6 
Indian Forest Records, [Vol. VIII 
1916, 25 sal seeds* were sown in each pot, these being placed on the layer 
of dead leaves in pots 1-4 and on the surface of the soil (not buried in the 
soil) in pots 5 and 6. The arrangement is shown below : 
Pots with sand Pots with sal £orest loam 
seed on surface of dead leaves seed on surface of soil. 
All the pots were lightly watered once daily on days when no rain fell. 
9. An abstract of the observations recorded is shown below :— 
Sand with dead 
leaves. 
Loam with dead 
leaves. 
Loam without 
dead leaves. 
Pot Number, 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
Remarks. 
Date of Sowing 
June 20th, 1916. 
Number of seeds sown 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
Those plants are 
considered to 
have germi¬ 
nated which 
have developed 
a healthy aerial 
shoot. 
Number of seeds which 
germinated. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
12 
15 
Number of healthy plants 
on August 2nd, 1916. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
11 
14 
Seeds dead. 
This experiment, therefore, shows that the layer of dead leaves has 
entirely prevented germination not only in the forest loam but also in 
the well-aerated sand and, therefore, the action in this case is apparently a 
mechanical one and not an aeration effect. 
(b) To further test mechanical action of dead leaves. 
10. In the previous experiment it was noticed that several of the 
seeds on the dry leaves failed to put out a radicle at all, and in others the 
radicle blackened and withered shortly after emergence from the seed. 
It appeared probable that the injurious action of the loose layer of dry 
leaves was due, in part at least, to its forming a hot dry barrier between 
the soil surface and the seeds, thus cutting off the latter from the mois¬ 
ture necessary for the vitality of the seeds and the continued develop¬ 
ment of the radicle. In other words, it appeared that the action was 
# What are here and elsewhere in this paper called sal “ seeds,” in accordance with 
ordinary forest phraseology, are of course really “ fruits.” 
[ 168 ] 
