Silvicultural Practice. 403 



ienced, deteriorating the composition, except in the 

 case of the gregarious Sal tree (Shorea robusta), the 

 treatment of which for reproduction has, after many 

 failures, been well established. Other gregarious 

 species also can be satisfactorily reproduced. The 

 culled and burned-over forests, of which, there are 

 many, are re-habilitated in a manner by merely 

 removing the old overmature and defective timber, 

 with comparative success. 



In some parts, the large gregarious bamboos are a 

 serious obstacle to reproduction. Here, the only 

 chance for reproduction exists when they flower and 

 die. Killing the bamboos by cutting the annual 

 shoots proved a failure, but burning over the whole 

 area and sowing seems to be followed by success. 



In other parts, as in the large Teak forests of Burma, 

 as well as of other provinces, the useless kinds of trees 

 are girdled, huge climbers are cut off, and a steady war 

 is waged against all species detrimental to teak regen- 

 eration with satisfactory results. With Teak, even 

 planting on a larger scale is resorted to, especially by 

 means of taungyas, i.e. plantations, where the native 

 is allowed to burn down a piece of woods, use it for 

 a few years as field (though it is never really cleared) 

 on condition of planting it with teak, being paid a 

 certain sum for every hundred trees found in a thrifty 

 condition at the time of giving up his land. Similarly, 

 the department has expended large sums in attempt- 

 ing to establish forests in parts of the arid region of 

 Beluchistan, and, on the whole, during 1894-95 about 

 $150,000 were expended on cultural operations, 

 which up to that time involved about 76,000 acres of 



14 



