88 TBINIDAD AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. [XIX. 1. 



FOEESTPiY. 



NOTE ON SOWING OP TEAK SEEDS IN TRINIDAD. 



By C. S. Bogees, 

 Conservator of Forests. 



Always sow Teali seeds in a spot fnlly exposed to the sun for the 

 greater part of the day. Cover with not more than one inch of earth. 

 If sown in nurseries each seed should be eight inches from any other. 



Germination may begin in two or three weeks if the soil is moist. 

 If the weather is dry and the seed beds are not watered it may be over 

 a month before germination begins, but the seeds are better in the soil 

 than stored in-doors. Germination may be hastened by placing the seeds 

 ia water for a few hours every second or third day for two weeks before 

 sowing. In the intervals they should be exposed to the weather in the 

 open. When germination begins about 25 per cent, may be expected 

 to germinate in a month and a further 15 per cent, in the next six or 

 eight weeks. Besides soaking in wa'.er no other special treatment is 

 required. Sowing in April is I'ecomm ended. 



"When the seedlings have put out two pairs of leaves besides the 

 cotyledons or seed leaves it is advisable to pot them or transplant them 

 into nurseries 15 to 13 inches apart. 



As soon as the stem of the seedlings is six inches high the seedlings 

 should be planted out, but they will suffer no injury if left until -the stem 

 is nine to twelve inches high. If put into bamboo pots, the pots should 

 be large and the seedlings should not remain long in them. In any 

 case the seedlings should be planted out during the year in which they 

 were raised. 



If Teak seeds are sown at stake where the trees are to grow three 

 seeds should be sown at each stake not less than nine inches apart so as 

 to allow of the extra seedlings being dug up for transplanting without 

 injury to the one that is to remain. It is believed that Teak raised 

 from seeds at the spot where the trees are to grow thrives better than 

 when seedlings from nurseries are planted out, on account of absence of 

 injury to the roots dui-ing transplanting. 



A well drained soil is essential to the successful growth o Teak. 



March 25, 1920. 



