$.3$ tlHE TROPICAL A 
The plants have for some reason, contrary to all 
-experience, assumed a semi-creeping habit, necessi- 
tating interplanling c£ the whole ugaiu in 1898 with 
jak, whi<-h will supersede the ingasaman. The A'^sis- 
tant Governtnoat Agent at Kalutara is desiroun that 
more of the Model Farm may be piauted up with 
jakvvood in view of the success of the existing 
plantations. 
The teak garden at Hanwella had a number of 
thin and .vOL-kly poles cut ou;. in order to secu-e 
gi-eater freedo ," of gi-owth for tlie remaining trees — 
a work that the pl.inl.Ttion was much in ccod of. 
The teak plantHtioa at Kotadouiya was not weeded 
again this ysar, but sh.juld ho next. 
The Mugurugiimpola and Pohannoruvra plantations 
appear to be considerably improved by the weeding 
they had in 18915, but it is to Ije regretted that sickly 
plants were not thinned out in 1897. The domba has 
self-sown itself freely, and young plants are looking 
healthy. 
Central PnoviNcE.— No addition was made to ex- 
isting plantations during the year. The acreage of 
plantations is as follow.^, viz., Galhoda 'i'Al, Kotagala 
14, Nanu-oya 118, ana Nnw&ra Eliya 36 ; total 545 
acres. At Galboda the 377 acres have been kept rp 
by rooting out scrub lantaua, mana grass, and weeds. 
A few plants wore also put in bare places and seed 
at stake dibl)lod in. The total cost for these work* 
was lll,700 u5, averaging 11151 per acre. This sum 
has been disbursed as follows : — 
BlackwATEK. — This clearing is still very poor, snd 
very little improvement can be seen except the new 
clearing of 9 acres planted in 1894, which is coming 
on well. The Aco.cia melanoxi/lou and jak continue 
to die out where the soil is poorest and gravelly. The 
Eucalyptus and nreoilhaa are the only species growing 
fairly well, and that only in sheltered places. The 
seeds which were dibbled in last year, and which came 
up well, have died off ou account of drought. Out of 
the whole 69 acres in this clearing only about 12 
acres can be said to be of any use. This clearing 
ahoold be left to take care of itself, except that the 
few acres of what is good should be kept clear of wseds. 
Dbkinda Nos. 1 and 2. — Leaf canopy has formed 
well in several places on these two clearings, and 
the general appearance of the two blocks of 60 acres 
may be considered promising. 
Mapak.^nda.— This clearing of 192 acres though look- 
ing bare in many places has been thoroughly stocked 
"With plants. Last year 2,096 plants were supplied. 
The indigenous plants, though slow growers, have 
spning np considerably more than the previous year, 
and a great improvement in the general appearance 
of this clearing is observable. 
Penhros. — This clearing of 56 acres is faiily wooded, 
piarticulariy the portion below the railway line. 
KoTAOALA. — The plantation iu Kotagala forest, 
Hatton Disti-ict, h<)-' shown improvement in the 
growth of iin: Eucalyptus rohusta t-''ant5, and the trees 
■have at i allied consiclerrtble dimensions. 
The new clearing of 4 acres planted with Grevilleaa 
'last year was dam ^;t.>:l by wild aniniAls. In conse- 
quence ot this some replanting wil! have to be done 
during the next rainy season, as there are a good 
many vacancies on the clearing to be supplied. 
NuwAEA Eliya — The plantation in Galway's land 
■was slightly thinned out dnring the early part of the 
' year. The Forests reports a great deal of damage 
■was done by the high winds, necessitating the lopping 
of broken branches and the coppicing of damaged trees. 
The plantations on the whole are doing well, with the 
exception of some of the blue gum clearings at Coni- 
cal Hill. Wherever Acacia has been planted in places 
exposed to incnrsious of elephants and pigs, it has 
been severely browsed down. In one or two c'earingg, 
such as the one near Mahagas'.cta tea estate, where 
R, th^iruy undergrowth has been allowed to spr-ing up 
round the plants, they have shown the benefits of 
this protection and grow well and healthily. 
Of all the exotic species planted, the red gum (E. 
robufila) shows itself the one which has best adapted 
itself to the soil and climate. The plantations at 
Nanuoya were cleared of weeds and undergrowth 
ORIOtLTURIST. [Oct. 1, \m, 
during th« y*4r. Beyond this, th« pre««at cyUera 
of working tb« Nanuoya compartment, which it r«- 
ally an improvement felling, do improvemeut felltnKi 
were carried out. It i* iuterasting to note in con- 
nection with this system bow rapidly tlie l«af caaopy 
has assumed the previous natural condition. 
Easteiis Pbdvisce. — No fcdditiona were made to 
the teak plantations, but in the latter p.u-t of the 
year 40 ^cres of grass laud were plaut«a up with 
gallnuts obtained from the Province of L'va for tb* 
purposes of experimental re afforestation. 
NoBru Wkstebn PEovi.'tcE. Sundatola Planta- 
tion. — This plantation has made very considerable 
progress duDug the year, and the growth of nearly 
all the species i« most markfd. This improve- 
ment is due to more attention baring beau pa'd to 
weeding and tbinuiuga. The Conservator of For- 
ests again this year broaght the forestry ciasj to this 
plantation, and tlie students did a great deal of work 
in thinnings and marking trees to be felled, Ac. This 
plantation was planted in the north-east monsoon of 
1890, and the following \re the mean girth increments 
for seven years :— Teak 12 02, jak 14 40. na 3-87, 
mahogany 14 (14, satin 0'61, and kumbuk 13'62. The 
expenditure for the year was IU74-35, and the re- 
ceipts from date, of thinnings, fagt^ots, and firewood, 
R5U0. The expeuditurs since the beginning lias b»on 
118,832-16 and the receipts K6.-iU-59. 
KuMBALi'oi.A Pi-ANTAiio.v. — No work waH carried oat 
at this plantati -n beyond keeping; the place clear at a 
cost of IWO for the year. The trees have made som* 
comi'^erable progresH. The mean annual increment for 
seven years of 50 teak is I3'09, 60 jak 18-14, and SO 
balmilla b'73. 
Pl'ttai^au Teak Plantatiok .—Pruning %nd coppicing 
wore ths chief operations carried out during tbe year. 
270 posts were sold to tbe Telegraph Department 
during the year. The receipts for the year ara 
111,162 and the expenditure R249. Teak and satin 
show the following increment for the year : — Teak 
1'47, Batin 'bl. 
Nobth Cknthal Pbovi>!cb. — No plantations wera 
carried on in 1897. 
Province of Uva. Jcdoe's Hill Pl.vntation. — 
Thinning operatiouR, which were commenced in this 
plantation at the latter end of 1696, -were continued. 
All the suppressed and inferior trees were taken out 
and the stools carefully coppiced with satisfactory 
results. Orevilltas are doing fairly well, especially 
in the hollows. But they do not stand coppic- 
ing as well as the sapu, the stool shoots being 
weedy-looking as compared with those of tbe latter. 
Elladaluwa Plantation.— The 13-acre field of this 
plantation, too, was gone over during tbe year, but 
the thinnings were only slight, but notwithstanding 
have had a beneficisl effect. The 28'acre 
field planted in 1892 is coming on weli in parts, but 
there are siill many vacancip.-=, owing chiefly to the 
daniiige done by bnff-tloes at • 'ght. 
MEuiaiVA.-^The broad-leafed mahogany is not 
doing at all well here, it would seem that tbe soil and 
probably the climate is not suitable to it. 
MoEATOTA. — In November and December, 1895, 
twelve acres were planted up. In the hollows 
the growth has been good and canopy has been for- 
med. But the soil on about a quarter of this field is 
poor, as shown by the stunted appearance of the plants. 
Eanparawela.— This plantation has proved a failar«. 
The soil is so extremely bad that it will be many 
years before the trees will form cover. It was this 
year supplied with seeds of forest trees. 
Haputale Pi,antation.— This has certainly proved a 
grand success, and it is rather a pity it has not been 
farther extended. Adjoining it there is a large piece 
of forest land, from which all valuable timber 
has been removed, and it now seems dpslrable 
tj make a complete clear.anie ot tbe remaining 
unprofitable jangle erowlh and snbititute for 
it a contiunitiou of the existing plantation. 
Ths experimental coppice was not continued this year, 
as it W.-L3 though'! ad visable to make sure o' the suc- 
cess of previous experiments. The growth of the stool 
shoots has been extremely satisfactory, and this work 
