November i, 18S9.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
357 
on the margin, " This is the work of the devil." 
It is a fact, however, that some of the best Australian 
timber is coloured red by the presence of kino-red. 
Such is not the case with the blue-gum, the 
timber of which tree is pure white. It is difficult 
to season, being apt to warp and get scored with 
external cracks. It is very useful for fences, poles 
and supports of verandahs and buildings. Even 
in our exposed region I have no doubt it 
could be grown profitably in groves, planted 
6 by 6 feet as the foresters are about to do, or 
even closer, if the main object was to obtain 
firewood. For this purpose the trees (all save 
select specimens of good growth reserved for 
timber) might be cut down at 5 years of age. 
It coppices so freely, that we have failed in many 
cases to destroy the vitality of stumps of trees 
felled, because of the injury inflicted on our tea. 
An appreciable acreage thus treated could not but 
yield good results even on our exposed slopes and 
ridges, the quantity and quality of the timber, 
of course, increasing with more favourable condi- 
tions of climate and shelter, Fuch as exist on the 
eastern side of the dividing range. For rapidity 
of perpendicular growth the blue-gum surpasses 
most trees : for rapidity of umbrageous growth E. 
pauciflora is quite its equal, but then the latter 
requites so much lateral space that nothing like 
so many of these trees can be planted to the acre 
as of the former. The possibility of the blue-gum 
being profitably grown to produce timber for tea 
boxes adds further interest to this specially fast- 
growing tree, which is also propagated from seed 
more readily than many of its congeners. The 
presence of many thousands of seedlings 
of E. globulus with their bluish-green foliage, at 
once attracted attention in the Nuwara Eliya 
nurseries, and their very abundance may probably 
have decided the officers of the Forest Department 
to utilize them in re-afforesting the slopes 
of the range to the south of Longden Eoad. 
Eed-gum plants were also present, but not in such 
large numbers, while of the pretty and sweet- 
lemon scented E. citriodora, there was an appreci- 
able group. OE this handsome, slender tree, 
valuable for its timber as well as for the fine 
essential oil yielded by its leaves, a few might 
well be grown in the neighbourhood of bungalows. 
Baron von Mueller says of E. citriodora that it is 
" particularly adapted for a tropical jungle clime." 
The leaves yield one per cent of fragrant oil, 
resembling that of lemongrass. " Fresh foliage 
splendid for strewing about rooms, or placing in 
large vases for fragrance and sanitary purposes 
also." There ought to be a demand for the well- 
grown plants at Nuwara Eliya, but the utmost 
care will be necessary in their removal. Many of the 
euealypts are so impatient of the proceas of trans- 
planting that cultivators are advised to plant several 
seeds in situ, rather than grow plants in nurseries. 
This valuable speoies is, unfortunately, so delicate, 
that in order to be oertain of three plants succeed- 
ing no fewer than twenty ought to be ordered 1 
But I visited the Local Board nurseries specially 
to see the young plants of that valuable and 
beautiful wattle, Acacia pycnantha, recently intro- 
duoed. A protean plant truly 1 The cotyledons and 
the first pair of leaves, succeeding these, are large, 
round, aud succulent. 1'hen come whole and 
divided leaves, the final foliage so closely resembling 
that of A. decurrens, that it would be difficult to 
distinguish between tlio two plants, only that the 
Btema of the young plants of A. pycnantha we were 
shown were of a reddish bronze hue. Plants of 
Cryptorneria japonica were present in considerable 
numbers, but what chiefly excited my interest were 
seedlings,- little tufts of needlc-like leaves,— which 
my guide assured me had been raised, with others 
planted out, from seeds of the Norfolk Island pine, 
Araucaria excelsa. This is " a magnificent tree of 
unsurpassed symmetry, sometimes to 220 feet high, 
with a stem attaining 10 feet in diameter and with 
regular tiers of absolutely horizontal branches, one 
for each year. The timber is useful for shipbuilding 
and many other purposes. Growth in height at 
Port Phillip about 40 feet in 20 years. With 
A. Cunninghami amenable to almost any soil, 
except a saline one, and not subject to any 
disease." So writes Baron von Mueller, who 
is generally so careful that I am surprised to 
see him commit himself to the statement that 
this noble tree puts out exactly one tier of hori- 
zontal branches per annum. It is obvious that 
growth is dependent on climate and season. Here 
we have some beautiful specimens, one of which 
has grown 36 feet in nine years, or at exactly 
twice the rate per annum which the tree attained 
in the vicinity of Melbourne. Our tree has not 
only grown four feet per annum, but has put on, 
in the nine years, no fewer than 22 tiers of 
horizontal branches. The top of this beautiful 
tree, looked at from underneath, resembles a star, 
while viewed sideways the likeness to a cross is 
most striking. In 1880 a wardian case of this 
and other Australian plants was kindly presented 
to us by Dr. George Bennett and Mr. Charle 8 
Moore of Sydney, the latter the discoverer and 
describer of A. cookei. which vies with A. excelsa 
in magnificence and beauty. We were led to un- 
derstand that it would be of no use indenting 
for seeds of the Norfolk Island pine, as they 
would not preserve their vitality. We were, there- 
fore greatly surprised at the success in Nuwara 
Eliya, and we looked with some suspicion at the 
young plants, those planted out and bearing a 
first tier of branchlets showing only masses of big 
needles. But after the changes in the foliage of 
gums and wattles, we need not feel surprise at 
anything. Mr. Tringham assured us the seed was 
ordered and came (carefully packed in a tin case) 
as that of Araucaria excelsa, and now we trust 
this most magnificent of the pines will become 
not merely an ornamental tree attached to hill 
bungalows, but one of the chief trees used in the 
re-afforestation of our mountain region. Four feet 
per annum, or 36 in nine years, at 5,800 feet alti- 
tude is surely encouraging. Araucaria cookei has 
grown equally well here, but A. bidwillii is of slower 
growth. A. cunninghami we do not seem to have. 
That we ought to get and the kauri pine of New 
Zealand, Dammara australis, equally famous for 
its gigantic size, excellent timber and valuable var- 
nish resin, worth £50 per ton, and of whioh pieces 
weighing a ton have been found. 
PLANTING IN DELI. 
(From the Straits Times, Oct. 15th.) 
In Serdang a whirlwind has wrought widespread 
havoc. On one estate about sixty thousand tobacco 
plants were destroyed. The blast moved S. W., and 
all along its track the jungle was laid low, the trees 
falling before it like reeds. 
Several planters at Marudu Bay, in British North 
Borneo, have written a letter to the Deli Courant to 
set the former country right with the outside public. 
In refutation of rumours to the contrary, they point 
out that in healthiuess Marudu Bay compares favour- 
ably with Deli, and that the coolies have adequate 
medical attendance. The Government lend the plan- 
ters now more effective assistance against oolie des- 
ertion, which has, in consequence, almost ceased. On 
the other hand, the openin , up of new estates en- 
counters difficulties from scarcity of labour, sickness, 
desertion, and other disappointments which render the 
