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3. To raise, under certain circumstances, trees of valuable kinds from seed. Before this is undertaken, due consideration should be given as to the conditions necessary for insuring success. Good drainage is absolutely necessary. It would be useless to plant in swampy ground. There must be a good supply of water, at a convenient distance. The ground selected for a plantation should be cleared without burning, so that every particle of vegetable matter may be available for the nourishment of the young trees to be put in. Seeds should be sown as soon as possible after being gathered, and should by no means be dried previously in the sun. Many kinds of seeds are spoilt for germinating after they have become partially dry, the large fleshy or oily seeds especially. Seeds not perfectly ripe should never be sown, as such invariably produce weakly plants, if they come up at all. In a dry climate it will be necessary to raise seeds either in pots or boxes, or in very carefully prepared beds, sheltered from the sun. The earth in which the seeds are sown should be kept always moist, though not too wet, and particular care should be taken that the necessary watering is not omitted after the seeds have begun to germinate. Seeds, when sown, should not be put in too deep, and the covering layer of soil should be mixed with a large proportion of sand. The seeds of ebony, tamarind, and na (Mesua ferred) may be sown in beds, but it would be best to raise the seeds of satin wood, mahogany, mililla ( Vitex altissima), halmalilla (Berry a ammonilla) , paloo (Mimusops indica), and tammanna (Mischodon zeylanicus) in pots or boxes. In a moist climate, such seeds as those of jack (Artocarpus integrifolia) and del (Artocarpus nobilis) may be sown in the places the plants are to permanently occupy, but the seeds of champac (Michelia champaca), calamander (Diospyros qutesita), and some others of the ebony tribe, and of the nadoon (Pericopsis mooniana) , &c., had better be raised in beds. Of the teak (Tectona grandis), a most valuable timber tree, and to the planting of which it is desired that particular attention be given, the seeds do not come up freely, and should be immersed in warm water for twenty-four hours before they are sown, and the beds into which they are put should be well littered with decaying leaves. Transferring the various kinds of young plants from the seed-beds to the nurseries, and from these latter to where they are to be planted out, requires most careful manipulation, so that no injury may be done to the tender roots. It must not be supposed that seedling tree plants in general will bear without injury the treatment that young coffee plants can bear when being transplanted. When the seedlings are an inch or so in height they should be moved into the nurseries and planted in rows, each seedling at a sufficient distance from its neighbours to allow of its being taken up, when sufficiently large for planting out, with a good ball of earth about its roots, and without disturbance to the roots of the contiguous plants. If bamboo stems can be procured of sufficient size for making into pots for the young seedlings, these latter should be transferred from the seed beds into such pots, in which they might remain until large enough to be planted out. Bamboo pots are made by cutting the bamboo stem across under each of its nodes or knots; the partition or diaphragm at the node forms the bottom of the pot, and an aperture has to be made in it to allow superabundant moisture to escape when the plant is watered. In transferring the young plant to the plantation from the bamboo pot, the latter must be split down on opposite sides into two halves, one of which can be carefully lifted oft', and then the other; and the plant can then be put into the hole prepared for its reception, taking care it is a little raised above the level of the soil to allow for sinking, since a depression in the ground about a young plant is particularly to be avoided, as causing a settlement of water in wet weather. In dry weather regular watering would be necessary until the roots of the young plants had reached a depth where there should be a sufficient constant supply of moisture for their requirements. The plantation of young trees should be kept well littered with dead leaves, cut grass, or branches of otherwise useless trees or shrubs (lantana, &c.) Certain soft-wooded, rapidlygrowing trees should be planted as nurses for the more valuable plants, to protect them from too much sun. The branches of these soft-wooded trees could be lopped at stated times, and used for littering the soil, with great advantage to the valuable young trees, as furnishing them with a good manure. By order of the Governor, Arthur N. Birch, Colonial Secretary's Office, Colombo, Colonial Secretary 29th July, 1873. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary to the Government Agent, Central Province. (No. 300.) Sir,— Colombo, 3rd July, 1873. I am directed by the Governor to acquaint you that the complete denudation of the

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Ceylon.