158 PRACTICAL FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



branch, notably in Dehra Dun, and South Kheri and the results 

 have been excellent. The area is cleared for any artificial regene- 

 ration which may be necessary, the coppice shoots spring up from 

 the ground level ; the burning fertilises the soil and increases 

 nitrification and the seedlings already on the area are stimulated 

 into active growth ; the biirning must be done before the coppice 

 shoots appear about the middle of April. Fellings normally will 

 take place during the cold weather but may be started any time 

 after 1st August ; the sooner the better, both felling and export 

 to the compartment line should be complete by the 15th April, at 

 the latest and this must be insisted on as is always done in 

 Grorakhpur. 



The practice of giving extensions in coppice coupes is contrary 

 to all ideas of good management and should be limited as far as 

 possible. The coupe will be immediately cleaned up, so that the 

 new coppice may start to grow during April, May, and June which 

 is the chief growing season for sal. No dressing of the stools is 

 necessary ; experiments have shown that this is actually harmful. 

 In Grorakhpur the orders are that the stumps should be left 4* (V 

 above the ground level ; natural drying will probably kill a certain 

 amount of the cambium at the top of the stump but this height of 

 stump is sufficient to prevent the whole of the cambium being 

 dried out as frequently happens with stumps cut at ground level, 

 which then fail to coppice. Shoots are required from ground level 

 and not from the tops of the stumps. 



It is essential to good management that all blanks in the coppice 

 crop be completed artificially. In Grorakhpur some of the best sites 

 along the banks of streams contain only medium-sized sal trees with 

 little or not suppressed advance growth or seedling reproduction, 

 generally growing mixed with/lense evergreens. Here regeneration 

 by sal coppice is out of the question and artificial regeneration must 

 be resorted to. During the cold weather following the felling as 

 soon as it is known what areas have to be regenerated artificially, 

 steps should be taken to prepare the soil. It is not intended here 



