( 6 ) 
8 I consider »upply quite equal to demand now, 
timber trees have so generally been planted. 
4 No. 3 answers this. 
5 On most estates in this n-i£;hbourhood fuel and 
timber trees have been planted in large numbers. 
6 1 have just taken in over 1,000 yards of firewood 
from iron-bark trees, planted in a few ravines some sii 
years ago. which speaks for itself. 
7 Gievillea and iron-bark. 
8 For timber, yes. 
Iron-bark frees yielding so much firewood in 
six ye;xrs shows what can be done, and Ave 
are told that the ravines so utilised were qin'te 
small, while the immediate cause of coppicing 
was that the shade was interfering with the 
flush on the neighbouring tea. But the iron- 
bark ti'ees so coppiced have thrown up much 
"healthy shoots, that it is qiiite expected four 
years more will give another siinilar crop of 
firewood ! 
And first we take the full report of a 
Manager in the Agras, who, it will be ob- 
served, expresses a decided objection to 
the use of coal in tea factories ; and who 
also regards iron-bark as inferior as a 
fuel :— 
1 "Wood is preferable to coal, as the latter is too dirty 
for tea-iii;-iking, tbs dust penetrating everywhere; and 
it also wastes very much. Coke is cleaner than both, 
and gives out f;i.eat heat ; but looking at the question 
from every point, vvood is the most suitable fuel. 
2 The facilites for getting firewood vary so much for 
-different estates, according to their situation, that it is 
diiiicult to make comparison of cost. In my case, 
coal or coke would add over two cents per lb- to the 
cost of the tea. 
3 The supply is equal to the demand at present ; 
and with the large Crown forest acreage in and near 
the district, 1 think there is little chance of any other 
fuel taking the place of wood. 
4 At present, the supply is mostly in private 
hands, and comparatively little is required from Gov- 
ernment. 
5 Most estates are planting fuel trees, and have been 
doing so for some years, 
6 Fuel plantations have not been found a great suc- 
cess, though I think this is a good deal owing to the 
way they are worked, and, with a better knowledge of 
forestry, considerable improvements on the present sys- 
tem might be made. 
7 For rapid growth there is nothing to equal gums ; 
•but 1 think it is a great mistake to plant iron-bark 
alone, which, though quick-growing, gives a much 
poorer fuel than blue gum and some other kinds. 
Grevilleas do not grow very quickly here, and would 
be a long time in giving any fuel, and then it would 
be of poor quality. 
8 I do not think it would pay to plant trees for build- 
ing and tea chest timbei', as for both purposes it will 
always be got mote cheaply, in sufficient quantities, 
and of better quality from the lowoountry and from 
abroad. 
From Lindula comes a brief reply as fol- 
lows : — 
Coal or coke — as far as I can judge in going about 
as 1 do a good deal. Everyone is planting fuel trees 
and grevilleas are the best, for they do not injure the 
tea and they make excellent firewood and there seems 
plenty of it everyv/here. The Government fuel or 
forest planting is a failure : they do not attend to the 
young plants same as a planter does. 
••Froni Kotagala, we have two answers from 
exjjericnced Managers : — 
1 Woll-aeasoned wood is preferable to coal for 
driers. I have not tried coke. 
2 Wood is cheapost and best, when grown on 
«^Klat'-. Where it has to be bought, the difference in 
cost between wood and coal is very little, for using 
ill eDKine. 
8 The supply is quite equal to the demand, taking 
the district as a whole. 
4 In private hands. 
5 Yea, to a certain extent, but not as much as it 
might. 
6 Very little, excepting on lani that will not grow 
tea ; most of the land hereabouts can prow both, and 
usually better than it grows one. 
8 I would plant for building purposes, but not for 
chests. 
And, again, we have a specially good word 
for grevilleas for building purposes: — 
1 Wood for drying purposes : it is clean and free 
from smell. Oil is most convenient for engines. 
3 Grevilleas and gums grow very readily, and 
everyone upcountry can grow their own firewood. 
4 A certain amount is dependent on Government ; 
the greater poitiou is in private hands. 
5 Has received ami is receiviuK attention. 
6 In waste land, gums and grevilleas can be grown 
very well together. 
7 A mix'ure of iron-bark gums and grevilleas : ihey 
seem to live oa different food, and about as many 
of each kind can be grown together as of one kind 
singly. 
8 For building purposes, old grevilleas make a 
very good timbei'. 
But our most intei'estijig reply is from a 
Talawakele Manager who supplenoeuts his 
answers with a letter on the general subject 
of fuel supply : — 
1 I have had no experience of cof.l or coke. 
2 I underst.ind that coal costs double as much as 
firewood per lb. of tea. Firewood costs from § to 1 
cent per lb. of tea. Everything depends on whether 
a steam engine is used or not. If a steam engine 
is always used, fuel costs about 1 to li ct. when 
available on that particular estate. 
3 Apparently so on most estates. There are, 
however, about fifteen estates to my knowedge that have 
no fuel. 
4 Partly in Government, but in roost cases in 
private hands. There is a fuel depot at Talawa- 
kele. 
5 Yes : most estates are planted np with grevilleas 
round road edges, and on poor or steep patches, e.g., 
those no^ capable of growing tea. 
6 Yes : when poor land is available, but not on 
land capab'e of grov^ing tea to yield over 150 lb. 
per acre. 
7 Grevillea and iron-bark gum and acacia 
decurrens. 
8 No : cost of sawing, transport, upkeep, etc., 
would only show a small profit as native low-grown 
timbsr, e.g., sapu, jak, dawatas, etc., can be pur- 
chased at from Ri2 to 1114 per 1 0 feet, delivered at 
the railway stations. Excellent Japan chests, etc., 
can now be purchased. No economy in planting 
timber suitable for chests. 
On the question, as a whole, our correspond- 
ent makes the following interesting deli- 
verance : — 
With regard to the whole question of fuel, it has 
many times occurred to me that in those districts 
and on those estates which have facilities for 
transport, such as the Dimbula and Dikoya districts, 
the fuel question is not one of very grave import- 
ance as allowing that there is only a limited supply 
of firewood available, the extra cost of coal or coke 
over firewood would probably mean about | to 1 cent 
per lb. of tea ; and although even this saving is im- 
portant, an estate that cannot aiiord this small 
extra cost must necessarily be in a precarious con- 
dition. 
Outlying districts, as a rule, hare facilities for 
getting firewood from jungle reserves, villagers and 
waste land, with the exception of the Pussellawa 
district, which, I believe, has for a long time found the 
fuel question, one of great importance. 
