518 LXXVI. CONIFERS. [Gedrus. 



clears itself early of its side branches, and forms tall clean straight cylindrical 

 stems, which carry their girth well up to a great height. The tallest Deodar 

 which I have measured was in the NacKar forest on the Sutlej (Oct. 1864), 250 

 ft. high, 20 ft. in girth at the base, and'more than 550 years old, and there was 

 a considerable number of trees in the same forest above 200 ft. high. This, 

 however, was an exceptional case ; the forest had grown up close together on 

 terraces of fields deserted centuries ago, and the trees had found ample nourish- 

 ment in the deep and loose soil of these terraces, the old walls of which were still 

 standing (Bussahir Forest Report, 1865, 3). 



In this place, as under similar circumstances elsewhere, the Deodar carries its 

 girth well up, as illustrated by the follo*ing measurements of thp girth of five 

 trees in Nachar, at the base of the stem, at 40 and at 80 ft. : — 



Taking the girth at base at 100 in. and the sectional area at 100 sq. in., the 

 girth and sectional area (squaie of quarter girth) would on an average be as fol- 

 lows, at heights of 40 and 80 ft. : — 



Average girth, 100 in. 78 in. 65 in. 



Av. sec. area cal- 'J 



culated by sq. > 100 sq, in, 60 sq. in, 42 sq. in, 



of qr. girth. ) 



When isolated, the tree has in its youth a pyramidal crown with branches 

 close to the ground. At a certain age, which varies according to locality and 

 circumstances, the Deodar loses its leading shoot, the uppermost blanches spread 

 out and form a flat tabular top. Trees which grow isolated on the crest of 

 ridges or otherwise in exposed positions, have these flat tabulaj tops in a very 

 marked manner. Isolated trees attain large girths, the largest on record, in 

 Kunawar, are 30-36 ft. ; and Dr Stewart measured one at Kiiarsi in the Eavi 

 basin, at 7500 ft. elevation, 44 ft. 2 in. at 2, and 36 ft. 4 in. at 6 ft. from the 

 ground, A tree measured in October 1864 above the village of Purbani»in 

 Kunawar, was 34 ft, 4, in. in girth, and judging by the annual rings of trees felled 

 in that neighbourhood, probably about 900 years old. 



The bark is 1-lJ in. thick, dark grey, often blackish with a brqwn or purple 

 tinge, cut by long vertical dark furrows and short transverse cracks into long 

 irregularly truncate scales. The wood of mature Deodar, unless very old, is 



feneraUy sound throughout, but there are exceptions. Thus in the following 

 locks of the Bhagirati forests the proportion of unsound fiist-class trees was 

 found to be as follows : — 



Hirsil, sound 920, unsound 736. 



Tailgari, „ 1179, „ 589. 



Dinargad, „ 35,178, „ 22,386. 



(Colonel Pearson's Report on the Bhagirati Forests, 1869.) 



It has not been ascertained whether this unsoundness should be attributed to 

 the practice of burning the forest for temporary cultivation or to other causes. 

 The sapwood is whitish and not durable, in mature trees it is 1^3 in. thick, the 

 heartwood has a fine light-brown colour, is fragrant and somewhat oily, com-, 



