EUCALYPTUS 565 



lying dormant or falling subsequent to the fire, wherever there is sufficient 

 light for their development. 



Artificial reproduction. The artificial raising of eucalypts requires 

 a considerable amount of care : the seeds are small and are easily washed 

 away by rain, while the young seedlings of many species are sensitive to 

 drought or frost and for some little time after germination are very liable 

 to damp off with excessive moisture. 



Direct sowings are less commonly employed than transplanting, but 

 E. crehra was sown with success at Dehra Dun on alluvial ground in lines 

 with the aid of field crops, a cleared strip 3 ft. wide in which the eucalypts 

 were sown being left imsown with the field crop ; two lines of eucalypts 1| ft. 

 apart were sown, with a line of sal between them, the object of the former 

 being to act as a protection to the sal against frost and drought. The field 

 crop employed was the lesser millet or mandwa (Eleusine coracana), which 

 was sown in June and reaped in October, and the eucalyptus was sown in 

 August, 1| oz. of seed being used for sowing the double line 74 ft. long. The 

 eucalypt seedlings died off in quantity in the first dry season, but a sufficient 

 number survived to produce thickly stocked lines, the dominant plants reaching 

 a height of 5-6 ft. in eighteen months ; they were then much in need of 

 thinning out, and their subsequent development was poor owing to their 

 congested state. This experiment is not conclusive, but this method of sowing 

 is worth further trial where seed is plentiful. Experimental broadcast sowings 

 have been carried out since 1909 in small patches in the Simla hills, and the 

 results have been noted on pp. 560 and 561 ; more recently sowings on a larger 

 scale have been tried, but the results have not proved successful. 



Nursery treatment. The methods of raising eucalypt seedlings in the 

 nursery vary considerably, and local experience alone can decide which method 

 to adopt in any particular case. Experience has shown that the best time 

 for sowing the seed in most parts of India, both in the hills and on the plains, 

 is early spring, about February-March or even as early as January in the 

 hills ; this enables the seedlings to reach a size large enough for planting out 

 at the beginning of the rainy season. The cheapest method of raising seedlings 

 is to rear them in seed-beds, which should be well raised and should consist 

 of a mixture of fine leaf-mould and sand. The surface having been well 

 smoothed and moderately, not excessively, watered, the seed is sown broadcast 

 on the surface and lightly covered with a layer of fine earth. The seed-beds 

 should be kept moist with a fine spray until germination begins : from the 

 commencement the beds should be protected by a covering, raised about 

 12 in. above them, of thatch or other material impervious enough to prevent 

 rain from dripping through, these screens being removed in dull cloudy weather 

 and replaced to protect the beds and seedlings from sun, frost, or heavy rain. 

 The seedlings require a fair amount of water, but excess of moisture causes 

 damping ofif. The beds should never be flooded ; watering should be done 

 frequently but sparingly with a fine spray. 



Flat boxes about 4 or 5 in. deep are in many ways preferable to seed-beds, 

 and for new species as yet untried or of which only a limited quantity of seed 

 is available they should certainly be adopted. The bottoms of the boxes 

 should have a number of small holes bored in them for drainage purposes, 



