July, 1911.]i 



71 



Miscellaneous. 



After producing two or three crops, or 

 sometimes only one, it is abandoned. 

 This system of agriculture is common 

 throughout the eastern tropics, and at 

 least in parts of the New World as well. 

 It is very popular with poor people who 

 like to be their own masters, and in 

 great disfavour with the State. 



The inducement to make caingins is 

 u ull illustrated by the cut on the oppo- 

 site page.* The caingin is comparatively 

 free of troublesome weeds, and is exceed- 

 ingly fertile. The streak of very thrifty 

 maize in the picture was a hedge ; the 

 remainder of the field on both sides was 

 chiefly occupied by cogon (illuk). In 

 the Philippines, these hedges gradually 

 widen, sometimes to as much as ten 

 meters ; then they are cleared, and 

 present in large measure the advantages 

 of real caingins. 



After a time weeds enter the caingin, 

 the ground packs, the temporary exuber- 

 ance of fertility wears out, and it 

 becomes easier, with the implements 

 available, to secure a given yield by 

 clearing a new plot. The old clearing 

 goes back to forest almost immediately 

 if it is in the forest, but to grass first if 

 there is brush and grass land about it. 

 Here enters the interest of the State. 

 In the Philippines it is in the interest of 

 the State to have all. or nearly all, of 

 the good agricultural land in permanent 

 agricultural use. But the forest wealth 

 is the wealth of the whole people, and 

 the whole people cannot afford to have 

 the forest sacrificed for the sake of a 

 couple of crops. It takes many years 

 for the forest on a caihgin to become 

 valuable again. 



Still, the best thing about an aban- 

 doned caingin is the chance that it will 

 return to forest. If it is occupied at 

 first by grass and there are no fires, 

 brush will smother the grass in a few 

 years, and trees will in turn smother the 

 brush, quickly or slowly according Lo 

 the nearness of seed-bearing trees. If 

 there are fires, they will kill most kinds 

 of brush, but will not injure the cogon. 

 As the result of fire, following caingins, 

 for fire rarely hurts the tropical forest at 

 all, — there are great grass areas in the 

 Philippines. And these grass lands not 

 only do not constitute any wealth at all 

 for the people, but they injure the neigh- 

 bouring cultivated land in several ways. 



In the first place, forests the world 

 over serve to conserve and regulate the 

 water supply. In a study of conditions 

 in four Wisconsin towns, F. A. Shriner 

 and the writer showed a decade ago that 

 a decrease in the forest from 27% of the 

 area to 6% resulted in the drying up of 

 t>5"5 miles of creeks, and a decrease to 



* Not reproduced. 



about one-third in the flow of water. 

 The rest of the water escapes in floods, 

 doing damage instead of being useful. 

 In the last number of this magazine 

 mention was made of aridity in Mexico, 

 resulting from deforestation. The floods 

 of Tarlac and Pampanga have the same 

 cause. The forest is a protection against 

 wind and dry air, as well as against 

 floods and dry creeks. 



And then there are the locusts. They 

 do not breed in cultivated land, and they 

 do not breed in the forest. But so long 

 as men make and leave waste land which 

 is not forest and not in cultivation, we 

 need not hope to be without them. 



E. B. C. 



Correspondence. 



C1TRONELLA OIL INDUSTRY 

 OP CEYLON. 



Galle, 27th May, 1911. 



Dear Sir, — In the April number of 

 your valuable magazine is an interesting 

 article on Oitronella Oil by Mr. N. 

 Wickremaratne. 



May we be allowed to comment on the 

 first and last paragraphs ? The former 

 states that " as a result of the attention 

 given to this matter (viz,, standard of 

 purity), recent shipments to London 

 have fetched better prices." This is 

 hardly in accordance with facts, as the 

 present value of Oitronella oil in London 

 is lOd. per lb., which is as low a price as 

 has prevailed for some years. In his 

 last paragraph Mr. Wickremaratne 

 states that the average yield of an acre 

 of the grass is 68 lbs, of oil per annum. 



Taking the present value as 54 cts. per 

 lb. this gives Rs. 36*72 gross. After 

 allowing for reaping, cart-hire, distilling, 

 Sec, this would leave little or nothing 

 for the cultivator, whereas, we believe, 

 that we are correct in saying that the 

 oil can be sold without a loss at some- 

 where near 37 cts. per lb. 



Perhaps Mr. Wickremaratne will give 

 us further details ? 



Yours faithfully. 

 Oh as. P. Hayley & Co. 



[Mr. Wickremaratne admits that he 

 was not correct in saying that better 

 prices were fixed ; what he intended to 

 convey is that during greater part of 

 last year there was a slackness in the 

 Ceylon oil trade ; but that, as the result 

 of greater attention to the question of 

 purity, there was a brisker market. 



He, however, is not inclined to concede 

 that his estimate of average yield of oil 

 per acre is too low. He is supported in 

 this opinion by the figures given by a 

 practical planter published in the 

 "T.A." for May, 1906—Ed.] 



