1 8 NO TES ON FORES TR Y. 



back six inches from the trench, spread it out to a 

 good width, and beat it down compactly, that the 

 rain may not wash the earth into the trenches. 

 This method has proved very successful in the 

 Punjab plains, the cost of collecting seed, trench- 

 ing, banking, and sowing being about eight rupees 

 per acre, with the trenches a foot wide, a foot deep, 

 and fifteen feet apart. 



I know no method of sowing to compare with 

 it where irrigation has to be resorted to ; but in 

 sailaba lands, sown on the subsidence of the river, 

 and free from undergrowth, hardy seedlings need 

 no more preparation of the soil than a light 

 scratching of the plough. 



In localities where the rainfall is insufficient for 

 cultivation, and where irrigation water is not 

 available, there are often large areas of waste 

 dotted with stunted trees Prosopis spicigera, 

 Capparis aphylla, &c. requiring little moisture for 

 their support ; and the question of stocking these 

 uniformly for fuel reserves may sometimes crop up. 



Here the first question for consideration is, Did 

 the trees now standing spring up under conditions 

 of moisture similar to those now existing, or has 

 some once-neighbouring river shifted its channel to 

 a distance, and the withdrawal of moisture destroyed 

 all trees excepting such as had their roots deep 

 down in the soil? In this latter case, it would be, 



