December i, 1891.] THE TROPICAL AQRIOULTURIST.' 
397 
given up for cultivation and roaring of foreat trees 
with the crops. 'X'bia matter has been so much delated 
that there is great fear of the villagers losing all in- 
terett in it. 
Only about five acres were added during the year, 
boiug land along the bunk of tho Puaselioya in the 
Barawa forests. 11254 was spent in clearing dead and 
worthless vvood, in cutting it up into firewood, and 
putting in bal seed. The sale of tho firewood will go 
a long way towards covering the cost of clearing and 
planting. 
In tho Ooutral Province the strip claatings were 
ostended, ten more squares being cleared and planted. 
The plantation of 18ij9 has been a failure and has 
had to be practioully replanted. On the report 
of the Assistant Conservator, Central Province, 
I visited tho plantations of IHW) in October 
last, and found that tho work had been most care- 
lessly done, Mr. Armitage having left too much of 
the supeiwisiou to inexperienced subordinates. This 
year the plants put in were A. ylobititi.i and robusCa, 
Acacia decuri eiui, and Cryplomeria japonica. Seeds of 
Pi'inis lonyiMia, C'edrua jjeodora, and Acacia dcccurrens 
wore also dibbled in in situ, and were reported to 
have germinated freely. The cryptomeria and blue 
gum plantations behind the Assistant Agent’s house 
are doing well. Blanks were supplied and over- 
hanging branches |cut. Sambhar and pig are still 
doing damage by barking and rooting up young 
trees and trampling on tender seedlings. Near t!io 
nursery and by the Public Works Department linos 
on the Nuwara Eliya and Nanu-oya rood small patches 
of waste land were cleared and planted with E. 
ylobulus and fobusta, Acacia Aecurretis, Frenda, and 
Cryptomeria, and seeds put in of Fiinia lanyifolia and 
deodar. At the end of the year a large percentage 
was thriving. 
Early in October the Assistant Couservator and I 
inspected waste lands in the neighbourhood of 
Oampola, Nawalapitiya, and Oalboda, tvithaviewto 
recommending the reservation of a certain number of 
them for Railway fuel plantations. Most of the 
blocks of laud were favourably reported upon, and 
before the end of the year 200 acres of patana grass 
wore cleared and ready for lining. Judging from 
similar plantotions in the hills, it is probable that 
these will yield from 100 to 150 yards per acre during 
the next fifteen years, and they will thus not only 
keep up a regular supply for the Railway, but will 
mote than pay their way. It is very desirable that 
this land be reserved under the Forest Ordinance, 
os it is only plantations in jreserved forests which 
obtain the special protection of I he law. The defini- 
tion of tho boundaries on the ground is very deslrahle. 
In Uva tho young plants on Judge's Hul, at Bsdnlla, 
are eemiug on well, especially where the land has 
been kept free of weeds. The plants put in in Decem- 
ber, 1888, are up to nearly twonly feet in height and 
twelve inches in girth, the average beiug about twelve 
to thirteen feet in height and seven to eight inches 
in girth. The plantation consists of s.ipu, grevillea, 
ingasaman, casuarius, and fiamboyants, and all are 
doing fairly well, but no more flamboyants are to be 
planted. Tbs plants put in in 1889 are also doing 
well, beiug generally about four to five feet in height 
and two to three inches in girth. Three acres of 
steep and rooky land have been excluded from the 
plantation. 
The Ellsdalluws clearing of thirteen acres, started 
in Dsoember, 1889, is doing well. Tho plauta put in 
were sapu, grevillea, Inuumidells, jak, ingasaman, 
milla, and irun bark. 'Phe luminiidella, as nsnal, has 
taken the lead, being on an average 9 ft. S in. in height 
and 6J ill. in girth, some trees having roachd abeigbt of 
14ift. and a girth of 10 in. On the whole tho growibhas 
been somewhat more rapid than that on Judge's Hill. 
About six acres of patana land near Baudarawala 
were holed and got ready for planting with Finus lonqi- 
folia, but owing to some delay in the despatch of the 
seeds a large percentage turned out to be bad. A few 
belts of Eucalyptus rebusta havo been put in as a 
protection. 
The strip of forest cleared of worthless timber in the 
Haputale loiest In i889| and replanled with £wvfyptxu 
TO usta and Acacia Mdaunxylon, has come on splendidly 
and there is not one vaosnoy on it. The averugc height 
of the saplings is from 10 ft. to 12 ft. aud the average 
girth over C iu., the E. rabusla being of the two species 
by far the most vigorous grower. All the laud oleared 
during the year has been planted with E. robusta, with 
some acacia aud some Pinas excelsa seed. This seed, 
however, bad beou kopt too long aud did not ^ecmiiiacc. 
In Sabaragamuwa, besides the block of 15 acres for 
Para rubber mentioned below, a site for a nursery was 
selected in tho Gsbbilamukalana, about five miles from 
Hntoapura, aud teak seej from Burma put into care, 
fully-prepared beds. A good deal of tho seed tutm.d 
out to be bad, aud the plants in the unrscry do not 
appear to bo very healthy. About thirty acres have hi cn 
cleared of underwood, and teak seed aud about 2,000 
jak plauta have been put in at a distance of 20 ft." by 
20 ft. The Assistant tlouservator is very eager to 
start planting a valuable reserve of teak,jik, na, bal, 
&o., as sooQ as BuihoieDt funds can be obtained by 
Uoverumeut. I have little doubt that a large planta- 
tion of this sort, situated iu a oonveuient locality 
as regards export, will in the long run pay very well. 
In the North-Western Froviuoe two small planta- 
tions wore started in the Kurunegala District during 
the year. The first is cglled Kumbalipjia, aud is 
sitnated about four miles from Kurunegala and near 
the Negombo road. About ton acres wcreplauted up 
with teak, jak, kumbuk, aud halmilla. The plants 
Buflfered a good deal from drought, bat since the raius 
they appear to have recovered, aud tho proportion of 
failnres is not 15 per cent. Slnoe this laud was 
oleared, thousands ol lunumldella plants have sprung 
up naturally, some of them ruuniog up to 6 ft. iu 
height in the last five mouths. The second plauta- 
tion is in the Sunilapola propo-sed reserve. About 
eight acres have been planted with jak, teak, satin. 
Da, and mahogany, About 25 per cent, of the jak 
plants havo been destroyed by cattle aud about 16 
per cent, of the other species have succumbed to 
drought. 
iuu Anoji9iriuii vousorvaior reporcs tuat tue teas 
plaiitatiou at Puttalam still continues to be a grett 
BU00C88. During the year it has however been subjoctod 
to a good deal of ill-troatmeat. The Forcoter for the 
time beiug did some serious damage by thiauiug out 
overly Blternate liue ol teak poles in the planlatioii of 
1886, agaiust the distinot orders of the Assistant Con- 
servator and of the Conservator. Such a “ rule-of- 
thumb procedure is not Forestry, and does not do 
credit to llie officer in guestioo. 
A number of teak, jak, astio, aud mahogany were 
planlol during the year, but the drought was very 
severe ; the water supply rau out aud a large poicentago 
of plauts died. 
Tho Assistant Conservator, Sabaragamuwa, oloaroJ a 
bloik of 15 acres of land at Edaugoda on tho right hank 
ol the Kalu-gauga for tho planting of Para rubber Thu 
holes were made 12 It. apart and liUed with plants which 
had been first raised in supply baskets. When the 
floods came every plant below theiwater-liue was des- 
troyed. Ims was rather disappointing, as it was oou- 
siderel that ocoasiotial flooding was good for this plaut, 
and tor this rewou a iow-ljiog laud had been ohosen. 
oonsidorable damage to the remaining plauts 
when they were about six inches high. Thus there are 
only 1.873 well-establishej plants remaining. 'IhcoC, 
however, are doing well. It was the intention ot tho 
Assist^t OonssrvBtoi to till in vaeanoies wiih stuniis 
rroDl Benaragods, bat the rains of Novumber aud 
December having fulled ho was obliged to put thorn otf 
until this year, 
.Seed of Cedrus deodara, Pinus excclsa, »nd I'itms 
longifolia was snpplisd through the courtesy ot the 
Oonsorvator of Forests, Sohool Circle, North-Western 
Provinces and Oudh. The deodar seed aud must of 
the pine seed wont to the Nnwsta Eliya District, while 
a couple of pouuds of pine seed went to the Assis- 
tant Conservator, Uva, to try on Uva patanas The 
Pinus laugifotia seed has come up beautifully almost 
everywhere, whether in the Nuwara Eliya nursery cr 
in the Nanu-oya cleirings but not ao well on the 
p«(»aM near Btadariwflla, Tlte d«od#r b»s not oome 
