes, albums, fans, switches, 

 walking sticks, card cases, paper cutters, chess- 

 boards, and toys. Keduced to a fine paste, the wood 

 is popularly used by the JBrahmins for marking the 

 forehead and body. 



Cultivation.— The Gandha mara is generally looked 

 upon as a somewhat delicate tree, although, judging 

 from its tenacity of growth in poor soils while ex- 

 posed to occasional long periods of drought, it often 

 behes this character. But these are the only condi- 

 tions under which the species is really hardy, and 

 in situations, where the drainage of the soil is defect- 

 ive, it is usually very delicate. Planting should 

 therefore be avoided in wet land. A rather heavy 

 rainfall will not hurt the tree, providing that the soil 

 is porous enough to carry off surplus water before 

 stagnation sets in. The roots and bark are sensi- 

 tive of injury, and the tree is easily killed by fire. 

 It is reproductive from seed, but rarely grows thickly, 

 single specimens attaining maturity at intervals of 

 ten to a hundred yards. If seedlings are crowded, 

 they seldom attain a good size, so that judicious 

 thinning in the early stages of growth becomes an 

 important factor in the cultivation of sandal. 

 Suckers are occasionally given off from old trees, but 



