354 XXIII. LEGUMINOSAE 



reproduction has hitherto been very poor, but since lopping of Yepi trees for 

 fibre has been put a stop to and fire protection introduced natural seedlings 

 of Yepi are beginning to come up in many of the reserves.' 



On the other hand, instances may be quoted where fire and grazing have 

 not had the adverse effects which they might be expected to have. Mr. Martin's 

 report, just quoted in connexion with the effects of grass, would indicate that 

 where there is a sufficient supply of palatable grass the seedlings may escape 

 injury, and even benefit by the partial removal of the grassy covering ; without 

 further evidence of a similar nature, however, it would be unsafe to generalize 

 on the results of this particular case. The same may be said of the results 

 attained by Mr. H. L. Newman in experimental plots in East Khandesh in 

 1908, though these results, which are quoted in the Bombay Forest Report 

 for 1908-9, are interesting so far as they go. The object of these experiments 

 was to ascertain the percentage of mortality among natural seedlings in 

 thirty-one different patches. Several of these patches were accidentally burnt 

 and others were purposely burnt in the dry season following the seeding ; the 

 results showed a larger percentage of survivals in the burnt than in the unburnt 

 plots. Protection from fire and grazing may have an adverse effect under 

 certain conditions in inducing a rank growth of grass. 



3. Soil conditions. Under natural conditions the degree of soil moisture 

 necessary for the normal development of the sapling is not ordinarily attained 

 until the taproot has penetrated some distance into the subsoil, and hence 

 the annual dying back of the stem, which has already been described. It. is 

 generally agreed that the shallower the soil and the harder and more imperme- 

 able the subsoil the more difficult it is for the seedling to establish itself, the 

 progress of the taproot being slower and the period during which the plant 

 is exposed to the risks of desiccation being longer. Conversely, it might be 

 expected that anything which will tend to increase the porosity of the soil 

 or prevent desiccation will materially assist in the establishment of the seedling ; 

 and there is ample evidence to prove that this is the case. To begin with, 

 the Dehra Dun experiments described above clearly demonstrate the beneficial 

 effect of regular weeding in stimulating the development of the seedling, this 

 "stimulus being due, in the earlier stages at all events, at least as much to the 

 loosening of the soil as to the actual removal of weeds. Soil-aeration of this 

 kind is now an accepted factor in the case of plant growth, not only providing 

 a supply of air to the roots, but also furnishing an air-cushion which conserves 

 the soil-moisture and preft^ents desiccation. In the dry regions in which 

 Hardwickia binata grows it is of special importance, and there is no lack of 

 evidence to show that loosening the soil has assisted in establishing reproduc- 

 tion. Thus the abundance of natural reproduction on abandoned cultivation 

 has been commented on on more than one occasion, while there are numerous 

 instances of seedlings establishing themselves readily on hoed ground on which 

 seed has been sown. Mr. E. E. Fernandez has recorded some interesting 

 observations bearing on this subject in an article entitled The Treatment of 

 Hardwickia hinata,^ from which the following quotations, relating to the Nimar 

 district, are taken : ' Up to the reservation of Punasa . . . every attempt . . . 

 had been made to get rid of the forest and replace it by field crops, but the 



1 [lul. Forester, xxix (1903), p. 517. 



