MEN OF THE TREES 



but constant supervision is necessary to prevent the 

 squatters from "jembying" them up when they clear 

 the shambas.^ 



Regeneration by planting seedlings is the most eco- 

 nomical way of securing a stock of trees on the land. 

 Under the conditions which frequently prevail on cut- 

 over land there is very little chance for natural or arti- 

 ficial regeneration of desirable kinds by seed, owing to 

 the fact that all the seed producing trees were cut out 

 when the land was logged, or have since been destroyed 

 by fire and the ground covered by a growth of brush- 

 wood and inferior trees. 



With the employment of squatters such planting can 

 be done at a minimum cost of about two dollars per 

 acre. It is not too much to expect that a gang of ten 

 trained natives will plant five thousand seedlings in a 

 day of ten hours. 



There are few useful timber trees that can be grown 

 in general practice from cuttings. There are some, how- 

 ever, that can be raised by this means when seed is not 

 available. 



In order to get the best growth by means of regener- 

 ation by sprouts and suckers, the trees should be cut 

 close to the ground and the stumps left highest in the 

 centre, so that they will tend to shed water and not rot. 



Thinning is the most important part of the forester's 

 art in securing good timber and in reproducing the 

 forest. Trees must be crowded in their early stages, so 



^ Shambas — farms. 



244 



