172 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August r, 1881. 
States, but rain gauges and meteorological instruments 
have lately been brought into use at five stations in 
the States, Government bus declined to permit the 
settlement of agriculturists on the western elopes of 
the Hijau range of mountains, fearing that the steady 
supply of water necessary for the miners' pumping- 
wheels would be interfered with. 
Q. — XIV. Forward any reports made by depart- 
ments or societies, or any Acts of Legislature bear- 
ing on the subject? 
A.— There are no Acts of the Legislature of the 
Straits Settlements bearing on this subject, but there 
can be no doubt that it would be desirable that there 
should be attached to the Land Department a small 
Forestry Department, for the purpose of preserving 
our reserves and restoring our forests by the estab- 
lishment of nurseries for young trees. 
The answers given above speak for themselves, and 
I shall content myself with a remark or two on the 
influence the denudation of forest lands have on the 
clima e. Our neighbours in Ceylon and Mauritius have 
proved this, to their cost in some instances, and al- 
though Singapore from its size and position is not 
likely to be materially affected by anything that may 
be done on the island itself, the reckless clearing of 
the Johore hills would materially alter the condition 
of things here, and it becomes evident that on the 
proper management or otherwise of the mountain for- 
ests on the mainland, the future climate of the island 
of Singapore will in a great measure depend. I have 
no hesitation in asserting that Mr. Chasseriau owes 
many a shower to his proximity to Bukit Timah, and 
if Bukit Timah were cleared like Mount Faber, the 
Municipality would be compelled to search for fresh 
sources for their water supply. From calculations 
made from observing the two hills almost daily for 
five years, I should say that at least five times as 
much water falls on Bukit Timah as on Mount Faber 
in the course of the year. This could easily be determ- 
ined by the P. C. M. 0; 
The following extract from the Gardener's Chronicle 
of March 8th, 1879, renders anything that I could 
possibly write on this subject superfluous : — 
Indtan Forests, their Relation to Climate. — 
The October number of the Indian Forester contains 
an article by Surgeon-General Balfour on the influence 
of trees on the climate and productiveness of the 
peninsula of India. It contains an abstract of the 
conclusions arrived at by various officials iu Iudia, 
almost all of whom agree in the necessity of protect- 
ing what forests remain, and of planting the hills of 
Southern India with trees wherever a tree will grow. 
" Fine districts were not destined by Nature to be 
the prey and sport of famine and scarcity, but have 
been rendered subject to these calamities by the 
thoughtless actiou of man." Some valuable tables are 
given showing that the total amount of actual rain- 
fall has not diminished of late years, but that man, 
by denuding the laud of forests, is allowing the rain- 
water to rush off the surface, sweeping away with 
it the mould, breaking down the tank- dams, starv- 
ing the springs, and draining off the waters of the 
springs, rivulets and wells. Replanting is strenuously 
advocated, the growing plants being protected from 
fire, grazing animals, and other destructive agencies. 
Pasturages should be secured for the animals, which 
should be prevented from browsing on the plantations. 
Even the roots of the valuable grass, Cynodon Dac- 
tylon, are, we are told, dug up in the hot weather 
for fodder for the horses. Moving saud should be 
restrained by suitable planting and a proper system 
of forest-conservancy introduced not only in British 
territory, but in the allied and feudal States likewise. 
The rainfall, repeats Mr. Balfour, has not diminished, 
but "man, partly ignorant and wholly reckless, has 
denuded the soil of its trees and shrubs, and bared 
the surface to the sun's rays, thus depriving the 
country of its conservative agents, and making the 
extremes of floods and droughts of more frequent 
occurrence and more severe." 
As a remedy for this state of things, Mr. Van 
Volxem's suggestions, which refer exclusively to the 
Straits Settlements, are worth the attention of the 
Government. He says : — 
Would there be auy difficulty in making it obligat- 
ory to the Gambier planters, and others, to plant 
in the last year but one of their occupation a certain 
quantity per acre of useful trees, and to remit them 
the ground rent of their estate for these years by 
way of compensation, so that at the time they cease 
to occupy their gardens, they would, by showing so 
many tree3 per acre of a fixed kind two years 
planted, obtain from the Inspector of Forests a cheque 
for a certain sum, which would be accepted in dis- 
charge of ground rent, transferable of course ? Def ault- 
ers might even be fined. Such an enactment would, 
at a very small cost to the Government, give an 
impulse to clearing the superabundant forest, and in 
a few years, at the smallest possible outlay, the State 
would become the undisputed owner of valuable patches 
of the most useful trees. It would be at least a 
remedy for the indiscriminate and wholesale extermina- 
tion of the gutta-percha trees. If grown in dense 
masses they might be usefully managed by moderate 
tapping, instead of being felled all at one time as 
now, without any provision for their replacement. I 
speak chiefly of the gutta-percha, because, being indi- 
genous there, it would certainly thrive in its native 
soil and climate, and besides it might perhaps be 
procured cheaper than any of the newly imported 
trees. But the same process might be useful for these 
last, like the various rubbers, the Mahogany, or the 
Cedrela odorata. 
To complete the process, nurseries ought to be 
made where quantities of the young saplings could 
be had at a fixed and low price. They ought to be 
grown iu large Bamboo joints, for easy transplanta- 
lion, upon the principle so usefully employed for the 
last few years by my good friend Dr. Thwaites, the 
able director of the Peradeniya Gardens, Ceyloa. He 
is, I believe, the originator of it. Such nurseries 
could be erected by contract near to the clearings. 
The Chinese, heaven-born gardeners, would certainly 
take up such jobs very effectually, and be cheaper 
than any other means. 
Refering to planting to the tropics generally the 
same writer says : — 
"In hot climates, however healthy, no emigrant 
settles with the idea of making the place his home. 
He comes to make his fortune a3 soon as possible, 
the sooner the better, when he can return to his 
native land. A little gambling excitement, resulting 
from the uncertainty of the crops, and the fluctua- 
tions of the produce market, keeps up his spirits. 
But abroad no man can afford to embark his small 
capital in a venture that cannot possibly bring him a 
return before thirty or for tyyears — quite a lifetime ! 
So Government must step in for the benefit of the 
community. Government alone can afford to plant 
trees, either for timber, or for rubber, gutta-percha, 
gum, and what not else, and, after having made the 
planting outlay, pay for the supervision during the 
unproductive period of growth. Unluckily forest clear- 
ing, jto make room for the new trees, is always a 
very costly affair, and in the nature of things Govern- 
ment wouid certainly have to pay more for it than 
private enterprise, however well the work might be 
conducted. Besides, for two years at least, there 
would be a necessity to employ expensive labour to 
check the natural growth of the forest, or the newly 
planted trees would soon be choked to death. " 
Where the replanting of waste lands is decided on, 
the first and most important thing to attend to, is 
to select species of good timber- producing trees adapted 
