Sept,  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
183 
a forester  and  botanist.  On  my  way  through  the 
Terai,  and  the  hill  forest  of  Darjeeling,  I have  been 
told  that  the  scarcity  of  a timber  wood  fit  for  tea 
boxes  is  getting  more  and  more  felt,  owing  to  the 
waste  of  the  various  timber  trees  on  private  ground. 
It  seems  to  me  a suggestion  worth  considering,  would 
be  to  propose  that  the  Government  should  try  to 
cultivate  on  a large  scale  a wood  for  the  above- 
menti  ned  purpose. 
To  do  that  in  the  quickest,  cheapest  and  surest  way, 
I would  recommend  the  Japanese  suji  ( Cryptomeria ), 
or  as  I will  name  that  tree,  the  Sequoia  japomca  fur 
the  hills  around  Darjetding,  and  the  Paulownia 
iuiperialis,  or  the  Japanese  kiri,  for  the  plaius  and 
lower  hills  of  the  N..W.  Provinces  and  Punjab. 
In  Japan,  the  “ suji,”  or  Japanese  cedar,  is  largely 
cultivated  all  over  the  whole  empire,  but  the  localities 
where  this  tree  is  found  growing  wild,  a e but  few, 
scattered  over  the  main  island  “ Honshin  ” and  those 
places  are  rarely  seen  by  any  European.  There  is 
a mountain  north-west  of  the  lake  Biwa  in  the 
centre  of  Honshin  covered  with  large  snji  trees, 
evidently  wild.  There  is  a broad  belt  of  beautiful 
forests  ne*r  Akita,  about  a fortnight’s  drive  from 
Tokio  beneath  the  40th  degree  of  North 
Latitude,  the  winter  climate  of  which  country  is 
marked  by  deep  sdow  for  four  months,  and  a tern* 
perature  which  several  times  in  this  season  falls  to 
10°  below  freezing  point.  There  the  snji  forms  a 
splendid  mass  of  forests,  partly  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other  tree,  partly  together  with  Quercus  cris • 
pula,  glandulifera  se.rrata , grossiserrata,  Fagus  sylvatica , 
Magnolia  hypoleuca,  Esculus  turbinata,  and  many  other 
trees  ; but  never  is  the  suji  found  growing  together 
with  another  conifer,  unless  one  be  planted  with  it. 
In  such  places  the  suji  attains  a height  of  150  feet 
and  ft  girth  of  6 feet  and  more.  The  tree  is  also 
said  to  be  a native  of  China,  and  from  that  country 
the  first  seed  was  brought  to  Darjeeling  by  Mr  Fortune 
who  was  pent  by  the  Indian  Government  to  bring 
supplies  of  the  best  kind  of  the  Chinese  tea  plant, 
in  both  Japan  and  China  the  tree  is  usually  planted 
sround  Buddhist  temples,  where  the  finest  specimens 
towering  up  to  a height  of  250  feet  (Koyasan),  may 
be  seen. 
A few  3 ears  ago  some  travelling  botanists  sug- 
gested that  the  suji  is  no  Japanese  tree  at  all,  being 
brought  from  Chinn  by  Buddhist  monks  together 
with  Gingko  biloba,  Sciadopitys  verticillata,  Pinus  korai- 
ensis,  Cunninyhamxa  sinensis,  Podocarpus  Nagi,  macro- 
phylla  and  many  others;  but  a careful  examination 
of  the  Japanese  forests  from  the  35lh  degree  to  the 
42nd  degree,  a trip  which  will  take  about  six  months, 
will  show,  that  only  Gingko  and  Cunninyhamia  can 
be  traced  back  to  China. 
Tha  economic  value  of  the  suji  in  Japan  is  very 
great  ; growing  there  in  all  situations  and  soils,  in  deep 
damp  valleys  as  well  as  on  high  mountain  slopes  ; it 
is  one  of  the  commonest  and  also  one  of  the  most 
useful  of  Japanese  timber  trees. 
The  sapwood  is  whitish-yellow,  from  2 to  3 inches 
broad,  sad  is  when  terms  or  boards  are  wanted,  gene- 
rally not  removed  from  the  dark  reddish,  sometimes 
black-bluish  striped  heart  wood.  The  wood  is  very 
light  and  soft,  and  is  used  for  all  kinds  of  oarpentry 
amongst  the  less  comfortably  situated  people;  the  slight 
resinous  smell  of  the  fresh  wood  soon  disappears. 
Owrng  to  the  frequent  occurrence  of  earthquakes 
and  disastrous  fires,  which  often  lav  waste  a town  with 
3.000  houses  in  a few  hours,  the  Japanese  use  quan- 
tities of  wood  in  house-buildiDg. 
For  that  purpose,  the  cheapest  timber  in  the  shortest 
time  is  produced  by  the  snji,  wbioh  is  profusely  planted 
all  over  the  empire,  and  at  the  age  of  scaroely  25  years, 
the  trees  are  out  down  and  shipped  to  the  market. 
The  almost  exclusive  method  of  propagation,  used 
in  Japan  is,  from  n forester’s  and  botanist’s  point  of 
view  very  interesting  and  important,  all  plantations 
being  made  by  cuttings.  That  is  not  at  all  surpris- 
ing, if  wa  bear  in  mind  that  the  American  “ big  trees  ” 
are  Sequoias  too,  and  coppice  as  freely  as  the  Japanese 
OD6,  if  cut  in  an  early  age  and  in  healthy  condition. 
I remember  even  a great  number  of  Sequoia  semper- 
virens  stumps  : more  than  700  years  old,  perfectly 
covered  with  young  and  very  rapidly  growing  shoots. 
Close  by  Kioto,  the  ancient  capital  of  Japan,  is  a small 
forest  of  suji  entirely  worked  as  coppioe,  with  a 
rotation  of  2 * to  25  years. 
For  propagation  of  the  suji  the  terminal  piece  of 
every  branoh  is  used,  1J  to  2 feet  long.  The  planta- 
tion in  the  ground  must  be  made  immediately  before 
or  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season.  The 
Japanese  usually  put  the  cuttings  3 to  5 inches  deep 
in  the  soil,  forming  & narrow  hole  of  this  depth  by 
a wooden  stick  of  about  the  same  thickness  as  the 
cuttings  ; the  youDg  plants  grow  very  rapidly  after 
having  made  plentiful  new  roots  during  the  rain. 
This  method  is  preferred  to  sowing,  the  young  suji 
seedlings  being  tender  and  easily  killed  by  excessive 
heat  or  frost.  The  suji  yields  a wood  that  seems  to 
me  very  well  suitable  for  tea  boxes.  I am  confirmed 
in  this  view  after  having  seen  tes  boxes  made  of 
this  wood  in  Darjeeling  itself.  Such  a box  was 
shown  to  me  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Home,  Con- 
ervator  of  Forests  for  Bengal.  Besides  that,  I am  in- 
clined to  encourage  the  plantation  of  the  suji,  because 
this  tree  apparently  grows  well  in  all  different  kinds 
of  soils  and  exposures,  from  the  Terai  up  to  the  region 
of  the  silver  fir. 
It  would  be  quite  easy  to  grow  within  a period  of 
from  30  to  50  years  wood  of  the  quality  and  dimen- 
sions required  for  tea  boxes,  the  manipulation  of 
planting  this  tree  being  very  cheap  and  sure,  if  made 
in  the  way  and  at  the  season  nbove  pointed  out.  In 
case  these  lines  may  induce  some  experiments,  I will 
add,  the  young  trees  must  be  planted  rather  close 
together,  scarcely  4 feet  apart  ; for  only  in  a dense 
growth  does  the  suji  soon  lose  its  branches  and  pro- 
duce a cleaD,  straight  an  1 valuable  pole. 
The  other  tree,  which  I have  in  mind  as  a timber- 
yielding  tree  for  boxes  is  a broad  leaved  tree,  Pan - 
lownia  imperialis,  called  “ kiri  ” in  Japanese,  which 
produces  a wood  Btill  lighter  and  more  quickly  growing 
than  the  suji,  but,  as  Dr.  G.  King,  Director  of  the 
Royal  Botanioal  Garden  near  Calcutta  tells  me,  this 
tree  does  not  grow  well  in  the  wet  climate  of  the  Eastern 
Himalaya,  though  possibly  the  north-western  plains 
and  hills  might,  suit  it. 
The  wood  of  Paulownia  is  largely  used  in  Japan,  for 
boxes  of  every  kind,  for  funiture  amongst  the  better 
situated  classes,  and  especially  for  clogs,  which  are  in 
common  use  throughout  Japans  and  which  the  ladies 
use  varnished  and  dressed  after  the  nevest  fashion. 
This  trpe  is  planted  in  the  villages  together  with 
nmme  ( Primus  Mume),  nanten  f Nandina  domestica), 
kaki  ( Diospyros  kaki),  &c  as  a shelter  for  tlje  kitchen 
garden  or  m other  accessible  places.  When  the  seed- 
lings are  two  years  old,  they  are  cut  off  dose  to  the 
ground,  and  the  new  shoots  grow  straight  np  to  a 
height  of  10  feet  and  more,  without  a branch  in  a 
single  year. 
In  favourable  conditions  (deep  soil , I the  tree  easily 
attains  a girth  of  3 to  4 feet  within  10  years  : these 
dimensions  seem  to  be  sufficient  for  making  tea  boxes. 
In  Japan,  the  tree  is  sawn  off  every  8 or  10  years, 
very  close  to  the  ground,  a-d  the  stool  is  cleanly  cut 
with  a sharp  knife.  The  shoots  of  the  following  year 
grown  rapidy  and  attain  even  larger  dimensions  than 
those  mentioned. 
As  far  es  I can  judge  from  compar'son  the  drier 
climate  of  the  N.-W.  Provinces  and  Punjab  with  an 
average  rainfall  of  from  20  to  50  inches  per  annum 
may  prove  suitable  to  thie  useful  tree,  which  can  stand 
even  a good  deal  of  frost.  It  would  be  a pleasure  to 
me  to  provide  the  Forest  Department  with  seeds  from 
Japan  if  my  suggestions  seem  worthy  of  being  con- 
sidered and  proved. 
♦ — 
CEYLON  V.  CHINESE  TEAS. 
Referring  to  the  article,  “The  nation  slowly  poisoned,” 
in  our  issue  of  the  28th  ult„  there  are  many  who 
endorse  Sir  Andrew  Clark’s  view  of  the  situation ; 
while  m. my,  on  the  olher  hand,  maintain  that  Ceylon 
tea  will  hold  its  own  in  the  market,  dospite  the  adverse 
criticism  to  which  it  has  been  subjected. 
