December, 1908.] 



551 



TIMBER. 



afforestation of waste 

 lands. 



The direct relationship between rain- 

 fall and famine is hardly less conclu- 

 sively established than that between 

 forests and rainfall ; nevertheless the 

 supreme importance to India of the work 

 of tbe Forest Department still fails of 

 due recognition. In an interesting and 

 thoughtful article in the Nineteenth 

 Century Mr. J. Nisbet, some time Con- 

 servator of Forests in Burma, points the 

 moral. He declines to admit that famine 

 is inevitable, or to regard local direct 

 treatment, however well designed, as 

 other than a temporary palliative. The 

 areas of recurrent scarcity must ever 

 widen, he says, unless far more is done 

 than has ever yet been attempted to 

 afforest all waste lands and the poorest 

 classes of agricultural soil, and to plant 

 and manage them solely for the benefit 

 of the surrounding agricultural popula- 

 tion and their plough cattle. His doc- 

 trine is not new. So long ago as 1847 the 

 Court of Directors asked the Govern- 

 ment of India to ascertain the effect of 

 trees on the climate and productiveness 

 of a country and the results of extensive 

 clearances of timber, but nothing 

 followed save the publication of three 

 Reports from Madras Collectorates. A 

 year earlier Dr. Gibson, then Con- 

 servator of Forests in Bombay, had 

 pointed out the serious effects that were 

 already ensuing from the extensive 

 clearances of woodlands which had been 

 effected during the preceding fifty years. 

 This unrestrained reduction of timber, 

 he said, had diminished the fertility of 

 all the surrounding tracts, and he pro- 

 phesied that if the clearances continued 

 they must inevitably increase the mean 

 annual temperature and the aridity of 

 the climate. In support of this, Dr. 

 Gibson showed that since the disappear- 

 ance of forest from the South Konkan 

 the people complained that the springs 

 had dried on the uplands, that the cli- 

 mate had become drier, the seasons more 

 uncertain, and the land less fertile. The 

 Reports from the Madras Collectorates 

 already referred to yielded further 

 evidence of the dryiug-up of springs 

 after forest clearance. They also estab- 

 lished its injurious effects on climate 



and soil fertility, quoting the assertions 

 of cultivators in Trichinopoly that 

 where the forests had been cleared the 

 heat and wind were much increased. — 

 Indian Agriculturist, October 1, 1908. 



THE SAPODILLA TREE. 



The Sapodilla tree (Achras sapota) 

 is called the naseberry in Jamaica, and 

 is a native of Mexico and other parts of 

 Central America, where it is known as 

 the ' Zapote Chico,' and is much valued 

 on account of its different products. 



The tree grows from 25 to 30 feet in 

 height. It is very plentiful in some 

 districts of Mexico, and its wood gives a 

 most valuable timber. The wood of the 

 Sapodilla tree is of a clear, deep, reddish- 

 brown colour, very hard, but fairly easy 

 to work until thoroughly seasoned, 

 when only the finest edged tools have 

 any effect on its surface. The grain is 

 of such density that the wood sinks 

 when placed in water. The British 

 Consul at Vera Cruz mentions that door 

 frames and other interior work in 

 houses, known to be over a century 

 old, made from the wood of the ' Zapote,' 

 are as good to-day as when first placed 

 in position. 



Experiments in the use of the timber 

 in port construction, for forming sup- 

 ports under sea-water, show that it is 

 extremely valuable for this purpose, 

 since, notwithstanding the influence of 

 the water and the mud, the timber 

 appears practically indestructible. In 

 Central America, the milky juice 

 yielded by the tree on tapping the bark, 

 is evaporated, and forms the chicle gum 

 of commerce. The business of produc- 

 ing this chicle has become a large and 

 prosperous one in Mexico, the amount 

 exported in the past year being over 

 2,200 tons, valued at more than $2,000,000 

 (Mexican currency). There is also an 

 increasing output of chicle from British 

 Honduras, This product is chiefly 

 shipped to the United States, where it is 

 used as the basis of chewing gum. 



The sapodilla fruit is said to be much 

 appreciated in America, and it stands 

 shipment well. The trees are readily 

 propagated by budding.— Agricultural 

 News, Vol. VII., No. 165, Aagust, 1908. 



