716 



XLVI. VERBENACEAE 



attacked by it have been systematically lopped, and it has thus been kept 



in check. 



Teak coppices and pollards vigorously, and sometimes retains the power 

 of coppicing to a considerable size. Mr. Foulkes ^ mentions a tree in North 

 Malabar with a breast-height girth of 97 in., which when felled produced 

 22 coppice-shoots, and stems with diameters of 2 ft. 10 in. to 6 ft. 4 in. which 

 produced 11 to 13 shoots per stool. The early growth of coppice and pollard 

 shoots is rapid. Of twelve different species coppiced and pollarded experi- 

 mentally in 1909 in North Chanda, Central Provinces, teak showed the most 

 rapid growth both of coppice and of pollard shoots. Mr. J. C. Legge ^ records 

 measurements of coppice-shoots from stems five years old cut back in planta- 

 tions in Travancore on February 14-17. These were measured on May 11, 

 when less than three months old, and were found to vary from 3| to 7| ft. in 

 height, the number of shoots per stool varying from 7 to 23 : an unusual fall 

 of 10 in. of rain, however, occurred at the time of cutting back. An average 

 height of 7 to 10 ft. for coppice one year old is not unusual. 



An experiment carried out in 1906 in the Jubbulpore district, the object 

 of which was to ascertain the most favourable season in which to carry out 

 coppice fellings, has been described by Mr. R. S. Hole.^ Trees 2 to 4 ft. in 

 basal girth, selected for equal vigour and similar conditions of environment, 

 were coj)piced in different months from March to September. The stools were 

 cut flush with the ground. The best results were obtained in March and 

 September, and the worst results, with reference to three different factors, 

 were obtained as follows : 



Factor. 

 Total and partial failure to coppice 

 Number of dominant stems 

 Height growth .... 



Months giving worst results. 



April, May, June, July. 



June, July, August. 



July, August. 



Thus the worst period for coppicing was found to be from the time vege- 

 tative activity commences it was abnormally early that year up to and for 

 a short time after the full development of the foliage. In the course of this 

 experiment it was found that in the case of the larger stools, Avith 3-4 ft. 

 girth, the number of vigorous shoots per stool was greater than in the case 

 of the smaller stools, with 2-3 ft. girth. The following are the figures : 



Average number of vigorous shoots per stool according 



All the coppice-shoots originated in one of two ways (1) from callus 

 growth developed inside the bark and situated between the bark and the wood 

 at the edge of the cut surface, or (2) from the side of the stool below the cut 

 surface, the shoots aj^pearing through the bark. The former, which may be 



1 Ind. Forester, xl (1914), pp. 262, 263. - Ihid., xxiii (1897), p. 205. 



^ Note on the Best Season for Coppice Fellings of Teak, For. I'amph. No. 16, Bot. Ser. No. 1, 

 1910. 



