Part II] Hole : Regeneration of Sal (Shorea robusta) Forests 9 
Chief 'points to notice. 
12. The chief points in this experiment which deserve notice are :— 
(1) On the dead leaves in pots 1-8, the radicles remained healthy 
longer under the shade of trees in pots 1-4 than in the open 
in pots 5-8, vide the observations on July 9th. 
(2) On the dead leaves in pots 1-8, the radicles remained healthy 
longer in the pots which were watered, 2, 4, 6 and 8, than in 
those which were not watered, 1, 3, 5 and 7,mdethe observa¬ 
tions on July 20th. The largest number of persistent healthy 
radicles in these pots, also, is seen to occur in No. 8, in which 
the layer of leaves was kept constantly wet owing to slow 
surface percolation. In this pot, however, the mechanical 
obstruction afforded by the tough leaves prevented the 
radicles from penetrating vertically downwards into the soil, 
and the latter were developed horizontally between the 
leaves, as is so frequently seen to be the case in the natural 
forests. 
(3) A layer of dead sal leaves between the seeds and the soil surface 
is decidedly injurious to germination and the development 
of the seedhngs both in loam and well-aerated sand as shown 
by the small number of healthy seedlings, on July 20th, in 
pots 1-8, as compared with the large number in pots 9-12 
on the same date, and also by the results in part II (a) of this 
experiment above. 
(4) A layer of dead sal leaves above the seeds is decidedly beneficial 
in the open, probably because it shades the seeds from the 
sun and keeps them moist. It will be noticed that such 
shade apparently renders the seeds independent of artificial 
watering to a considerable extent, there being 35 healthy 
seedlings in unwatered pots 13 and 15, as compared with 
28 in the watered pots 14 and 16, on July 20th. 
(5) The fact that seeds germinated well under the loose layer of 
dead leaves does not prove that dead leaves can have no 
bad aeration effect. The leaves were resting above the large 
sal seeds which, in their turn, were resting on the soil surface. 
Thus, surrounding the seeds was a large air space in communi¬ 
cation with the outer air by means of the interstices between 
the leaves. Moreover, the large seeds supporting the dead 
leaves prevented the latter from coming in contact with the 
moist soil surface and thus, to a great extent, kept them free 
from soil and soil organisms. The water and air, therefore 
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