2jt 



A saw-mill has been started at Saninga by a Hamburg company. 

 The demand at Zanzibar for planks and beams is so great that the 

 supply is inadequate. A few sleepers are also cut and sent to 

 Mombasa for use on the Uganda Railway. 



The regulations issued for the preservation of the woods in the 

 Usambara Hills have done much to prevent the needless felling of 

 valuable timber. Oaks, firs, and other European trees are now 

 being planted under the auspices of the Woods and Forests Com- 

 mission. Similar regulations will shortly be issued for other parts 

 of the colony. In the meantime a ranger has been placed in 

 charge of the customs at Moa, and non-commissioned officers, who 

 have a knowledge of forestry, have been selected for duty at most 

 of the stations in the interior. 



PLANTING AND SCIENCE IN CEYLON. 



In his address at the. opening of the .Legislative Council on the 

 i Nth instant, the Governor of Ceylon, the Right Hon'ble Sir JOFIN 

 WEST RlDGEWAY, remarked: — . 



.Mr. Willis, the very able and energetic Director, reports that 

 the; scientific sub-department has been fully organised, and a large 

 amount o^vork has been carried out by it. The chief desideratum 

 in organization is now the further division of the sub-department 

 of gardens into the Botanic Gardens proper, and an Experimental 

 Garden, where large 'experiments may be tried with staples, or with 

 plants that may become staples, leaving experiments on the minor 

 plants and the cultivation of ornamental plants to the Botanic 

 Gardens. By the purchase ofGangaroowa estate, facing the Pera- 

 deniya Gardens, an unrivalled site for experimental work has been 

 secured, and in future ali work with tea, coffee, coco-nuts, cam- 

 phor, cinchona, tobacco, fibres, fruits, etc., will be carried on upon 

 this site on a scale sufficient for the practical commercial testing 

 of the results and products for the information of all interested in 

 agricultural enterprise in the Colony. With the Experimental Gar- 

 den it is proposed to combine the training of a few students, and 

 thus supply the place of the Agricultural School in Colombo now 

 closed. The training will be of a strictly practical character, and 

 almost entirely out of doors, the garden being worked like an estate. 



The general condition of the crops of the Island in regard to 

 diseases is distinctly better than usual. This is partly due to the 

 work of the Mycologist and Entomologist, who have done much to 

 spread a know ledge of the principles of sanitation and of treatment 

 of disease in its early stages among planters and others. They 

 have reported, mainly by letter, on over 750 cases of disease during 

 the year, and have travelled over a large area giving advice and 

 help. They have also carried out a large amount of scientific inves- 

 tigation into the life histories of insects and fungi, especially those 

 which are or may become harmful. Mr. GREEN has also devoted a 

 good deal of attention to the question of mosquitoes and malaria, 

 with a view to the discovery of preventive measures against this 

 scourge. 



