III. TAKAI AND PLAINS SAL. 35 



(3) Damar type, an extensive and important type found 

 on high level river terraces or old plateaux which 

 probably mark the original level of the country. This 

 iype varies appreciably, from fair I quality on fertile 

 sandy loams to poor III quality on dry sands and stiff 

 clays. 



Usually managed under some system of concentrated regenera- 

 tion by .periodic blocks, or some preparatory system with that 

 ultimate object in view. 



In several areas these " damars " have been broken up by a net- 

 work of incipient ravines, which make an undulating surface, and the 

 immediate result is to cause super drainage and extreme xerophytic 

 conditions of growth. Good examples are seen in the forests of 

 Tulsipur, Jaulasal and Jaspur. On such areas the quality of the 

 sal forest deteriorates considerably and the type becomes III or IV 

 quality. They present a special problem in systematic management 

 which is being tackled on a large scale in Jaspur (Eamnagar 



division). 



This pine is mixed with sal where both species meet and is Chir 

 even extending its range into the true hill sal zone as the result of 

 fire protection. The chir is found at all elevations from 1,500 to 

 6,500 feet throughout the hills on all aspects either pure or mixed 

 with evergreen oaks. It reaches its maximum development on 

 sandstone or quartzite and is generally of inferior quality on 

 clay soils. These forests are very liable to damage by fire and the 

 new reserves of Kumaun which have recently been handed over to 

 the department consist of an open crop of generally mature trees 

 subject to yearly fire and heavy grazing, with the result that 

 regeneration is generally wanting and the condition of the forests 

 critical. These forests will require careful nursing for a generation 

 before anything like normality is reached. Fire protection is the 

 sine qua non of management of these piue forests, for while this 

 tree is fire resistant to a considerable extent, regeneration is 

 impossible with frequent fires, and periodical orgies of incendiarism 



