FORESTERS’ LIFE IN BURMA 195 
caused dry-rot and other unsoundness in the heart 
of the timber. But not only had the question of the 
quality of the existing crop to be considered, but also 
the effect on the production of a new crop. The 
teak had to be aided, not hampered, in the reproduc- 
tion of the species. 
Speaking generally, the teak-forests of Burma 
may be divided into evergreen and deciduous. In 
the former class the most magnificent specimens of 
teak are to be found. They have been forced by 
the struggle towards the light to keep pace with 
and to overtop the gigantic trees common to this 
type of forests; but they are prevented from the 
reproduction of their kind, for their seed will not 
germinate, or at all events the seedling will not 
continue to exist, under the dense cover of the ever- 
green undergrowth. Now, by the practice of uni- 
versal protection from fire, there was danger of intro- 
ducing a similar condition of affairs into the other 
and more important type—that of deciduous forests. 
The evergreen species are the most sensitive to 
damage from fire; they have not the power of 
resistance that the deciduous trees often possess, 
while at the same time, given suitable conditions, 
they tend to extend, and to so consolidate them- 
selves that accidental conflagrations or intentional 
firing become alike impossible, because there is no 
inflammable material to feed it. As may be imagined, 
in the controversy that followed extreme opinions 
and propositions were not infrequent; but it was 
recognized by thoughtful foresters that there could 
be no general verdict for or against the practice of 
fire protection, but that the local circumstances of 
