8 
order to assure the reproduction by seed a certain number of $eed bearers must be 
left after the first felling. These should be as far as possible* Rhizophora and Brn - 
guiera sp. and number about io or 15 to the acre. The clear felling of the rest of the 
crop will give the necessary light for the development of the seedlings and as soon as a 
dense crop is established, after probably some 5 years the s jed bearers can be remov- 
ed. In this way each coupe wo’ d be gone over twic' ah an interval between the 
fellings — and 15 years would >se before the time ue to remove a second crop. 
This treatment has not within knowledge been a, d, but I feel confident of the 
success of it from what I have ery where observed o r.he natural reproduction. 
The only mangrove fore _s are in Singapore and the Dindings and these with 
those of Perak State (which alone are estimated to yield $280,000 worth of fuel a year 
supply Railways, local Steamers, Smelting Works and other industries. 
The closing of the reserves to the extraction of timber is in a general way quite 
the proper policy, so far as 1 am competent to judge. In Singapore but few of the 
reserves contain mature timber and then it is only in limited parts that it is found. 
The greater part is more or less young or only half-grown. 
The large reserves of Malacca, rich in good mature timber, lie side by side with 
extensive areas covered with similar forest which is being cleared and burnt and so 
the time has not yet come for the timber to be valuable. The more accessible Sungei 
Udang Reserve had all the mature timber worked out of it before it was reserved and 
it is mostly young and very promising. 
In the Bindings the unreserved lands yield more than there is a demand for. 
The only mature forests in Province Wellesley are those which cover the tops 
of the hills. Tasek Glugor, the largest reserve, is only gradually growing up and the 
grassy blanks are being slowly overgrown by masses of young Tembusu f ‘ Fagroea 
frag vans 
The main reserve in Penang is that which comprises Government Hill and the water 
catchment area, and it should be strictly preserved both in the interests of the water 
supply and in view of future requirements, as the hill becomes popular and is more 
generally resorted to and built over. Private holdings within the catchment area 
should be acquired. Such reserves as Pantai Acheh and Laksamana would yield 
some timber but it is hardly necessary to make an exception in their case. 
The workable forests are the unreserved areas in the Dindings the revenue on 
timber from which amounts to $9,000 a year, and is capable of further development. 
In the remainder of the Settlements a few hundred dollars a year will represent the 
value of timber sold from Crown Lands. 
This revenue is at present collected, in the Settlements generally, by means of 
licences issued on payment of rates laid down in a Timber Roll (scale of royalty 
schedule) and purporting to represent 25% of the value. The different trees are 
divided into 2 or 3 classes according to their values. In the Bindings, however, a 
different system is in force. Sawyers and wood-cutters pay a monthly tax of $3 each 
and a further royalty or duty, at the rate of 15% of the value of hard woods, and 10% 
of the value of Meranti ( Shorea and Hopea sp.) is levied on the converted timber. 
It is rather remarkable that the royalty so collected is approximately the same as 
the sum received from the tax on wood-cutters and sawyers. 
I have some doubt whether the tax on wood-cutters is provided for in the Crown 
Lands Act and Rules, and it is at best an awkward way of realising the value of the 
trees. Still it must be admitted that it has the advantage of being understood by the 
people. 
The Government dues on Charcoal may continue to be realised as at present by 
a monthly charge of Si per man employed on its manufacture, with the proviso on the 
licence that no tree of the reserved kinds is felled. 
The charge for a licence under the rates fixed in the Timber Roll, which vary 
for every six inches of diameter, has the inconvenience that a person taking out a 
licence must find it difficult to state correctly the sizes of the trees he is proposing to 
cut. 
The system in Upper Burma is to issue licences to fell trees, those for reserved 
and unreserved trees being in different form and colour, on payment of a fee for each 
tree and on condition that in addition to the fee paid for the licence, royalty at certain 
rates shall be paid on arrival of the timber at a certain place and that the timber shall 
not be converted or utilized or removed from that place until the royalty has been 
paid in full. The fees for licences vary from 4 to 15 cents for unreserved trees and 
are 32 cents per tree for reserved trees. The royalties charged on timber of the 
reserved kinds vary from $6 to $16 per ton of 50 cubic feet in the log and are 
( 
