i4i 



has been of large size. It is a very slow grower, and large sized 

 trees may be reckoned to be a century old at least. 



The tree is very easily identified by its lar^e leaves 6-8 inches 

 long bearing from 8 to 12 rather stiff rounded leaflets; the flowers 

 in panicles white, the pods green about a foot long almost woody, 

 and tough, rather thick though flattened, and about three inches 

 across. 



The Merabau is readily raised from seed, and for afforestation 

 owing to its large size the seed can be planted in situ. The seed 

 germinates very readily as a rule, but some remain for months 

 after planting before they germinate. The first growth is very 

 rapid, then the growth is much slower. Trees of about 15 years age 

 in the Botanic Gardens have attained a height of about 30 feet and 

 a girth of 2 to 2} feet. These trees have not at this age begun to 

 flower yet. A full grown tree fruits very heavily, and produces 

 great quantities of seed. 



Merabau occurs abundantly in Selangor and Perak, Malacca 

 (scantily) and as far north as Siam. It is absent from Singapore 

 and Penang, and rare or absent also from Johor, the Dindings and 

 Pahang. 



In spite of its name it would appear that it does not occur in 

 Sumatra, the Intsia palembantca, Miq. from which Baker took the 

 name Afzelia palembanica being a distinct plant and Dr. Prain 

 proposes the name of Afzelia Baketi for our Merabau. 



The wood is hard and heavy very durable, dark brown, and tak- 

 ing a good polish, the pores are rather large and corky scattered 

 or more or less in lines, rays very fine, concentric lines usually 

 conspicuous fine and distant. 



Weight I Trade sample Singapore 50 lbs. 5 ozs. 



Lingga ... ... ... 54 lbs. 4 ozs. 



Malacca... ... ... 56 lbs. 4 ozs. 



Johor Sawmills ... 58 lbs. 3 ozs. 



Merabau is one of our most useful woods, and indeed the most 

 important timber in the country. It is the best for sleepers, and 

 excellent for building purposes and for furniture. For sleepers 

 alone as the railways are being pushed on through the Peninsula 

 the consumption of Merabau will probably be very large. The 

 following calculation was made for a report on the Selangor forests, 

 as to the amount required for railway sleepers. Each sleeper mea- 

 sures 6 feet long by 9 inches wide and 4^ inches thick and contains 

 approximately 2 cubic feet, one mile of railway requires 1,980 

 sleepers. A large sized Merabau tree may be estimated to give 

 a log of 60 feet long and four feet through, which is the equivalent 

 of 188.50 cubic feet, so that one mile of railway requires 21 trees 

 of the largest size. Taking the average duration of the sleepers 

 at 8 years, 42 trees of the largest size will be required for a mile 

 of railway in 16 years. This is much under estimated as compara- 

 tively few trees give as much timber as this and waste has not 

 been allowed for, but it gives a fair idea of the deducted amount 

 required for railway sleepers. 



