Nov.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
3°3 
is  half  a mile  long  ana  runs  ia  a directio  n to  escape  as 
much  as  possible  the  effect  of  the  strong  wind  and  to 
afford  shelter  against  the  sun.  This  system  promises 
to  be  a success,  as  it  will  afford  shelter  to  the  young 
plants  and  later  on  a mixture  of  species,  which  is 
favourable  to  teak. 
The  whole  block  No.  5 planted  in  1890  had  to  be 
re-supplied  in  consequence  of  a large  Humber  of  plants 
having  died  owing  to  a severe  drought  which  came  on 
just  after  they  were  put  out,  and  owing  to  weeds  sup- 
pressing mo»t  of  the  survivors.  It  took  17,000  plants 
to  replace  vacancies  in  this  one  block,  which  is  now 
doing  well.  A number  of  self  sown  satinwood  seedlings 
have  sprung  up,  and  will  mix  well  with  teak.  The 
nurseries  were  a great  success,  and  Mr.  Armitage 
deserves  credit  for  the  manner  in  which  he  kept  them 
up.  Teak  seed  was  obtained  through  the  courtesy  of  the 
Conservator  of  Forests,  Quilon.  The  seed  was  spread 
in  trenches  2 in.  deep  and  watered  constantly.  After 
seven  days  it  commenced  to  germinate,  and  the  num- 
berof  sterile  seeds  proved  to  be  very  small.  Palu  seed 
also  came  up  very  readily,  being  watered  twice  a day. 
The  older  plantations  are  also  doing  well 
notwithstanding  the  somewhat  rough  treatment 
which  sime  of  the  blooks  have  received.  The  gaps  in 
the  oldest  plantations  have  in  many  plaoes  been  filled 
with  a spontaneous  growth  of  6atin,  which  mixes  well 
with  teak.  The  Assistant  Conservator  submits  with 
his  report  the  measurements  of  two  lots  of  twenty  trees 
each  taken  in  the  plantations  of  1879  and  1881,  and 
of  ten  satin  poles  measured  in  the  plantation  of  1890. 
The  teak  poles  in  the  block  of  1879  were  measured 
shortly  after  the  close  of  the  year  : on  an  average 
25'35  in.  io  girth  at  4 ft.  from  the  ground,  the  aver- 
age girth  increment  for  the  last  year  being  l-7  io.  and 
the  mean  annual  increment  2'11  in.  The  1881  lot 
measured  on  an  average  19'51  in.,  showing  an  incre- 
ment during  the  year  of  1'49  in.  and  a mean  annual 
increment  of  1’95  iu.  These  girth  measurements  are 
on  the  whole  as  good  as  those  taken  in  the  Eastern 
Province,  although  the  trees  in  the  latter  Province  are 
as  a rule  picked  trees  taken  here  and  there,  and  fre- 
quently standing  insolated.  The  ten  satinwcol  trees 
wh'ch  grew  up  spontaneously  in  the  p'antation  of 
1880  have  attained  an  average  girth  of  18  6 in.  Their 
mean  increment  during  the  last  year  has  been  1 in. 
and  the  mean  annual  increment  1 69  in. 
During  my  inspection  tour  through  the  North- 
Western  Province  the  Assistant  Conservator,  the  For- 
ester, and  I marked  a thinnmg  in  the  p'antations  older 
than  that  of  1886.  632  poles  ware  removed  and  portion 
sold  forR370.  \ large  quantity  of  firewood  which  was 
sold  from  off  the  last  plantation  should  have  been  cre- 
dited to  the  plantation,  but  this  has  not  been  done. 
The  Kumbalpola  plantation  of  ten  acreB,  started 
near  Kurunegala  in  1890  as  stated  in  the  last 
report,  suffered  at  first  a good  deal  from  drought, 
rats,  and  oattle,  and  a large  number  of  vacancies  had 
to  be  filled  in  during  the  north-east  monsoon  of  1890. 
The  growth  of  the  plantation  is  in  consequence  somewhat 
irregular,  but  is  now  doing  very  well,  the  tea  saplings 
being  now  from  8 to  20  ft.  in  height  and  from  3 to 
7 in.  in  girth.  Jak,  which  has  been  mo’t  ill-treated 
by  cattle,  is  now  6 to  15  feet  in  height,  and 
halmilla  has  a very  unitorm  height  of  4J  feet. 
The  Snndapola  plantation,  also  near  Kurunegala, 
is  also  a very  great  success,  and  consists  of  jak,  teak, 
na,  satin,  mahogany  (S.  macrophylla),  and  hora.  The 
plantation  was  at  first  made  under  partial  shelter, 
the  creepers  and  undergrowth  being  cleared  and  use- 
less trees  girdled.  It  appeared  to  me  that  the  seed- 
lings required  a little  more  lighf,  and  subsequently 
the  Assistant  Conservator  adopted  a system  simliar 
to  the  one  adopted  at  PuttaDm,  by  clearing  strips  16 
ft.  wide  and  leaving  alternate  bel's  of  forest  40  ft. 
broad.  Twenty-eight  strips  were  thus  cleared,  covering 
about  fifteen  acres.  The  growth  of  all  species  of  plants 
on  this  plantation  is  excellent,  and  Mr.  Fyn-s  can  be 
congratulated  on  the  success  of  all  the  plantations  iu  the 
North-Western  Province. 
Province  op  Uva. — Judge’s  Hill  plantation  of 
twenty-four  acres.  The  portions  which  have  been 
kept  clear  of  weeds  are  doing  very  well,  but  the  un- 
weeded portions  are  somewhat  stunted.  The  sapu 
plants  put  in  1888  have  formed  complete  leaf  canopy, 
and  no  grass  can  grow  underneath  them.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  weeding  will  not  much  longer  be 
necessary  in  the  plantations  of  1888  and  1889. 
Elladuwa  Plantation  of  thirteen  acres  close  to 
Badulla.  The  plants  are  coming  on  well,  and  there 
are  few  vacancies.  A road,  6£  chains  long,  was  cut 
right  through  the  clearing. 
Haputale  Plantation.  The  Eucalyptus  robusta  and 
Acacia  melanoxylon  put  in  1889  are  doing  very  well. 
There  is  hardly  a vacancy.  One  and  a half  acre  has 
been  added  during  the  year. 
Bandarawela  Plantation.  There  is  not  much  of  a 
success.  A good  deal  of  the  Pinus  longifolia  has  come 
up,  but  made  little  progress.  Some  Eucalyptus  robusta 
which  was  put  in  have  also  a stunted  appearance. 
The  Assistant  Conservator  attributes  this  to  the 
whole  land  not  having  been  cleared  of  weeds. 
Appendix  C shows  the  measurement  taken  in  the 
Uva  plantations  by  the  Assistant  Conservator. 
Province  of  Sabaragamuwa. — Para  Rubber  plan- 
tations. During  • 1891  a fresh  plantation  of  this 
species  was  made  at  YetipoDa,  iu  the  Medapattu 
of  the  Kuruwiti  korale,  of  some  16  acres  in  extent, 
beside  adding  another  acre  to  the  older  plantation  at 
Edangoda.  The  old  plants  at  Edangoda  are  now  from 
15  to  18  ft.  high,  and  look  as  healthy  as  possible. 
No  branches  were  formed  up  to  the  end  of  1891  by 
any  of  the  Edangoda  trees.  The  Yatipona  plantation 
Deing  well  aboveflood-level  is  the  most  even  in  growth, 
while  the  plants  show  an  equal  robustness,  though 
the  soil  of  E langoda  is  superior  to  that  of  Yatipona. 
The  teak  plantation  at  Gabellaisa  failure.  Defective 
seeds  in  the  first  instance  and  poor  soil  appear  to  have 
been  the  causes  of  failure. 
In  order  to  make  up  as  much  for  the  loss  of  the 
teak  the  Assistant  Conservator  planted  500  jak  plants, 
besides  hal  and  hora,  that  appear  to  succeed  moderately 
well.  The  hal  seeds  planted  along  the  sides  of  a 
small  stream  in  the  GUbella  plantation  have  proved 
a success,  and  on  this  experiment  Mr.  Lewis  planted 
more  at  Edangoda  at  the  flood  line,  with  equally 
favourably  results,  still  following  up  the  experiments 
at  Yatipona,  where  there  is  a piece  of  swampy  or 
damp  ground,  making  1,000  plants  in  all- 
Of  meudora  he  planted  700  seeds  within  the  flooded 
area  of  the  rubber  plantation  at  Edangoda,  the  greater 
number  of  which  have  succeeded.  A few  nedun 
seedlings  have  been  tried  at  Edangoda  with  Buocess. 
On  the  whole,  1 think  that  the  Department  has 
made  very  marked  progress  iu  its  plantations  during 
the  year  under  report,  and  the  work  has  been  well 
carried  out  by  the  Assistant  Conservators. 
Improvement  F’ellings  and  Creeper  Cuttings. — 
Small  improvement  fellings  of  various  kinds  have 
been  made  iu  some  of  the  Provinces.  In  the  Central 
Province  three  small  areas  were  taken  up,  in  which 
the  inferior  species  were  removed  and  the  better  Mas- 
ses left  standing.  It  depends  on  the  manner  in  whioh 
this  was  done  whether  the  operation  can  be  ca.led  an 
“ improvement  ” felling.  Similar  operations  which  I 
have  inspected  in  the  North-Central  Province  near 
Anuradhapara  and  Alut-ova  can  hardly  deserve  that 
name,  young  saplings  of  valuable  species  having  been 
1 t to  stand  unsupported,  exposed  on  all  Bides  to 
sin  and  wind.  I propose  during  my  next  inspection 
tours  to  make  a few  improvement  fellings  and  olear- 
ings  together  with  Assistant  Conservators,  and  to  see 
this  useful  work  started  in  earnest.  I have 
shown  the  assistant  Coonservator,  Northern  Pro- 
vince, how  to  make  clearings  in  halmilla  forest,  but 
nothing  seemB  as  yet  to  have  been  done. 
Creeper  and  climber  cutting  was  carried  out 
in  the  Kalugalla  forest  by  the  Assistant  Con- 
servator, North-Western  Proviuoe,  and  in  the 
Gabella  forest  by  the  Assistant  Conservator, 
S ibarngamuwa.  The  operation  has  had  a very  beneficial 
effect  on  the  standing  trees,  poles,  and  saplings,  and 
in  Sabaragamuwa  has  caused  the  springing  up  of  a 
large  number  of  seedlings. 
Experiments  in  Exotics. — The  plantations  in  the 
Central  Province,  in  which  exotics  have  chiefly 
