Sept,  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.- 
193 
GROWING  'WOODS  FOR  TEA  BOXES 
AND  OTHER  PURPOSES. 
We  commend  to  tbe  attention  of  our  readers 
the  remarks  on  wood  for  tea  boxes  communicated 
by  Dr.  Mayr  of  Munich  to  the  Indian  Forester. 
It  will  be  seen  Ibot  he  adviEes  the  cultivation  on 
a large  scs*le  of  Cryptomeria , or  as  be  suggests 
it  should  be  called  Sequoia  japonica,  a tree 
which  Fortune,  (he  well-known  traveller  in  China, 
introduced  into  Darjeeling  half  a century  ago,  and 
which  is  now  being  somewhat  extensively  tried 
in  and  8rour.d  Nuwara  Eliya.  It  is  stated  that 
it  grows  in  all  kinds  of  soil,  tut  of  course  the  nature 
of  the  soil  must  affect  its  growth;  and,  as  a matter  of 
fact,  there  is  a great  difference  cf  appearance  between 
the  generally  dwarfed  specimens  on  the  poor  peaty 
grass  land  of  the  Plain  and  the  luxuriant  growth 
of  those  planted  in  forest  soil.  On  a piece  of  such 
ground  near  the  bund  of  Lake  Gregory  the  crypto- 
merias  are  only  second  in  height  to  the  toons 
amidst  which  they  grow  : any  deficiency  in  altitude 
being  compensated  for  by  the  dense  lateral 
growth  of  branches  in  the  case  of  the  pines. 
These  branches  ought  when  pruned  away  to 
be  valuable  for  firewood.  One  of  the  great 
merits  of  this  tree  is  that  it  freely  coppices; 
and  as  it  grows  much  more  freely  in  our  for- 
cing climate  than  in  Japan  and  China,  the  period 
in  which  the  timber  can  be  utilized  (original 
growth  and  successive  coppicings)  may  probably  be 
15  years  instead  of  the  25  years  period  in  Japan. 
The  tree  grows  readily  from  seed,  in  Ceylon  ; and  so 
far  as  our  own  experience  goeB  this  mode  of  pro- 
pagation seems  preferable  .0  that  by  large  cuttings, 
such  as  Dr.  Mayr  describes.  The  cuttings  tried 
on  Abbotsford  were  not,  perhaps,  so  large  in 
size  as  those  he  describes,  and  for  the  first  year 
or  two  after  being  put  into  the  ground  the  ten- 
dency was  towards  horizontal  growth  along  the 
surface.  Just  as  the  plants  were  about  to  be 
removed  as  unsatisfaoiory  they  began  to  send  up 
good  central  shoots  ; and  the  lateral  growth, 
in  some  cases  one  mass  of  cones,  was  cut 
away.  Our  readers  will  see  that  the  Japanese 
name  of  this  Cryptomeria  or  Sequoia  (and 
it  deserves  to  be  rankod  with  the  sequoias 
from  the  enormous  dimensions  to  which  it  attains) 
is  suji , while  the  Japan  wood  chiefly  introduced 
into  Ceylon  for  tea  boxeB  is  momi.  This  is 
reoommended  as  being  free  from  the  cedar-like 
odour  which  is  deemed  objectionable  in  the  suji  ; 
but  it  will  be  observed  that  Dr-  Mayr  describes 
the  odour  as  quite  evanescent,  so  that  if  perfectly 
fresh  timber  is  not  used  all  objection  on  the  score 
of  odour  disappears,  It  is  curious  that  Dr.  Mayr 
says  nothing  of  the  momi  and  does  not  mention 
t,he  existence  of  tbe  American  saw-mills, 
whence  £0  many  tea  estates  in  Ceylon 
and  India  are  furnished  with  tea  boxes  in 
convenient  shooks.  Even  apart  from  conversion 
into  tea  boxes,  Cryptomeria  japonica  is  well  worth 
cultivating  for  the  fuel  derived  from  its  branobes 
and  the  useful  timber  purposes  to  which  its  tall 
straight  6tem  oan  be  put.  It  is,  moreover,  a very 
handsome  ornamental  tree;  and  Fortune  went  into 
raptures  over  one  which  he  found  near  a Buddhist 
monastery  in  China.  No  wonder  if  he  deemed 
the  tree  an  acquisition  to  the  hill  regions  of  India, 
considering  the  words  he  wrote  now  fifty  years  ago : — - 
The  provice  of  Kiang-see  had  been  shut  out  and 
left  behind  us,  and  our  view  now  opened  on  Fokien. 
Never  in  my  life  had  I seen  such  a view  as  this, 
so  grand,  so  sublime.  High  ranges  of  mountains 
were  towering  on  my  right  and  on  my  left,  while 
before  me,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the  whole 
country  seemed  broken  up  into  mountains  and 
hills  of  all  heights,  with  peaks  of  every  form, 
S3 
While  gazing  with  wonder  and  admiration  on  the 
scene,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  a solitary  pine- 
tree  of  great  size,  standing  about  a hundred  yards 
from  the  gateway.  No  other  trees  of  any  size  were 
near  it.  Its  solitary  position  near  the  pass,  and  its 
great  height  and  beautiful  symmetry,  made  it  appear 
a most  striking  object.  “What  could  it  be?  was 
it  new,  or  did  we  already  possess  it  in  England?’’ 
I must  confess  that  for  a few  seconds  I had  eyes  for 
nothing  else.  Chairs,  coolies,  and  mountains  were 
all  forgotten,  and  I believe,  had  the  guard  of  Celes- 
tials attempted  to  prevent  me  from  going  into 
Fokien,  the  only  boon  I should  have  asked  at  their 
hands  would  have  been  to  be  allowed  to  go  and 
inspect  this  noble  pine. 
The  Chinese  guard,  however,  had  not  the  slightest 
intention  of  interfering  with  my  movements,  and,  as 
the  tree  was  on  the  roadside,  I soon  came  up  to  it, 
and  found  it  to  be  the  Japan  cedar  (Cn/ptomcria, 
japonica),  a tree  which  I had  already  introduced  into 
England,  and  which,  even  in  a young  state,  had 
been  greatly  admired  there.  I had  never  before 
seen  such  a noble  specimen,  and  although  I would 
rather  it  had  been  something  new,  I yet  felt  proud 
of  having  been  the  means  of  introducing  into  Europe 
a tree  of  such  size,  symmetry,  and  beauty.  It  was 
at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height, — 
it  might  be  much  more, — as  straight  as  a larch, 
and,  bad  its  lower  branches  drooping  to  the  ground. 
It  had  not  been  “lopped”  like  other  Chinese  trees, 
and  was  evidently  preserved  with  great  care.  My 
| ( hinamen  looked  upon  it  with  great  admiration,  and 
informed  me  it  was  the  only  specimen  of  the  kind 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  that  it  had  been 
planted  by  some  former  emperor  when  he  crossed 
the  mountains. 
There  are  many  other  passages  in  whioh  Fortune 
expnsses  his  admiration  of  “ the  beautiful  oryp- 
tomeria.”  Heeptimated  the  heightofthe  old  speoimen 
he  so  enthusiastically  describes  at  120  feet  ; but 
our  readers  will  see  that  Dr.  Mayr  describes  the  tree 
as  actually  attaining  260  feet  in  height,  with  breadth 
of  stem  in  proportion.  This  tree  is  surely  worthy 
of  special  attention  by  our  Forest  Department,  as 
well  as  by  planters.— Dr.  Mayr  mentions  another 
tree  which  ought  also  to  be  tried  in  Ceylon.  It 
grows  at  lower  altitudes  than  those  suitable  for 
Cryptomeria,  comes  to  maturity  muoh  sooner 
(attaining  a girth  of  3 to  4 feet  in  ten  years!), 
and  coppices  so  readily  that  the  more  it  is  out 
the  better  it  seems  to  grow.  If  this  tree  could  be 
successfully  introduced  iuto  our  Ceylon  tea  dis- 
tricts, it  would  certainly  be  a great  acquisition; 
and  it  will  be  observed  that  Dr.  Mayr  offers 
to  eend  seed  from  Japan.  The  botanical  name 
of  this  wonderful  tree  for  rapid  growth  is 
Paulownia  impcrialis,  and  we  find  from  the 
Dictionary  of  Botany  that  it  has  the  habit  of 
catalpa  and  was  classed  by  Thunberg  as  a 
Bignonia , but  it  has  much  more  the  character 
of  Seroplndariacece,  of  which  it  is  now  considered 
as  forming  a distinct  genus.  It  bears  handsome 
flowers.  Apart  from  the  Australian  Eucal- 
ypti and  Acacias,  which  have  not  been  consi* 
dered  as  yielding  wood  suitsd  for  tea  boxes, 
the  only  exotic  tree  growing  in  Ceylon  whioh  rivals 
Paulownia  impcrialis  in  rapidity  of  growth  (and  we 
should  think  it  would  coppioe  readily)  is  Albizzia 
moluccana,  the  light  wood  of  which,  we  should  think, 
would  be  suitable  for  tea  boxes.  Specimens  of 
this  tree,  not  quite  12  years  from  the  nursery,  are 
simply  gigantic.  The  foliage  is  so  like  that  of 
Poinciana  regia  { ihe  flambeau  or  flame  tree)  that 
our  Albizzias  have  been  frequently  mistaken  for 
the  grander  but  not  more  beautiful  flowering 
tree  : the  blossoms  of  the  Albizzia  being  snow- 
white.— Amongst  the  trees  mentioned  by  Dr.  Mayr 
as  associated  with  the  Cryptomeria  is  Quercus 
serrata,  whioh  has  been  found  in  Darjeeling  to  yield 
good  fuel  at  an  early  ago.  It  abounds  in  Assam, 
