Reviews and Notices of Books. 289 
the Archives of the Madras Government; but they are not easily 
accessible. Three annual reports are given, indicating the pro- 
gress of the department, and these are followed by a memorandum 
on Kumari—an injurious practice, which destroys vast quantities 
of the most valuable timber, and which is thus described :— 
«¢ Kumari is the name given to cultivation which takes place on 
forest clearings. A hill side is always selected, on the slopes of 
which a space is cleared at the end of the year. The wood is lefé 
to dry till the following March or April, and then burned, In 
most localities the seed is sown in the ashes on the fall of the first 
rains, without the soil being touched by implement of any kind ; 
but in the taluk of Bekul the land is ploughed. The only further 
operations are weeding and fencing. The crop is gathered towards 
the end of the year, and the produce is stated to be at least 
double that which could be obtained under the ordinary modes of 
cultivation, A small crop is taken off the ground in the second 
year, and sometimes in the third, after which the spot is deserted 
until the jungle is sufficiently high to tempt the kumari cutter to 
renew the process. In the south, where land is more scarce com- 
pared with the population, the same land is cultivated with kumari 
once in 12, 10, or 7 years; but in N. Canara, the virgin forest, 
or old kumari not cultivated within the memory of man, are gene- 
rally selected.” 
The work contains important information regarding firewood 
and charcoal, trees for avenues, hedges, and wood for ship-building, 
furniture, and engraving. A report is given of the Bangalore 
and Utakamand gardens, with a catalogue of plants cultivated in 
the former. Suggestions are added relative to the establishment 
of soldiers’ gardens in India. A useful bibliography is appended 
wi.h reference to Indian plants, and a glossary of Indian terms, 
The book is illustrated by woodcuts, and by several lithographs 
executed by Mr M‘Farlane, showing the character of the Anamalai 
Mountains, valley, and forests, the timber-slip, the Punachi Pass, 
an ancient cromlech, the Tangachi and Akka Mountains, the 
gathering of honey by the Kaders, and a Rattan chain for collect- 
ing honey, the mode of transporting timber, and the injury effected 
on wood by the agency of insects. A Sketch Map is given of South 
India, showing the distribution of teak, sal, and sandal-wood. 
_ The work is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of Indian 
forests. It contains a large mass of information on “this! impor- 
tant subject, and promises to be of great service to the Madras 
Government. As a manual for those concerned in the forest de- 
partment it is invaluable. The improvements carried out by Dr 
Cleghorn will confer a lasting benefit on India, and his judicious 
recommendations, if they receive due attention from Government, 
will tend to increase the economical resources of our possessions 
in the East. 
