164 SYLVICULTURE IX THE TROPICS R .n 



The lining of each plot would have to be done in two 

 journeys or by two separate gangs of men and boys, 

 the first putting in the pegs along the lines starting 

 from b, d, f, h, and j, while the second would complete 

 the lining along lines a, c, e, g, and i. In this second 

 operation one man would stand at a and the other at 

 i, and the first distance a 1 measured and pegged out 

 by them would only be equal to half the length of the 

 side of a triangle ; but all the next distances (a 2 , a 8 , etc.) 

 would be equal to the full length of the side of a 

 triangle (Fig. 52). There are other methods of carrying 



Fig. 52. 



on the operation of lining, but as this method has 

 yielded very good results with Indian and Sinhalese 

 coolies, it will answer well with most classes of workmen. 

 The distances between the lines and between the 

 plants on the lines will greatly depend on the species 

 to be raised ; on the object which they are destined to 

 fulfil, whether for timber, firewood, or for other produce ; 

 on the configuration of the ground ; on atmospheric 

 conditions, and on the soil. No hard and fast rule can 

 be laid down, but it may be said that, as a rule, slow- 

 growing species will be put in closer together than those 

 that are quick-growing, in order to form leaf-canopy as 

 early as possible ; also, that if a nurse-crop which will 

 be removed early is raised at the same time as that 



