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in the United Provinces in the Hamirpur district and elsewhere also give good 

 promise of success, though they are somewhat costly. 



Experimental sowings at Dehra Dun. In numerous experimental sowings 

 carried out at Dehra Dun it was found that both irrigated and unirrigated line 

 sowings on loosened soil succeeded well, provided the lines were kept thoroughly 

 weeded and the soil was worked up periodically along the lines. Wherever 

 weeds were allowed to get the upper hand the babul was killed out by the 

 middle of the second season. In the irrigated line sowings the seed was sown 

 along the base of the ridge of earth thrown up alongside an irrigation channel 

 1 ft. wide and 9 in. deep. Unirrigated line sowings along with field crops 

 were found to give excellent results where the seed was sown along a loosened 

 strip 2 ft. wide kept clear of crops, the crops being sown in the intervening 

 spaces. Where the crops were sown continuously over the area the young 

 babul plants were suppressed and killed out. Thorough weeding and periodical 

 loosening of the soil along the lines were found to be necessary for satisfactory 

 development. One pound of seed was found sufficient for 270 ft. length of 

 line. The field crop employed was the lesser millet or manclwa {Eleusine 

 coracana, Gaertn.), which was sown early in June and reaped in October. 



Berar : agri-silvicultural sowings. The sowing of babul in conjunction 

 with the raising of field crops has been carried out systematically in Berar 

 for several years past, and has proved much more successful and economical 

 than any other form of artificial reproduction ; efforts are therefore constantly 

 being made to extend this method of reproduction and popularize it among 

 cultivators. 



Under the Berar system the coupe of the year is auctioned, the purchaser 

 being required to grub up the stumps after felling the trees, and to cultivate 

 the land with field crops under a lease. Cultivation with field crops alone is 

 carried out for two successive years, and in the third year babul seed is sown 

 in lines with cotton as the intervening field crop. The two years' preliminary 

 cultivation is considered necessary (1) to enable the lessee to recoup the cost 

 of digging out the roots of the felled trees, (2) to ensure the thorough cleaning 

 and aeration of the ground, and (3) to remove all traces of the fungus Fomes 

 Pappianus in the soil. The babul seed employed is that which has been 

 swallowed and ejected by goats ; it is collected free of charge by the lessee. 

 In the earlier sowings the lines of babul were sown 6 or 7 ft. apart, with three 

 or four intervening lines of cotton ; this distance between lines was found to 

 be too close to admit of the light grazing necessary to keep down the growth 

 of grass after the removal of the field crops, and the distance now commonly 

 adopted is 12 ft. 



The lessee is required to weed the lines of babul thoroughly and to exclude 

 goats from the area after the babul seed is sown. Provided he abides by the 

 conditions of his agreement the lessee is allowed to retain possession of the 

 area, free of assessment, until January of the year following the sowing of the 

 babul, and is then rewarded at the rate of lis . 2 per acre fully stocked with 

 babul, suitable deductions being made for failures. The area is then taken 

 over by the Forest Department and at once opened to light grazing of cows 

 and buUocks one animal per two acres during the rainy season, in order 

 to keep down the growth of grass and weeds. In places where growth is slow 



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