524 XXVII. COMBRETACEAE 



itself in soil in which sal fails to survive for want of sufificient permanent 

 moisture. On the other hand, a copious rainfall in the year of seeding appears 

 to favour natural reproduction : thus in the Dehra Dun forests in 1910, 

 following a season of abundant rainfall, young seedlings were found in great 

 abundance in the ensuing cold weather. 



In connexion with soil moisture it may be mentioned that seedlings of 

 Terminalia tomentosa, like those of sal, have been observed to die back in 

 dry localities, forming long thick taproots which enable the young plants 

 eventually to establish themselves. 



Excessive grazing is a serious menace to natural reproduction. Allusion 

 has already been made under ' silvicultural characters ' to a bushy growth 

 resulting from excessive grazing in the Bhandara district, Central Provinces. 

 In the Gonda district of the United Provinces, where excessive grazing has 

 resulted in a dense undergrowth of Carissa spinarum with little or no repro- 

 duction of tree species, the plan was adopted a few years ago of cutting the 

 Carissa and with the cut plants forming a thorny fence round coupes recently 

 feUed, in order to keep out cattle : the exclusion of grazing combined with 

 the admission of light resulted in abundant reproduction of Terminalia tomen- 

 tosa, and provided weed-growth is kept within bounds its establishment is 

 assured. 



In the drier types of forest, fire is undoubtedly injurious to natural 

 reproduction, but in moist types, such as those of Kanara and Malabar, 

 fire-protection tends to oust this and other deciduous species and to replace 

 them by shade-bearing evergreens. Mr. F. A. Leete,^ writing in 1900 of the 

 results of fire-protection in the sal forests of Kheri and Bahraich in Oudh, 

 observed that fire-protection had not favoured Terminalia tomentosa repro- 

 duction, but the reverse, and that although saplings which originated before 

 the days of fire-protection were plentiful, seedling reproduction had come to 

 a standstill. Mr. (now Sir Sainthill) Eardley-Wilmot,^ referring to these 

 observations, noted that the forests in question had passed through three 

 stages, namely : 



' First stage. The forest annually burnt, impossible for seed to germinate 

 save in those localities which escaped fires ; in consequence the tree represented 

 in perfection in low-lying areas and along the drainage lines and banks of lakes. 



' Second stage. The forests protected from fire, the above restriction 

 removed and immediate spread of the species over the ruined sal forest. 



' Third stage. Continued protection, recovery of vitality in the sal forest, 

 renewed suitability of the soil for sal reproduction, intolerance and defeat of 

 other species by the triumphant sal forest.' 



The observation on the third stage undoubtedly bears out the results of 

 the preliminary experiments in respect of the light requirements of the young 

 plant and its inability to compete with more vigorous vegetation, in this case 

 sal. The explanation of the paucity of Terminalia reproduction in tliis case 

 is no doubt the correct one, namely, that whereas reproduction is favoured 

 by fire-protection, it is prevented by continuous protection, which favours the 

 sal to a greater extent. In such a case the reproduction of Terminalia must 

 be looked for only in places unsuitable for the sal, and this is in fact the case, 

 ^ Ind. Forester, xxvi (1900), p. 239. 2 7^,7/., p. 377 



