appreciate the wise foresight of the missionary-scholar, who, having
first made his own park a model of forest teaching, wrote such words
as these early in the century:--"The cultivation of timber has
hitherto, I believe, been wholly neglected. Several sorts have been
planted...all over Bengal, and would soon furnish a very large share
of the timber used in the country. The sissoo, the Andaman redwood,
the teak, the mahogany, the satin-wood, the chikrasi, the toona, and
the sirisha should be principally chosen. The planting of these
trees single, at the distance of a furlong from each other, would do
no injury to the crops of corn, but would, by cooling the
atmosphere, rather be advantageous. In many places spots now
unproductive would be improved by clumps or small plantations of
timber, under which ginger and turmeric might be cultivated to great
advantage. In some situations saul...would prosper. Indeed the
improvements that might be made in this country by the planting of
timber can scarcely be calculated. Teak is at present brought from
the Burman dominions...The French naturalists have already begun to
turn their attention to the culture of this valuable tree as an
object of national utility. This will be found impracticable in
France, but may perhaps be attempted somewhere else. To England,
the first commercial country in the world, its importance must be
obvious."

Ten years passed, Carey continued to watch and to extend his
agri-horticultural experiments in his own garden, and to correspond
with botanists in all parts of the world, but still nothing was done
publicly in India. At last, on 15th April 1820, when "the
advantages arising from a number of persons uniting themselves as a
Society for the purpose of carrying forward any undertaking" were
generally acknowledged, the shoemaker and preacher who had a