were from 4 to 8 inches in height and ready to be planted out. The site for planting was felled during the previous cold weather, all useless material burnt and the planting pits prepared to be ready for the planting operations of June. Almost from the start of the work one hundred acres were planted annually.

In a Minute by the Marquis of Tweeddale, Governor of Madras, 8th December, 1846, the progress of the plantation work is noted upon. Lord Tweeddale visited the plantations, and his remarks on the subject of the necessity of having an expert Forester in charge who could "impart his knowledge to the natives there is on their part no want of inclination to learn, on the contrary, there is every inclination and great aptitude, on the varied knowledge required in forming plantations, such as the suitable selection of soils, proper sowing and transplanting and subsequent thinning work, show him to have been no mean Forester himself. His Minute is therefore of all the more interest at a period when the officials in the country were so woefully ignorant in forestry matters.

At the time of his visit Lord Tweeddale found one, two, three and four-year-old plantations in existence, and was greatly struck with the efficiency of the work carried out. In assuring the Court (in the Minute) of this, he added, "I have had much experience in plantations and woods on my own account at home, as well as in those of other proprietors, but I never saw a better commencement than in the Government Teak Plantations of Malabar." In discussing pruning and thinning in the plantations, Lord Tweeddale remarked that great practical experience would be required to undertake this work. The plants generally averaged 20 feet high in the four-year-old plantations. This rapid growth, combined with the great weight of the large leaves on the stem of the last year's growth, would, he feared, result in serious breakage under sudden storms of wind unless means of checking the rapidity of the growth were devised, and he prescribed early cleanings and thinnings. The whole Minute is, in fact, a treatise on sylviculture, and in it Lord Tweeddale strongly urges that a competent expert Forester should be obtained from home to assist Conolly in the great work he had initiated. The Minute ends, "If my recommendations should be complied with nearly all difficulties would be overcome on this head, and this most valuable produce of Malabar, so abundant a source of wealth and so important to the State, would probably be

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raised to an extent and brought to a perfection hitherto unknown. . . . I cannot too strongly express my opinion of the great importance I attach to fostering the plans and supporting the exertions of Mr. Conolly." The fact of having as Governor a man who, through practical experience gained on his own estates, had an acquaintance with sylviculture was of great assistance to the work Conolly was engaged upon, but it did not secure the trained forestry expert he craved for. He was left with his native assistant to work out his own salvation, and he obtained a brilliant success.

In a preceding paragraph the introduction of a new tariff for teak timber has been alluded to. Conolly had prepared a schedule on this subject. Whilst drafting this he pointed out that the Court of Directors had desired the scale of duties to be fixed, "only according to the length of the logs without reference to their breadth, which would be a mistake of the most vital importance." He quoted Williams, the timber agent, in support of the opinion. The latter had pointed out that the teak tree attains two-thirds of its extreme length before the bole acquires any considerable thickness. The object was to stop the felling of immature teak. The small teak wood sold under the denomination khial or kyle was generally 25 and 30 feet long with a diameter of about 6 inches, whereas of the entire quantity of full-grown timber brought to Calicut not an eighth part would average 25 feet in length. Trees that are half-grown, said Williams, will produce longer timber than full-grown ones, because the branches are sound and can be cut off clean and so allow of the branchy portions of the bole being taken into the timber lengths. In a full-grown tree the lower branches are hollow and the hollow runs into the bole of the trees, consequently the height of the bole is only that portion contained between the root and the part where the branches commence. Though timber of 35 and 40 feet in length (full grown) is sometimes produced it is but seldom, and not in greater proportion than I in 500 timbers of 25 feet and under. Again, many long and large timbers grow in inaccessible places, from which they can only be transported after being cut into short lengths. These timbers he procured for, and were best suited to, the gun-carriage factories, where length was no consideration and only great girth was required. The imposition of a heavy duty on such timber merely because it was short would be detrimental to the interests of Government.

The Board of Revenue in their reply, considering that a tariff framed on the letter of the instructions of the Court would defeat the object aimed at, expressed their opinion that the spirit of the Court's order would be best complied with by the preparation of a Schedule in which the rate of duty should vary inversely with the breadth of the timber intended for export. By this measure the duty would fall most heavily on the timber of least girth, and the practice of felling young trees and saplings would thereby be most effectually checked. In the annexed Schedule this intention is borne out by the fact that in this revised tariff the duty falls most heavily on logs, beams, planks, etc., of the least girth and width. The proposed change was only in the tariff valuation, the small timber being valued at a much higher rate per candy or kol than that of larger girth. The duty remained as before at 5 per cent inland and 3 per cent on sea export, or 8 per cent, with a credit of 5 per cent for duty previously paid inland. This tariff was prepared in consultation with Blair and Williams, and received the approval of the Nilumbur Rajah and the Zamorin Rajah. The Schedule is of some interest, as it shows the prices in force at the time, and is accordingly reproduced here (p. 100).

In April, 1844, the Government of Madras forwarded to the Government of India a voluminous correspondence on the teak forests. Part of this related to the Nilumbur teak plantation experiments already alluded to. The remainder gives information on the several points adverted to in the Despatches of the Court of Directors of the 30th November, 1842, and 19th July, 1843. This part of the correspondence contained reports dated respectively 3rd July and 30th November, 1843, from Blair, principal Collector of Canara, and Conolly, Malabar. The subjects dealt with in these reports indicate the progress which had been made in the recognition of the value of the teak forests and the necessity of conserving at least a sufficient area to provide the supplies required for Government needs. They also give evidence that the necessity of instituting a continuity of management and undertaking sylvicultural operations with a view to improving the forests both in Government-owned areas and in those leased from private owners had been grasped. The next ten years were to see these ideas become more widespread amongst officials. But progress was slow.