November i, i88g.l THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
347 
of clearance and re-afforestation, yields on an 
average 120 yards of firewood per acre, beside 
some shingles. The want 1 * of the railway up here, 
in the shape of wood fuel, amount to the yield 
of 5 acres per mensem, or 60 acres per annum, 
a quantity whioh will be largely increased when 
trains are running to Haputale. At this rate oj 
consumption, it is obvious that very large expanses 
of jungle reserves will be necessary, and will in 
a few years be used up, if a cheap substitute, in 
the shape of the residuum of petroleum, coal dust, 
<&c, cannot be rendered plentifully and cheaply 
available. Not merely for the sake of the 
cheap working of our railways, but for that of 
expanded planting enterprise along the line of the 
section now being constructed (much of the soil 
being excellent), it is greatly to be wished that a 
good and cheap fuel substitute may be discovered. 
Meantime the Forest Department, while supplying 
the present wants of the railway in the shape 
of firewood, are providing for future demands for 
both timber and firewood by planting, at the rate 
of 1,200 trees to the acre, blue gums (Eucalyptus 
globulus) and wattles (Acacia decurrens) in the pro- 
portion of two of the former, grown for timber 
as well as firewood, to one of the latter, which is 
relied on for firewood alone. The wattle chosen, 
out of those which have been naturalized in and 
around Nuwara Eliya, is that which many have 
been in the habit of regarding as " the golden 
wattle," par excellence. In profusion and beauty 
of golden-coloured blossoms, it excels the other 
prevalent species, A. dmlbata, the blossom of A. 
melanoxylon not being conspicuous in Ceylon. 
There is a rich, dense grove of A. decurrens near 
the church, at Nuwara Eliya, which, arching 
across the road, yields a grateful shade when 
the rays of the sun are most intense. Fire- 
wood alone being in view, there can be little 
room for doubt that the choice of A. decurrens 
has been well advised. But I feel bound to say, 
as the result of very large experience on Abbotsford 
estate, that I cannot say the same for the blue 
gum in this region. Out of a large number planted, 
there are, in favourable circumstances of soil and 
shelter, some splendid trees. But on ridges and 
hill-faces exposed to the wind and rain of the south- 
west monsoon, they shoot up thin and with scraggy 
foliage at the tops. Such characteristics distin- 
guish blue gums, exposed as I have described, not 
only here but all over Upper Dimbula. So with 
blue gums planted on the portion of Baker's Farm 
exposed to the south-west monsoon. In Nuwara 
Eliya itself and at Kandapola, where there is 
shelter from the south-west, Eucalyptus globulus 
has grown not only rapidly (its great merit) but 
of noble proportions. Planted in great numbers 
and so close together as six feet apart only, the 
trees may support each other and resist the weather ; 
but I feel bound to state that, except in the 
special oases mentioned, the blue gum is the 
least satisfactory of the many we have grown 
here, close to the scene of re-afforestation. 
The red gum (E. rostrata) does not grow quite so 
rapidly and is not so uniformly one-stemmed, 
but it stands exposure bettor, and its red-coloured 
timber is very superior. It grows specially well 
along the banks of streams. Still more successful 
with us have been the Australian mahogany tree, 
the true jarrah (E. marginata) the fine qualities 
of the timber of which are too well known to 
need description. It is not so rapid a grower as 
the blue gum, but with us it has made very good 
progress. Still more successful has been a tree 
which resembles the jarrah in stoutness of stem 
and umbrageous habit, B. rohusta, of which we 
have very noble tpeoimens. Von Mueller says of 
this speoies that "It attains a height of 100 feet 
and a stem girth of 12 feet, bearing a really grand 
mass of foliage. Resists cyclones better than most 
of its congeners. The wood is remarkably dur- 
able, reckoned a fairly good timber for joists, 
also used for, ship building, wheelwright's work 
and many implements, for instanoe such as mallets." 
Maiden gives a longer description of this red- 
or brown-coloured wood, rendered durable, it ia 
believed, by the presenoe of kindred. It is 
prized for building purposes and seems equally 
good for railway sleepers and firewood. 
In its native habitat it flourishes specially in 
swampy ground, but in our wet climate it grows 
splendidly on the tops of ridges. But perhaps the 
most remarkable of our eucalypts for rapid and 
luxuriant horizontal growth of branches, eaoh of 
which is equal to a tree stem, the whole oovered 
with a magnificent mass of minute dense droop- 
ing foliage, ia E. paucijiora. Some speoimens, 
not yet ten years old, by the side of the road 
which winds through Abbotsford, up one side, of 
the river and down the other, are objects of 
wonderment for the enormous size of the stems 
and branches and the red colour of portions of 
the bark, contrasted with white in other. In 
Australia white prevails. Von Mueller atates : "It 
attains considerable dimensions, grows best in moist 
ground, [our climate supplies this conditions.] as- 
cends to alpine elevations, and thus is one of 
the hardiest of its congeners. Horses, cattle and 
sheep browse readily on the foliage. It is lo- 
cally a stand by in bad pastoral seasons. Its timber 
is used for ordinary building and fencing pur- 
poses. For quickly producing fuel one of the 
best of trees." It would, therefore, be one of 
the best to cultivate for railway and tea estate 
purposes. There are other splendid timber 
trees, which, after they had attained con- 
siderable dimensions, we have felt compelled, 
though with many a pang, to cut down, owing 
to their injurious effects on the tea plant. Amongst 
them is that most valuable timber tree, A. mela- 
noxylon. So with the grand E. amygdalina, which 
grows to be the tallest tree in the world. It is 
remarkable for its bark of a marble whiteness, and 
specimens which we have spared are very handsome. 
Von Mueller writes : " The wood is fissile, well- 
adapted for shingles, rails, for inner building 
material and many other purposes, but it is not 
a strong wood." This tree yields from its leaves 
the finest eucalyptus oil, in largest proportion, 
nearly 3j per cent. The timber of this species, 
variety regnans, was declared by the Victorian 
Carriage Board to be seoond only, if second, to 
blackwood {A. melanoxylon) for railway carriages, 
so that strength cannot be wanting. We have a 
few speoimens of E. leucoxylon, one of the two iron- 
bark trees, which yield about the most valuable 
timber which can be grown, being almost 
unsurpassed for strength and hardness. We 
have also some fine stringy-bark trees, E. 
obliqua, the young trees of which in Australia 
are sometimes used for telegraph posts. It grows 
30!) feet high and yields a great bulk of wood 
useful for ordinary purposes, shingles, rails, &c. 
Amongst our many eucalypts is also numbered E. 
hngifolia, which grows to a height of 200 feet with 
a great girth of stem. " Mr. J. Reader asserts that 
there is not extant a more useful timber; it stands 
weli in any situation.'' There are other eucalypts 
which we have not identified, and uniongstour recent 
plantings for timber and firewood in the future, 
with Cedrela toona, Cryptomeria japonica (both most 
promising), frenelas, cypresses, &c, we are trying 
the valuable red-timbered E. diversicolor which con- 
verted into railway Bleepers can scarcely be dis- 
