CONCLUDING REMARKS 251 
of time until these solutes will accumulate in the root zone to the 
extent that plants will not grow, unless some leaching occurs.” 
I am afraid I find it difficult to accept this pessimistic generali- 
zation in its entirety. I can quote cases from India and China, 
where land has been under irrigated agriculture for more than a 
thousand years. Richards’ remarks would of course apply, when 
either the water contains salts, or the salts exist in the soil profile, 
which are brought to the surface during the process of repeated 
irrigation and evaporation. This situation has been successfully 
handled in India by crop rotation and leaching the soil, as Richards 
suggests. 
International Cooperation in Reclamation 
Whyte has outlined the activities of the FAO who are working 
on all promising methods for the reclamation of arid regions. 
In India an ad hoc committee was appointed by the Government 
to recommend measures for the immobilization of the Rajputana 
desert. The recommendations included a Desert Afforestation Re- 
search Station to study the silviculture of the various species 
already growing in the desert with particular reference to their 
succession, to consider the possibility of introducing exotic desert 
species from other countries and from other parts of India, to 
maintain a number of seed stores for distribution through de- 
partmental agencies, and to propagate vegetation. In addition, 
they suggested creation of a five-mile wide forest belt several 
hundred miles long to withstand the onslaught of winds. The 
committee also recommended the establishment of nurseries for 
experiments with and distribution of suitable species of plants, 
shelter belts transverse to the direction of winds, increase in the 
proportion of area under forest, and adoption of improved agri- 
cultural practices by the cultivators. A Desert Research Station 
has already been set up at Jodhpur and work is in progress on 
the best method of afforestation and creation of oases for the 
spread of vegetation. 
In 1954 the World Forestry Congress met in India to discuss 
the place of forests in the land economy of the country. The 
Congress decided to recommend to the 47 governments the cre- 
ation of an international commission on desert control and afforest- 
