JAMA [OA. 



BULLETIN 



OF THE 



BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT 



New Series.] APPENDIX L, 1896. A^TT^ 



ELEMENTARY NOTES ON PLANTING AND CARE OF WOOD- 

 LANDS, CHIEFLY FROM SCHLICH'S MANUAL. 



By W. Fawcett, Director of Public Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica. 



(Reprinted from Handbook of Jamaica for 1896.) 



UTILITY OF WOODS. 



J amaioa was, at the time of its discovery by Christopher Columbus, the " land 

 of woods and streams." If attention is not soon p lid to the creation and preser- 

 vation of woods, the island may soon be described a* a " land of sterile hills aud 

 rushing torrents." 



The surface was then completely clothed with a variety of tree3 of all sizes and 

 ages : — on the highest elevations yacca an 1 soap wood ; lower down juniper cedar, bil- 

 berry, mountain guava ; still lower, common cedar, mahoe, santamaria ; lower again, 

 breadnut, ramoon, bullet trees, lance wood, bitter wood ; at low elevations lignum 

 vitae, yoke wood, dogwood, fustic, cashaw, ebony, mahogany ; and along the sea- 

 coast, mangroves, buttonwood, sea-side grape, and yellow-flowered mahoe. 



The trees grew on from youth to maturity without interference from man, 

 favoured by soil and climate, attaining their greatest height and bulk in fertile 

 situations. At the time of a hurricane a few would be blown over, letting in the 

 sun on the ground covered thick with the decay of leaves that had been falling 

 for centuries ; the absence of dense shade would allow seedlings to spring up thickly, 

 and re- clothe the open space with a fresh growth of trees. The soil was constantly 

 improving ; whatever was taken out of it by the growth of the trees was returned 

 again in the gradual fall of the leaves ; the roots penetrated far and wide through 

 soil and subsoil, letting in air and water, which with the help of decaying 

 matter constantly brought more of the soil into a condition fit for plant food. At 

 the same time the soil could absorb and hold for some time the greater part of 

 the rain, allowing it to find its way into the earth, percolating through rocks per- 

 haps for miles until it appears again weeks or months later at lower levels in 

 never failing springs. 



At length civilised man appeared, and settled in the land. Nature has been 

 lavish as a mother in her gift of forest produce, man is the spendthrift child that 

 takes the free gift, as it would air or water, and not only uses it, but squanders 

 it, destroying it ruthlessly without let or hindrance, and so causing an increase of 

 2 or 3 degrees in the summer temperature, a decrease in the rainfall, torrential 

 flows of rain with constant washing away and deterioration of soil. 



Forests in some countries so covered the land that they have been looked 

 upon as an unmixed evil to be almost entirely destroyed before any progress can 

 be made in agriculture. This is a correct view with proper limitations, and even 

 in some parts of Jamaica, for instance on the northern slopes of the Blue Moun- 

 tains, it would be advantageous to make extensive clearings under judicious man- 

 agement. But in most parts the utility of woods preponderates over any ill effects. 



" The various ways," says Schlich, " in which forests exercise an influence in 

 the economy of man and of nature may be summarised as follows : — 



