142 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1887. 
"Out of the 650, 96 plants died before the land 
was ready so that only 554 were planted out at 
thirty feet ; eighty-six have died since, leaving 468 as 
alive on 25th January 1887. They are looking well 
and seem likely to make some good growth in the 
hot weather. They did not suffer much from the 
cyclone. I am now having them shaded with alii 
branches and a chatti will be buried near each plant 
to ensure proper watering and to induce the roots 
to grow downwards. 
" The remaining fifty plants (out of the 700) were 
6ent to Khasba, where thirty-one were planted at 
about thirty feet distance on the high land near the 
Forest-office and twelve near on the low land near the 
Kuppam where the soil is good ; the remaining seven 
plants died on the way up. 
" Out of the forty-three plants put out, there are 
only thirty-five now alive and growing well, eight 
plants having been killed by the storm of November 
9th. 
" 3. 10 lb. of seed were received from you in 
September and October 1886. The whole was sown 
at once at Sriharikot in small palmyra baskets Cone 
seed to each) and orders given that the directions 
for sowing, which accompanied the seed, should be 
carefully attended to. 
" The sowings only gave— 
Of which died on 
25th January. 
240 plants at Khasba 11 
322 do. at Penubakam 14 
" So that there are only available — 
229 at Khasba. 
308 „ Penubakam. 
Total ... 537 
" There are mostly well-grown seedlings 6 — 12 inches 
high, firmly established and ought to be planted out 
immediately. Instead of transplanting from the small 
basket where it rotted, the basket was slipped inside 
a larger one, the intervening space being rilled with 
earth. With this plan there is much less risk in 
transplanting and one is quite sure of the roots being 
neither injured nor doubled up. 
" Conclusions, — The results of the last sowing are 
disappointing, but as the forester appears to have 
done the work with great care, the only mistake being 
that he sowed the seed at Khasba in sand instead 
of in good soil, I conclude that the seed was not so 
good as that sent before. The seed was also received 
too late in the season, being sown just before the 
rains, a large number of the seeds probably rotten 
before they could germinate. 
"In future no mahogany ought to be sown after 
August 1st. Although the plants received from 
Madras looked well, it is improbable that they will 
grow to any size, as most of them had been pot-bound 
before being put into the baskets and had long roots, 
which in some cases, I found have been doubled up 
on transplanting in Madras." 
The Conservator is in hopes that the cultivation of 
mahogany on a large scale at Sriharikot will succeed. 
5. The Collector of Ouddapah forwards a full detailed 
account of the progress of mahogany planting drawn 
up by Mr. O. L. Toussaint, Sub-Assistant Conservator 
of Forests, which is given as enclosure to this letter. 
Tho Conservator lately visited the Pallegundala- 
madugu plantation and was pleased with the way it had 
been made. The plants grown by the department had 
done well, those received from the Agri-Horticultural 
Society, through the Director of Revenue Settlement 
and Agriculture, had been badly basketted and were 
eaten by white-ants, tho experience thus coinciding 
with that recorded from Nellore. 
6. The following report illustrated by a map (enclosed) 
has been received from the Collector of Nilgiris: — 
" The mahogany plants reared from the two first 
consignment of seeds sent in August and October 
1885 were 7,300, of which 6,000 wcro basketted between 
April and June last. After they had been well 
established in the baskets, they were put at an average 
distance of 22x23 feet apart, bctwueu June and 
November 1886, in compartments Nos. 5, 4, 3, 2 
and part of one in block No. IV of Kullar reserve, 
with 1,200 uubasketted and big plants; 700 Berriya 
Ammouilla have also been planted here and there 
between the mahogany plants in compartments Nos. 5 
and 4. 
" The rauger could not plant all of them at once 
in consequence of the weather having been very un- 
favorable, and he had to wait for wet days for 
several months. There were only sixty-three casualties 
and the rest are in flourishing condition, especially 
those on the bed of the st-eam. 
"The height of those planted on the bank of the 
stream is from 1J to 4J feet and of those on the 
higher ground is 12 to 18 inches in oome places and 
in others of similar height as those on the wet 
ground. 
"The accompanying plan, prepared by the Coonoor 
ranger, shows the area stocked with mahogany. 
"The 10 lb. of the seeds with the Conse: vator's 
No. 1318 A. dated 3rd September 1886, were sown 
on the 30th of the same month in Kullar nursery 
beds. The number of seeds were 11,145, of which 
4,098 germinated after the 6th day and the rest of 
the seeds did not sprout. The present height of the 
plants is from 5 to 6 inches, and they are healthy. 
The moist locality appears to suit the plants better 
than dry places. All these plants are being basket- 
ted and looked after carefully." 
The Conservator has several times visited this plant- 
ation and been quite satisfied with the work done. 
He considers that so far we may consider the plant- 
ation a decided success. The area is about 100 acres. 
It will be further noticed in an Inspection Note now 
under preparation. 
7. The experimental cultivation of mahogany had 
better perhaps in the future be confined to Sriharikot 
and the lower forests of the Nilgiris. It is of no 
use to make small plantations in a case like this ; 
the only way to really prove that mahogany can be 
properly grown, and to produce some result commen- 
surate with the expenditure, is to work on a suffi- 
ciently large area. ■ 
Enclosure No. 1. 
Report on the Mahogany Plantations, Kodur Range, 
Cuddapah District. 
There are two plantations in this range under the 
management of the Forest Department, one on the 
Seshachellam hills and the other on low ground at 
the foot of the Velligoudas. Th9 former is called 
the Aremanibanda plantation and the latter is known 
by the name of Pallegundalamadugu. 
2. Aremanibanda plantation — Situation. — The plant- 
ation lies in the Seshachellam reserved forest about 
four miles west of the village of Settigunta within 
the wall of the old Balapalle west reserve, and is 
approached from Settigunta by a rough bridle-path 
and from Balapalle by the Mogalipenta forest road, 
which runs within half-a-mile of the plantation. It 
is situated on a level bit of ground in an elevated 
valley between the outer and second ridges of the 
Seshachellam range at the head of a gorge, which 
runs south-east and opens out in the low country 
at Balapalle. The altitude is about 1,000 feet above 
the sea. There are two plots here containing maho- 
gany, one on either side of a small stream. 
3. The first plot is a clearing in a bamboo brake, 
about 3 acres in area. A few standards of Terminalia 
bellerica and Bombax Malabaricwn have been left, but 
afford no cover. The soil is a dark, clayey loam, over- 
lying a bed of rocks which crop up at the eastern 
edge of the plantation and form the bed of the stream 
above mentioned. The soil appears to be deep, and, 
judging from the appearance of the Bombax and from 
the fact that it is found here, it may be inferred is 
moist all the year round. It was planted with young 
mahogany partly in 1883-84 and partly in 1881-85, 
the plants being put out in baskets when about 3 
inches and 4 inches high. There were altogether in 
this plot 139 plants in pits, which are in lines. The 
distance between the lines aud plants in the lines is 
the same, viz., 30 feet. Eighty-six plants now survive. 
The undergrowth now consists of dense grass and 
