6 NOTE ON DHAUEA OR BAfeLl. 



fire-protection as may be seen on the slopes of the Siwaliks, the outer 

 Himalayan slopes and similar localities in Central and Southern India 

 (Gamble) . 



The tree usually coppices readily. Mr. R. S. Pearson wrote a 

 detailed reported in the Indian Forester for May 1907 on a good crop 

 found in the Pa,nch Mahals in Bombay. He decides that well-drained 

 situations and good light are necessary, and records his opinion that the 

 tree, though producing seed yearly, rarely produces great quantities of 

 fertile seed except under special conditions which depend on the tempera- 

 ture and rainfall of the year. Mr. A. K. Desai, Ranger, Godra Range, 

 Panch Mahals, notes that dhaura seedlings were found in great 

 abundance in his forests after the dead timber killed by the drought of 

 1899-1900 had been removed. A great opening out took place, the seeds 

 accumulated in the soil during the drought, and the young plants filled 

 up many of the blanks when the rain came. 



Bourdillon and Gamble say the rate of growth is moderate, about 7 

 I'ings per inch of radius. 



Caccia gives measurements taken on 52 trees in sample plots in the 

 United Provinces, some of which extended over 17 years, which indicate 

 that the mean annual girth increment varies from '14 to '63 of an 

 inch. 



From countings made in the Nallamalai Forests, Kurnool, Madras, 

 the average number of rings to an inch of diameter was found to be 7. 



6. Artificial Reproduction. 



Sowing and planting have been tried in Bombay, the former when 

 done in patches giving the best results. Broadcast sowing is more 

 uncertain, but dibbling has given a fair number of seedlings, about 20 

 per cent, of the seed producing plants. Mr. H. H. Haines states that 

 the fruits should not be gathered until they begin to separate from the 

 heads. The seed requires a perfectly clean soil for germination and is 

 excessively impatient of weeds or water-logging. The best results were 

 obtained on mounds of gravel. Broadcast sowing has been tried in a 

 number of forest divisions, almost always without success. 



