January 2, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
629 
FORESTRY, AND ITOW IT PAYS IN BRITAIN. 
Gardeners 
Chronicle, 8th October 18 
31.) 
Grow 
vn Timber. — -It is at all ti 
m e s ilesir 
able, bu 
specially 
so at present, to grow sul) 
cient « i 
|||'"" e 
ive estate for all its roi 
liiirements. 
report by 
the Board of Trade for th( 
year end- 
ihg De 
■ember 1 , 
1873, 1 find the Eollo ring 
statement, 
amongs 
others, 0 
est to pro- 
pnetors 
mis namely £18 654 982 
1 1 1 e inline^ 
paid by 
this couni 
the article 
wood a 
one. Thai 
was probably an excoptio 
ml return ; 
but eve 
n with ai 
iple allowance there is st 
11 a broad 
margin 
worthy of 
the attention of those in 
Serested in 
the gro 
ring and ( 
isposal of wood. We cann 
ot grow all 
kinds 11 
timber in this country mc 
re than we 
cap ii L I 
kinds of £ 
Jids which 
to wha 
ii. me vastl\ superior in inn 
n abroad, such, for exam 
woods. ' If 
Scots I 
inr, Larcl 
, and some kinds of hard 
illlY nil 
is ai all 
sceptical in regard of thi 
3, I would 
advise t 
hem to vis 
t the Pine forests of Deesu 
Ic, Strath- 
spey, 11 
id some of 
the woody districts in Ros 
s-shire and 
[nvame 
ss-shire, su 
ch as Novar, Balnagowan, 
Mcauforl, 
anted tim- 
s can be ' 
ecu in all llu ir spl n li.ur' 
Or where 
the Larch is wished to 1 
to the woods and forests 
)f Blair, in 
Athole, 
y ; on the banks of the Doi 
, at Mony- 
muBk : 1 
1 Ballingdi 
Uoch, on the Spey ; and No 
var, Balua- 
, ; 1.1(1: 11 
deur and 
if quality 
III llll 
mallei 
the known world. The justly celebrated 
Scots Pine of the Dee anil Spev si.le districts have 
proved their durability again and again by endurance ns 
fence and gate-posts, in which positions— the most trying 
possible I hey have been ami are sl ill known us stand- 
ing from forty to tifty years. Of Larch, again, I have 
in my possession some samples in excellent condition 
after having stood as fence-posts over thirty-five years, 
There are, no doubt, well-defined and limited conditions 
under which any species of tree grows to perfection', 
and the Larch and Scots Pine are no exceptions. The 
first condition is to plant the trees only upon such 
ground us is suitable to them. The second condition is 
to thin them, so that at any stage of growth the trees 
may grow with u freedom and vigour adapted to their 
nature, constitution, and habit ; and the third condition 
is to cut them at the proper stage of ripeness, and at 
the proper season of the year. Beyond proper planting, 
which includes selection of the soil, situation, &c., the 
ne\l nwst important tiling to attend to is the thinning 
of the dees. It is much to bo deplored that vast areas 
of plantations are rendered less than half as valuable 
as they would otherwise be for want of timely thinning. 
In a large plantation of Scots Pine (over 1,500 acres, 
and fifty years old) I hud once an excellent opportunity 
of observing the effects of thinning in all its forms, and 
may state the val f the trees thus : — Pari not thinned 
at all, trees valued at 3d. each. Part thinned when 
something over twenty years old, worthed, each. Part 
thinned once and sparingly when young, Hiiy twelve to 
fifteen years old, worth Is. each. And part thinned onee 
at proper age, say twelve years planted mid at proper 
distances, Is. each. Now if we look at the value of 
the nore at fifty years old, at the above rates, we find 
it stands thus : — 
1,5(10 hiuiiII trees, drann up like poles, at :id. each Z18 1". 0 
l.OM small and branchless trees, at Od. each .. 25 0 0 
BOO ne.' clean pole like trees, at is. eaoh . . 10 0 0 
BOO line clean ami fail sized tree-, at Is. each . . CO 0 0 
It is not to be inferred that all tin- plantation would 
b*rt 1 n worth C"i> at fifty years old, even if properly 
thinned, but it nuiv be concluded that it would have 
Ins 
been worth £80 per aero at 100 ; 
more, including the whole area, wl 
of it would have been probably 
money value than above represent 
and poor, but such as produces 
when at maturity at, say, 100 t 
Me : 1 1 i . Ciilleu House, Ciillen, l!a 
thin 
wood 
. Y. 
THE COFFEE AND SUGAR PRODUCING 
COUNTRIES. 
Venezuela is, after Brazil, the country in South America 
producing most coffee ; at the same time the best cocoa 
is grown there, and a variety of other tropical produce, 
prominent among which tonqua beans, a substitute for 
vanilla for making essence and a flavoring substance for 
lavishly' favored by nature. Toward the south it is 
watered by the Orinoco, the largest river in South America 
next to the Amazon, thence immense plains or " llanos " 
stretch across the country, and on then innumerable 
herds of cattle are grazing; Toward the north these 
plains are limited by the Cordillera and the tine mountain 
plateaus on which the coffee grows. Coffee planting is 
the all absorbing interest, and the actual President, General 
Guzman Blanco, is himself an owner of extensive coffee 
estates. President Blanco is a dictator, and his enemies 
blame him for the egotistical manner in which he rules 
the country — they say, with a rod of iron — malting money 
out of everything and thus becoming prodigiously rich. 
His admirers! on the contrary, insist that he is probablv 
the only Venezuelan living who can develop the resources 
of the country while preserving peace, and that his 
dictatorial proceedings and even his vanities are redeemed 
by his many excellent qualities. However this may be, 
it is certain that for the past ^ thirty years, Venezuela 
one revolution succeeding another, and that the republic 
requires peace above everything else, even at the expense 
of some of its liberties. 
Venezuela covers an area of 138,130 square miles, and 
>me 
21,000 foreigners. The chief cities are Caracas, the 
capital, with 18,897 inhabitants ; Valencia, 28,591 ; Bar- 
quisimento, 25,664; Maracaibo, 21,951 ; Maturin, 12,914: 
San Carlos, 10,120 ; Merida. 9,727 ; Cumana, 9,127 ; Ciudad 
Bolivar, 8,186 ; Coro, 8,172 ; Barcelona, 7,1)71 ; and La 
Guavra, 0,703. 
The income of the republic is $4,680,000, and the 
expenditure $4,148,000. The internal debt is $12,962,172. 
and the foreign one $54,347,818. The import is $15,043,000, 
and the export $16,113,000, the latter including gold dust, 
.there being valuable gold mines in the state of Guayona, 
not far from the Orinoco. The country also possesses 
copper mines. The leading ports are La Guayra, being 
the port of Caracas, Puerto Cahello and Maracaibo. 
The maritime movement is : — arrivals, 8,862 vessels, with 
615,806 tons, and sailings, 9,028, with a tonnage of 
627,128. Thirteen steamship lines keep up communica- 
tion with Europe and America, and there arc 340 miles 
of telegraph, but only 70 miles of railway. Venezuela 
stands very much in need of railroads. Their possession 
would impart a great impulse to coffee production, as 
has been the case in all coffee growing countries. Un- 
fortunately, the unsettled condition of the country hitherto 
has frightened nway European and American Capitalists. 
Some of the latter have during the past fc.v year- again 
come forward, but so far without any tangible results. 
Should President Guzman Ithinco during cc 
succeed in weaning the country from revolution, capitalists 
may take courage and endow the republic with letter 
menus of communication in the interior. 
In 183!) Venezuela produced 13,000 tons of coffee, in 
1869, 17.500, and at present it turns out 30.000 tons. 
