2fs 



[Jan. 1007. 



TIMBERS. 



Satinwood : Chloroxylon Swietenia, 



By G. D. Tbmpler. 

 Satinwood is witliont question our most valuable forest tree in Ceylon after 

 ebony. It is very common in the forests along tlie whole of the Eastern coast of 

 Ceylon, and attains a height of from 30 to 40 feet ; with yellowish bark, fine drooping 

 pinnate leaves with abundant, unequal bladed, small leaflets ; small flowers of a 

 creamy white colour ; trunk, straight symmetrical ; bark soft, corky, about half an inch 

 thick or more. The heartwood has a beautiful satin lustre, fragrant wben seasoned, 

 greenish white with a yellowish tinge or mottled yellow and feathered ; close grained 

 and heavy. Weighs about 5(i lbs. to the cubic foot when seasoned. Has been com- 

 pared to box-wood ; not found suited for engraving but is excellent for turning : 

 used for agricultural implements aud for cart building. It makes beautiful furniture 

 and picture frames. It is imported to England and utilized for cabinet work and backs 

 of brushes. This tree is usually to be found at ar. elevation below 800 feet, and is very 

 plentiful in the Eastern Province, in the Puttalam district North-Central Province and 

 the lower portion of the Northern Province. The height and size of the tree vary 

 in many localities. It requires a light sandy soil with a good sub-soil drainage. It 

 is also found on well drained rocky hills if there is not too much clay in the soil. 



Satinwood is essentially a shade avoiding tree, except perhaps in its 

 infancy, when, like other trees belonging to the natural order of the Meliacese, it 

 prefers side shelter or low cover. It springs up readily in clearings, but it is also 

 found along the sides of forest roads and jungle lines, or growing among bushes in 

 old clearings abandoned by the chena cultivator. In this respect, it is a valuable 

 reafforesting agent. It invariably springs up in old chenas if any seed bearers are 

 left in the proximity of the chena, and if carefully watched and not allowed to be 

 choked by the prickly bushes, thorns and shrubs which grow up after a chena is 

 abandoned, will re-establish itself by natural regeneration very quickly. In high 

 forests, especially if the leaf canopy is not dense or if it is not high, satinwood 

 seedlings germinate readily enough, but they require the aid of man to develop into 

 trees. This is probably one of the reasons why in Ceylon forests of a certain age, 

 although large and medium sized trees are not uncommon, there is a remarkable 

 absence of saplings and poles. Mr, Vincent in his report on Ceylon forests stated that 

 the natural reproduction was poor, probably owing to the absence of saplings and 

 poles. My short experience in the satin forests of the Eastern, Northern and North- 

 Central Provinces has, however, led me to form the opinion that seedlings are very 

 plentiful, and it only requires the help of man to induce them to form a good forest 

 of saplings and young poles. Without that help, however, they invariably succumb 

 and only an occasional seedling which has been fortunate enough to have got a little 

 light let in through the canopy above, succeeds in forcing its way up and developing 

 into a fine tree. 



• Satin seed ripens before the North-East Monsoon and it is very light. To 

 either girdle or fell a certain number of trees to leeward of the seed bearers, so as to 

 let in sufficient light for the seeds to germinate, seems to me to be a good treatment 

 for developing the natural reproduction of satin. Care must be taken, however, not 

 to lei. in too much light which would encourage the growth of rank grass and low 

 rpuld .choke the y.;img .seedlings. A good example of the way in 

 u'Mc satin seedlings spring up when they get the chance is to be seen at Vavoniya 

 in the Northern Province, where the open park line clearing between the railway 



tion and the rest-house is covered with young satin trees which have grown up 



