44 
A NATURALIST ON THE PROWL. 
was wickedly undoing a good work which had cost much 
public money. He replied, “ Not so. I do not destroy the 
roots of the trees. I only cut away the branches which 
spoil my roads.” I said, “O! I understand. It is the 
roots that give shade to the traveller.” It is not often that 
sarcasm or irony strikes any light from the flint of a 
Hindoo mind, but I got a flash out of that muccadum. 
But then, you see, he was a muccadum . 
Another thing that makes futile much of our roadside 
planting is the erratic selection of trees, without any 
regard to whether they will grow or do any good where 
we put them. There is a Forest Department which ought 
to understand such matters, and — but what am I saying ? 
Fancy a Forest officer neglecting his pastures and grazing 
fees to meddle with roadside trees ! They come under 
the major head “Roads,” as every child knows, and it is of 
course the province of those who make the roads to build 
the trees also. The best results are obtained by committing 
the work to a minister of the “ Lokil Phund.” He has one 
luminous idea on the subject, and it is that two or three 
trees of different kinds should always be put into one hole ; 
“ for,” says he, “ if one dies, the other may live.” So he 
puts a Jack and a Mango, or a Tamarind and a Casuarina, 
