14 



MANAGEMENT OF TEAK FORESTS. 



Never cut into 



Pruning not to be that by pruning early, he not only saved himself much trouble 

 but the trees never felt it. Ifc is a fatal thing to delay 

 pruning, it cannot be taken in hand too soon after the first 

 thinning. A fine straight stem of forty feet having been 

 secured, but little pruning after that is required. 



It is understood that in pruning to cut back a large 

 branch into the stem of the tree is fatal, as rot surely takes 

 place, and a severe wound in the stem is the consequence, 

 should a large branch, say, over three inches in diameter, 

 require amputating, it is better to shorten it at a distance of 

 two or three feet from the stem rather than cut it off close 

 to the tree. It is sometimes necessary to cut a branch clean 

 off, in such a case assuming the tree to be a valuable one, 

 Dressing wounds, it is advisable to dress the surface of the wound with a 

 mixture of clay and cow-dung, but such a plan could not be 

 adopted in large plantations, and is only brought forward 

 here as an extreme case. 



It may sometimes happen that the leader is losfc early, 

 in which case two leaders appear, one must be shortened to 

 two feet. We must now assume that the planting of the 

 forest, both by germinated seed and by young plants, is 

 progressing favorably, that fire-paths have been cut and 

 cattle carefully kept out, a fence is of but little use against 

 elephants and bison, as a rule, they do not do much damage, 

 but sambur and spotted deer are in the habit, when the trees 



Enemies of young are young, of barking them severely, shooting them is the 

 only cure. All these matters having been arranged, we now 



Time for felling, proceed to the felling operations. These must only be car- 

 ried on during the wane of the moon for seven days in the 

 last quarter, and in the months of November, December, 

 January :uid February, as in those months the sap is down, 

 and if the timber is cut at the wane of the moon, it seasons 

 readily; the timber can be squared during the rest of the 

 month. As fast as the timber is squared, it should be dr:ig- 

 .L r cil to :i Depot, close to the nmin road and stacked. Tho 

 Depot to be carefully fire- traced, even this will not always 

 avail, for on one occasion over 20,000 Rupees of timber 



Working the 



Fences no use 



Dep&ts. 



