358 XXIII. LEGIBIINOSAE 



of Hardwichia in localities where natural reproduction does not appear now ; 

 these crops may have come up under the shelter of previously existing trees. 

 On the other hand, it is not improbable that some of them are the result of 

 natural reproduction which appeared on land at one time under cultivation. 



Artificial reproduction. Hardwickia Imiata has been propagated 

 artificially to some extent both within and without its natural habitat, partly 

 by direct sowing and partly by transplanting, though it is generally agreed 

 that the former is the more successful. Haines says it has been extensively 

 planted in Nagpur, where it grows well on the trap hills ; also that it is best 

 sown in situ, and remains very small for the first two or three years. It has 

 been transplanted with success on the Talankheri (Seminary) hill, Nagpur, 

 after pruning the stem and root. In Saugor patch sowings have been carried 

 out with varying success ; in some cases the seedlings have attained a height 

 of 3 ft. in three years. Mr. Fernandez ^ says it bears transplanting well, and 

 recommends transplanting superfluous seedlings from patches from the third 

 year onwards, younger plants not being robust enough. This does not agree 

 with my experience at Dehra Dun, where direct sowings w^ere found to be much 

 more successful than transplanting, whether with pruned or intact stem and 

 roots. The difficulty of transplanting is corroborated by Mr. L. S. Osmaston,- 

 who writes : ' It is hopeless to try and transplant the seedling, however young 

 the seedling may be : artificial regeneration can therefore only be sviccessful 

 if sowing takes place where the tree is to be permanently. When sowing it 

 is best not to cover the seed with soil at all, or at any rate to only partially 

 cover it.' I have found it advantageous to cover the seed lightly, as this not 

 only prevents it from being blown away but also protects the radicle from the 

 attacks of birds during germination. 



The experience of Shyam Sunder Lai regarding transplanting in Indore 

 is, on the other hand, favourable. He writes as follows : ^ 



' As regards its suitability for transplanting, I can say with confidence 

 that it transplants as well as any other tree. I have transplanted several 

 hundred small seedlings to fill blanks in the forests and always with good 

 results. In the year 1908 I sent more than a dozen trees, 9 ft. in height, from 

 our forests to the Residency compound at Indore, and every one of these 

 plants is fully established, and out of the two 18-inch girth trees which I had 

 sent to Indore from a distance of 20 miles, one died, the other is perfecth^ 

 healthy. In the Rajputana-Malwa Railway Executive Engineer's compound 

 at Mhow, several hundred seedlings were transplanted six or seven years back, 

 and these are at present 10 to 12 ft. high and look quite promising.' 



In the Yerramalais working plan it is stated that broadcast sowing on 

 ploughed land as well as dibbling have been tried without success, for although 

 germination was good nearly all the seedlings were killed off by drought. 

 The system found most successful is to sow in contour trenches 6 ft. by 2 ft. 

 by 1| ft., in which the soil at the bottom has been loosened, and on mounds 

 of earth thrown up alongside. The seedlings in the trenches are shaded from 

 December or January until the following rainy season by laying sticks across 

 the trenches and covering them with a thick layer of grass weighted with stones, 



1 Ind. Forester, xxix (1903), p. 527. - Ibid, xxxv (1909), p. 380. 



3 /6/rf.,xxxvii(]9]l), ]). 64. 



