'i" II i.-: 
T ! •; A K . 
PAPEB has rtcently been 
read by Mr. Ernest Satow 
c. M. a., betoro the Society 
of Arts, which affords to us 
muoh interesiir g information 
with respect to the proapeots 
of the teak exports from 
be forests of the Malayan peninsula. We here 
in Ceylon make but little use of this timber, save 
perhaps in our railway department, but solely 
because its price is almost prohibitory. Were it 
not for this latter fact, the almost unapproachable 
qualities of Moulmein teak must have ensured for 
it a very muoh larger use than it now has in this 
island. Our supply of this timber is, wo bolievo, 
largely mads up of drifted logs whioh come 
ashore on onr eastern coasts that are claimed 
and disposed of by out Colonial Forest Department ? 
It is, we think, the case that the demand for teak 
timber for the construction of our railway carriages 
is one of considerable amount, and doubtless the 
Bailway Department will be concerned to hear 
that Mr. Satow has declared, as the result of his 
visits to the forests of Burma and Siam, that 
unless some change can bo made in the system 
of working, or eome very material increase of price 
can be obtained, in about ten years' time it will no 
longer pay to out teak in the forests of those countries. 
Wo had no idea, until we had read what Mr. 
Satow baa said on tlm subject, that the prepa- 
ra'ion of teak for export was such a long and 
expensive matter. In the first place, ho has told 
us that opersli ns commence by cutting a ring in 
the hark of the tree about four feet above the 
level of the ground. This kills the tree, and it 
»a left standing in situ for three years, so that the 
wood may become thoroughly dry before felling. 
At the end of that term financial difficulties 
begin to operate. The forests are leased from 
the ohiefs. mainly by British Indian subjects. 
Who let their ocnofS.Mons out under numerous sub- 
Jeases. Of these sub-lessors the foresters purchase 
>ne right to fell, paying, we are somewhat sur. 
‘r” ® •■oya'ty as three to four 
“Pf.b® the right to fell each tree. These third 
parties to the transabtion, who are the praotioal 
men, are rarely possessed of oapital, and they have 
to borrow from money-lenders at a high rate of 
interest. And oapital, it appears, is a frequent 
requirement of these practical men, because 
it is so largely dependent upon the rainfall 
as to whether the rivers possess a sufficient 
fiow at the proper season to float the 
logs down to the sea coast. If this be 
deficient, the foresters may have to wait 
a whole year, or even more, before they can 
obtain any return upon their outlay. Then there 
is often a deficiency of the elephant labour required 
to drag the heavy logs from the forests to the 
river bank, and when obtained the delicacy of these 
huge animals is so great that after working for 
three days only they have to be rested lot five 
days. But these are by no means the only elements 
I of uncertainty and expense attendant on the 
' trade. The Siamese Government extorts a duty of 
four rnpec-B per log, and many of these logs are lost 
by being carried out to sea dating freehets, a consider- 
I able proportion of them finding, as we have said, their 
ultimate deetination on the eastern ehores of this 
I island. When, in conjunction with all these 
I hindranoes to profit, Mr. Satow tells ns that it 
; sometimes takes three years from the date of fell- 
ing before any return can be obtained, we can 
I feel little surprise at the price here being so nearly 
I prohibitory as we have mentioned it to he. At Monl- 
mein there is a large demand for the outside slabs 
for cutting into shingles, while at Bangkok no 
Bueb demand exists. As the result, logs which sell 
for from 80 to 100 rupees at the first mentioned 
I place feloh only about 85 rupees at the second. 
It will be seen bow many elements eombine to 
make the profits of the teak cutter both uneertain 
' and iluotualing ; and these elements, if they 
’ cannot be overcome in eome way or other, 
j threaten ere long to out off the supply of this 
I valued timber, one which it would be very difficult 
to find B eabstitute for. 
GRAPHITE. 
The following article from the American Eiwi- 
nemng and Mining Juurnal, by Prof. J. P. 
Kemp, Sohool of Mines, Columbia College. 
^** 1,-1 iBteresting as showing that 
graphite mining from rook containing only 10 
per cent of the ore is carried on in the United 
States merely as a cheek on the price of the 
Ceylon artinle, of whioh nearly 25G.OOO owt. valued 
at $ 594,746 were imported into the States m 1890, by 
far llio highest figures on record. The value i ^ 
all the plumbago produced in the United States is 
1 only about $35, 000. and Canada shows only $3,00Q 
