72 SYLVICULTURE IN THE TROPICS n.. 



the following may be mentioned. The lulus, one of 

 the Millipedes, does damage by eating young seedlings. 

 They can be destroyed by putting down poisoned food. 



Snails are reported in some places l to do consider- 

 able injury not only to the foliage but to healthy shoots 

 of young plants. In such places the introduction or 

 preservation of the hedgehog is recommended. 



Various birds live on the seeds of trees and thus do 

 damage to the natural regeneration ; and I have seen 

 many trees along the Blue Nile the branches of which 

 had broken with the weight of enormous numbers of 

 small migratory birds perching on them. Woodpeckers 

 do a certain amount of injury to trees by pecking at 

 them in search for insects, but they do a great deal 

 more good than harm. Parrots and toucans also make 

 their nests in hollow trees, but they usually attack soft- 

 wooded or unsound trees. 



The Podents can be classed generally as great 

 enemies of the forest, especially rats, porcupines, and 

 hares. Of these the rats, when there is a plague of them, 

 do the greatest amount of destruction. An example of 

 this is quoted from Berar in the Indian Forester. 2 In 

 this case, not only roots but young bark and even the 

 wood of certain species, such as Teak, Butea frondosa, 

 Odina Wodier, and Garuga pinnata, were attacked and 

 many killed. I myself saw the results of a similar 

 invasion at Newara Eliya in Ceylon. Young trees were 

 attacked and the bark eaten away sometimes to a height 

 of four or five metres. Fernandez (in the article 

 referred to above) mentions that the damage was more 

 considerable where the soil was soft and loose, and 

 practically absent on hard soil and where grazing was 

 taking place. It might therefore be of use to drive 

 herds of cattle into forests thus infected, provided that 

 the damage to young plants is not likely to be enhanced 

 by this method. I laics and porcupines have both shown 

 a great partiality for Hevea braziliensis in plantations 



1 R. Thompson, Report <>n Mauritius Forests, p. 39. 

 E. E. Fernandez in vol, xxviii. No. 4. 



