520 LXXVI. CONIFERS. [Cedr 







During the first 3-4 years of its life Deodar grows slowly, attaining 12-20 in. 

 in height, with spreading roots, which do not go deep down. In this shrubby 

 and stunted state the young plant can maintain its existence under the shade of 

 other trees for a considerable number of years without making much progress, 

 but when light overhead is given, then a leader is at once formed, which 

 shoots up rapidly. At a more advanced age the rate of growth of the Deodar 

 is determined without difficulty by counting the annual rings : they are well- 

 marked, and as vegetation rests completely in winter at the elevation where the 

 tree grows, there is no reason to doubt that each concentric ring indicates one 

 year's growth, in the same manner as is the case in the coniferous trees of Europe. 

 It has been asserted that the Wellingtonia gigantea, and several other conifer- 

 ous trees, form two rings a year. There is no ground to suppose that this is the 

 case in the Deodar or in any of the other Himalayan Conifers ; and we have 

 from the commencement employed the same methods for ascertaining the funda- 

 mental facts upon which the plan for working these forests must be based, which 

 are used for regulating the management of coniferous forests in France and Ger- 

 many. The data available show clearly that the rate of growth of the Deodar 

 is much influenced by the greater or less moisture of the climate. Thus, 

 in the forests at the head-waters of the Bhagirati river, in a dry climate, the 

 tree requires upwards of 200 years to attain a girth of 6 ft. ; whereas in the 

 Jaunsar forests, in the outer hills, with a heavy rainfall, 70 years suffice to 

 attain this size. The present estimate is, that in the upper Bhagirati forests it 

 takes a Deodar on an average 86 years to increase in girth from 4 ft. 6 in. to 6 

 ft., and that in Jaunsar this is accomplished in 23 years. In the upper Kuna- 

 war forests, in a dry climate, where vineyards occupy the lower slopes of the 

 valley, and where Pinus Gerardiana and Quercus Ilex are associated with the 

 Deodar, the age of a tree 6 ft. in girth is 140 years or more ; while in the outer 

 hills, in the vicinity of Simla, with an annual rainfall of 50-80 in., it is usual 

 to find that trees 70-100 years old have attained that size. Again, the Deodar 

 timber floated down the Cabul and Swat rivers to Peshawar, which is pro- 

 duced in the comparatively dry climate of Afghanistan, shows a slow rate of 

 growth logs from the Cabul river having at the butt end, for a girth of 6 ft., 

 on an average 214, and timber from the Swat river 156 rings. In the case of 

 the Cabul timber the lower temperature has, probably in addition to the dry 

 climate, a considerable influence in retarding the rate of growth. Besides 

 climate, there are other elements which influence the rate of growth of Deodar, 

 as well as of other trees in mountainous countries. Foremost stands elevation, 

 in the second place the greater or less steepness of the slope, and the nature of 

 the soil. Again, trees which have grown up in a crowded state lay on wood 

 more slowly, and have necessarily narrower rings, than trees which have stood 

 more isolated and bear a fuller head of branches. Of these elements several are 

 often found combined, and it is not therefore in all cases easy to determine the 

 influence of each separately. The rate of growth of Deodar in the Bussahir and 

 neighbouring forests was studied with special care in autumn 1864, with the 

 view of determining the data which should form the basis of a preliminary plan 

 for working these forests, and the results are recorded in the official Keport 

 already quoted. Additional data have since been collected in other forest dis- 

 tricts. At page 9 of that Keport an abstract statement is given, exhibiting the 

 results of the examination in detail of the annual rings near the base of 380 

 trees, classified in three great divisions forests with slow, average, and rapid 

 rate of growth. As explained before, the forest tracts classed under the first 

 division (age of trees 6 ft. in girth above 140 years) are mostly situated in a dry 

 climate in the vicinity of the arid zone of the inner Himalaya ; those classed 

 under the third division (age of trees 6 ft. girth below 110 years) are mostly in 

 the outer ranges under the full influence of the monsoon ; and those with an 



