XVI APPENDIX. 



regarding excess humus which Hesselman has now proved to be 

 correct. His method is described as follows : 



" After the completion of the first regeneration felling all rub- 

 bish, bushes, inferior trees, raw humus, exploitation refuse and 

 suppressed advance growth will be collected and burnt, and the 

 soil placed in a suitable condition to receive the seed. This may 

 necessitate hoeing with the pronged vine hoe already in use." 



The collection of the exploitation refuse is done by hand 

 labour, the larger branches are thrown on to piles and the smaller 

 chips and the raw humus raked up with iron pronged rakes and 

 the whole burnt in small heaps. A wonderful reproduction 

 frequently follows this treatment. 



All practical methods of obtaining suitable soil conditions have 

 now been dealt with. It is not only necessary to obtain this ideal 

 in the first instance to admit of complete germination and early 

 .growth, but in the case of sal equally important to maintain 

 suitable conditions so that the establishment of the seedlings may 

 be obtained at the earliest possible date and the period of dying 

 back largely reduced or done away with entirely. This natural 

 dying back must be due to various factors unfavourable to growth, 

 as under garden conditions with perfect soil, full light and suffi- 

 cient moisture, sal does not die back at all and develops straight 

 away into healthy saplings. This supposition is still further sup- 

 ported from an examination during the monsoon rains of sal 

 regeneration under a fairly heavy canopy and a dense soil covering 

 of decaying vegetation. In spite of a superabundance of moisture 

 and heat generally considered favourable to growth, the sal seed- 

 lings were in a most miserable condition and it was self-evident 

 that they were growing under some unfavourable condition of 

 soil, light or moisture. Research is now being made to discover 

 exactly what this adverse factor is so that the process of regenera- 

 tion may be modified accordingly. How important this matter 

 is may be realised from the fact that sal regeneration eight years 

 old which has received constant attention and yearly weeding does 

 not as yet show any sign of upward growth. 



