Jote I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



999 



and are, moreover, extremely uncertain and irregidar. 

 On the eastern coast of the peninsula the summer raina 

 are shght, the principal fall coming with north-easterly 

 winds in Oitobei- and November. But in the greater part 

 of India the dry season last« from November to May, 

 the rains commencing between May and July, and ending 

 between August and October. In the moister districts 

 the rains commence early and last longer, while in the dry 

 belts there is rain only during two or tlu'ec months of 

 the year ; and in the arid region the rainfall is altogether 

 uncertain. 



The temperature dm'ing this long dry season is cooler 

 at first and warmer afterwards. The mean temperatm'e 

 of the three months, December, January, and February, 

 generally termed the cool .season, ranges between CO ° in 

 the Punjab, ami 79' in the .south of the Peninsula. 

 During these months dew is formed more or less, regularly, 

 and contributes much to the maintenance of vegetation 

 particularly in the dry and arid zones. Radiation is so 

 powerful during this season that frost is not of uncommon 

 occurrence in the plains and lower hills of Northern and 

 a part of Central India, These night frosts have interfered 

 much with the satisfactory progress of the plantations in 

 the Punjab, and as far south as Sukkur on the Indus, in 

 latitude 27 ° 3(1 ', and the Satpura range in the Central 

 Provinces, in latitude 23 ° , frost is a serious difficulty in 

 arboriculture. As far south as Calcutta, ice can be made 

 on carefully prepared beds covered with straw, shortly 

 before sunrise on a still, clear morning. The mean temp- 

 eratm-e of the three months which follow, which are 

 generally called the hot season, is 75 ° in the Punjab, 

 85 ° along the coastline, and 90 ° in the interior of the 

 Peninsula, and this dry heat, with the hot scorching winds 

 which blow over a great part of India during tliese 

 months, makes this season extremely trying to vegetation. 



With the exception of the extensive evergreen forests of 

 the Himalaya, and the limited tracts of evergeen forests in 

 the plains and lower hills of the humid regions, the great 

 mass of forests in India are deciduous, and they are bare and 

 leatless during the hot season. Dm-ing this time of the 

 year, the sojourn in the Indian forests is not pleasant. 

 No shade, no protection against the fierce rays of the sun, 

 great scarcity of water in many parts, and a tent or hut 

 with a temperatiu-e in its coolest part of 102 ° , — these are 

 conilitions of existence whi".h are not not easily forgotten. 

 Diciduous, however, as applied to trees, is a relative 

 term. The only difference is, that an evergreen tree re- 

 tains its leaves longer than one which is called deciduous. 

 Thus the spruce and silver-fir retain their needles from 

 seven to eleven years, the Spanish Finns pinsapo and the 

 Ai-aucaria retain them even longer, hence the full foliage 

 and the dense shade of these trees. On the other hand, 

 the needles of the C'orsican and Austrian fir, ( Pimis laricio) 

 remain three to four years; and the Scotch fir, with 

 lighter foliage, has needles of two or three years only on its 

 branches. The sill tree (S'horea rohu.ttn), one of the most 

 important timber trees of India, with strong, hard, heavy 

 wood, which forms extensive forests along the foot of 

 the Himalaya and m the eastern part of Central India, 

 retains its "leaves nearly twelve months; the old leaves fall 

 gradually, and the fohagegets thinner and thinner, and until 

 tbeuewHush of leaves breaks out in March or early in April, 

 So that although a siil forest is hot during that time of the 

 year, and there is not much shade, yet the tree is never com- 

 pletely bart'. The teak tree, on the other hand, which may 

 be called the king of Indian timber ti-ees, on account of 

 its useful, durable, strong, and yet not very heavy wood, 

 sheds its leaves as early as January, and is leafless for four 

 or five months, though this again depends upon the supply 

 of moisture, for in low humid places the tree often con- 

 tinues green throughout February, Fortunately for forester.s' 

 in the hot dry provinces of India, there are to be found 

 in most dry deciduous forests one or two kinds which 

 break out in leaf sooner than the others, and 1 have 

 spent many an hour during the heat of the day under 

 the grateful shade of what we call the forester's friend 

 (Schhichera) trijnga). a tree remarkable for its extremely 

 heavy wood, the cubic foot weighing, when perfectly dry, 

 over 70 lb., or nearly three times the weight of common 

 deal. 



Writing of forest fires, Dr, Brandis traces to their effects 

 which are also most marked in Australia, the general 



hoUowness of trees: — The damage, however, done by them 

 defies calculation. MiUions of seeds and seedings are 

 destroyed, trees of all ages are injured, and often killed, 

 the bark is scorched and burned, the wood exposed to 

 the air, dry rot sets in, and the tree gets hollow and 

 useless for timber. One of the most remarkable facts in 

 the working of the Imlian forests ui the plains and lower 

 hills has been the large proportion of hollow and unsound 

 trees. , In many forests one-half, in others three-foiu"ths of 

 the mature trees are hollow. To a certain extent this is 

 due to the old age of the timber felled; but experience 

 elsewhere proves that old age can only account for a 

 small proportion of the holkjw and unsound trees. The 

 annual jungle-fires are the ]jrincipal cause of this mischief. 

 In this respect all deciduous forests in India suffer alike. 

 AVith regard to reproiluction, that this, the growth of 

 seedlings, some trees are better off in this respect than others. 

 Thus the sal tree ripens its setrd about the connneneemeut of 

 theraius, after the jungle-fireshave passed through the forest. 

 The yoimg plants thus germinate at once in great abmid- 

 auce. The jungle-fires of the coming season kill a good many 

 and cause a large proportion of the others to grow hollow ; 

 but in the dense mass of seeiUings which clothes the ground 

 under the the parent trees in a sal forest, the damage done 

 is comparatively small. This, to a certain extent, explains 

 how the sal forests are nearly pure, the stronger tree in the 

 matter of ! eproduction predominating over all the rest. The 

 teak, on the other hand, ripens its seed early in the dry 

 season, the jungle-fires consume large quantities of it; a 

 smaller proportion of seedlings spring up, and these are 

 either killed or cut down to the root year after year by the 

 fires. Meanwhile, the root stock increases in .size every year 

 by the action of the shoots, which come up during the rains, 

 and at last, often after the lapse of many years, it produces 

 a shoot strong enough to outlive the fires. Thus what ap- 

 pears a seedling plant of teak is in most cases really a 

 coppice shoot from a thick gnarled root-stock, bearing the 

 scars of successive generations of shoots, which were burned 

 down by the annual fires. 



From what has been said, it will be understood'that in the 

 plains and lower hills of India the annual repose of arbores- 

 cent vegetation is not caused by the cold of winter, 

 but mainly by the drought of the hot season. Shortly 

 before the rams set in, or with the early showers which 

 precede the monsoon, most trees clothe themselves with 

 fresh green, and in the arid region, where the periodical 

 summer rains are wanting, the summer floods of the river 

 revive the forest gi-owth on its banks after the long 

 drought of the dry season. In those parts of India which 

 have a heavy monsoon, the temperatiure is generally some- 

 what lower during the summer months, June, .Tuly, and 

 August, than during the preceding hot season. Thus it is 

 that on the western coast of the peninsula the mean 

 temperature of the hot season is 85 ° , and that of the 

 three succeedmg months, when the sky is overcast with 

 clouds, and the force of the sun's rays is rarely felt, is only 

 between 80 ° and .'<2 ' . On the Burma coast also, in Akyab, 

 Rangoon, and Moulmein, the mean temperature of the 

 monsoon months is somewhat lower than that of the pre- 

 ceding hot season. The relief from the inces.sant powerful 

 action of the sun's rays, brought about by the storms 

 of the mon.soon, and the cloudj- and rainy weather which 

 follows, is delightful. It is not the vegetation only which 

 revives; the whole animated natiu-e feels the plea.sant change. 

 This relief is denied to the arid region. Here, in the 

 north-west corner of India, the temperature continues to 

 rise higlier with the sun. and the result is, that in June, July, 

 anil August, the highest mean temperature is found in the 

 arid zone of India. Thus Jlultan has a mean temperature 

 of 77 ^ during what is termed the hot season in other parts 

 of India, and of 92® during .Tune, .Tulv, and August; and 

 at Jacobabad, in Sindh. the mean temperature during these 

 months is as high as 96 ' . Where, however, sufficient water 

 is sui)plied by irrigation, these high temperatm-es stimulate 

 vegetation in a remarkable manner. The station of .I.icob- 

 abiwl is a striking example of the effect of water supply in 

 that c'iuiate. It wa.s founded in 1814 by General .Jacob, in 

 the midst of a barren, treeless desert. A canal was led to 

 it from the Indus, and now the pl.nin is a dense forest of 

 babul and other trees, upwartls of fli feet high, sheltering 

 the houses and gardens of the inhabitants. A ride of a few 

 miles takes you mU* the desert which sku-ts the hills oe 



