356 XXIII. LEGUMINOSAE 



area, that we can aid the regeneration of this valuable species in places where 

 there is a reasonable amount of soil by merely ploughing it up in the vicinity 

 of existing trees.' 



Mr. S. Srinivasulu Naidu^ writes of experiments in Buldana : 'In the 

 Moegaon felling series of the Amdari Reserve the experiment consisted in 

 closing the area to grazing and breaking up the soil for a radius of fifty feet 

 round a number of marked seed-bearers in a forest which had been subjected 

 to heavy grazing and in which natural regeneration was practically absent at 

 the time the experiments were started. The sample plots are situated close 

 to the Buldana-Malkapur road and the grass in the locality is cut over once 

 or twice in the year. Some of the sample plots have been specially'' kept clear 

 of heavy grass by weeding, while others have been left without treatment, 

 but in both cases the results are generally satisfactory and often excellent.' 



Mr. L. S. Osmaston '^ notes with regard to Khandesh : ' Although anjan 

 often reproduces itself well by seed naturally, still such reproduction 

 is considerably helped and better ensured by breaking up the soil under 

 a seeding tree ; on such broken up soil the seedhngs are not only more 

 numerous but better grown, more vigorous and more likely to withstand the 

 first hot weather than those on unbroken ground.' 



4. Protective shade. The value of protective shade has already been 

 indicated in connexion with the dying of seedlings through drought and the 

 beneficial effect of the protection afforded by grass in dry localities. We have, 

 however, already seen that there is a strong presumption that in certain 

 cases a growth of grass may produce adverse soil conditions sufficient to 

 counterbalance the beneficial effects of the grass, and it remains to be seen 

 if any other form of protection is likely to secure the establishment of natural 

 reproduction. As far as is known there are no records of definite experiments 

 to ascertain the effect of the protective shade of trees and bushes and how 

 this shade should be applied. There are, however, suggestions and observa- 

 tions which may be quoted. Thus, in 1903, Mr. T. B. Fry ^ suggested the open 

 condition of the forests in Bombay as one possible cause of mortality among 

 seedlings, and thought something might be gained by introducing nurses to 

 protect the young plants from the fierce heat of the sun. Mr. Witt * states : 

 ' From observations made, we are strongly of opinion that shade as a protec- 

 tion to seedlings during the first three or four years' growth, against the heat 

 and the dry winds of the hot season, is a sine qim non in the successful regenera- 

 tion of anjan forests.' And again : ^ ' The more the seedlings are exposed to 

 the direct rays of the sun and the scorching hot winds of the dry season the 

 more will they transpire, and the more moisture will they require. Con- 

 sequently, if in addition to the protecting growth of grass the seedlings also 

 have overhead cover, we might expect it to act in a similar manner. And 

 this is exactly what we have observed. Wherever the seedlings have been 

 protected by a growth of grass and overhead shade, they have survived in 

 far greater numbers than those in free and exposed positions.' 



Mr. L. S. Osmaston ^ also records the following observations : ' Bushes 



1 Working Plan for the Buldana Forest Division. 



2 Ind. Forester, xxxv (1909), p. 380. Ihicl, xxix (1903), p. 527. 



loc. cit., p. .85. 5 Iqc, cit., p. 126. Ind. Forester, xxxv (1909), p. 380. 



