Teetona.] LX. ■TERBENAOEiE. 357 



rains. Seedlings, however, are wanting where Teak grows up under such con- 

 ditions. For the Teak is eminently a light-requiring tree, analogous in that 

 respect to the Oak and Scotch Fir— light overhead and free circulation of aii 

 being two conditions indispensable for the development of Teak seedlings. 



In dry and hot situations, the Teak loses its leaves in November, December, 

 or early in January ; but where the ground is moist, the tree often remains 

 green until Feb. or March. The new foliage comes out in May. 



Teak flowers during the rains, in July and August, and ripens its seed be- 

 tween November and January. In summer it is readily recognised at a con- 

 siderable distance by the whitish flower -panicles, which overtop the green 

 foliage ; and in winter, the feathery erect fruit-panicles distinguish it at the 

 first glance from all other trees. One of the greatest obstacles to the spread 

 of the Teak is the circumstance, that the seed ripens and faUs to the ground at 

 the commencement of the hot season, before the annual fires pass through the 

 forest. The tree produces seed at an early age, and generally seeds freely and 

 regularly every year ; but a large proportion of the seeds are destroyed by the 

 fires, and of those which escape numbers are washed away, in the hills at least, 

 by the first torrents of the monsoon. The germination of the seed is slow and 

 somewhat uncertain ; a large amount of moisture is required to saturate the ) 

 spongy covering, and for this reason it has been found useful, where Teak is \ 

 cultivated, to soak the seeds in water for some time before sowing them. At 

 the time of germination, the expanding embryo bursts open the caps or valves 

 of the fruit, and two or three plants not rarely spring from one nut. When the 

 seed is sown in nurseries, it generally takes about a fortnight before the first 

 seedlings show themselves above ground, and they continue coming up succes- 

 sively for a considerable period, numerous seedlings appearing during the second 

 and third year, and a large proportion not germinating at aU. The seedlings 

 have a long taproot, which during the first two or three years is often as long 

 as the stem above ground. The root is soft, almost fleshy, and seedlings are very 

 sensitive to any injury of their roots, differing in this respect entirely from Oak 

 seedlings, which are in no way injured by the shortening of their taproot. 

 Teak seedlings, therefore, are as a rule best transplanted the same season in 

 which they are raised. 



During the early period of its Ufe the growth of Teak is exceedingly rapid. 

 As an instance, I may mention the Thinganneennoung plantation on the Upper 

 Winyeo river (Attaran) in Tenasserim. Here a large nursery was established 

 on rich soil (the site of an old evergreen forest) in March and April 1856, and 

 in July 1858 I counted on a plot (28 ft. wide and 66 ft. long, or 1848 sq. ft.) 

 841 plants,— of which 17 were 27-32 ft. high, with a girth, at 1 ft. above the 

 ground, between 9 and 13 in. ; 70 were 20-27 ft. high, with a girth of 6-9 in. ; 

 and the rest, viz., 754 plants, were less than 20 ft., with a girth under 6 in., the 

 . large number of small and oppressed plants being due to the circumstance that 

 seedlings had neither been taken out for transplanting nor had they been 

 thinned. Under favourable circumstances, trees attain a girth of 18 in. (at 6 ft. 

 from the ground) in 10-15 years ; after, that the growth slackens, and a girth of 

 6 ft. is not generally attained under idO years. The following figures illustrate 

 the average rate of growth at the Nelambur plantation in Malabar, on favour- 

 able soil and in a moist, hot, forcing cUmate. From a survey made of it in 1868 

 by Captain W. Seaton, Conservator of Forests, British B*ma, the circumfer- 

 ence was measured at 6 ft. from the ground. 



870 trees per acre, 6 years old, 37 ft. high ; average girth 12 in., maximum 20 in. 



476 „ 12 „ 45 „ „ 16 „ „ 31 „ 



195 ,, 24 „ 65 „ „ 29 „ „ 60 „ 



This is the oldest large Teak plantation in India ; it was commenced in 1844 



by the late Mr Gonolly, collector of Malabar. These results are borne out by the 



