16 Indian Forest Records. [Yol. YIII 
ing them from drying out, their vitality remains unimpaired 
for several weeks, see para. 12 (8). 
(3) Sal seeds which are kept immersed in water fail to germinate, 
see para. 12 (6). 
Experiment No. III. 
Object to determine comparative development of seedlings under shade and 
in the open. 
21. The usually accepted principle in the past has been that sal 
should be regenerated under shade. As this is contrary to the method 
now recommended, see paras. 2, 3, above, it was obviously desirable 
to obtain definite evidence regarding the comparative development of 
seedlings under shade and in the open respectively. The present experi¬ 
ment was undertaken to provide this evidence. The experimental 
plots IV and Y dealt with in this experiment are the same as those for 
which the results up to the year 1915 have already been published 
( Ind . For. Rec. Y, 4 Part II, 1916, pp. 74-77), and the present experiment 
has merely consisted in continuing the previous observations. For 
convenience of reference, the history of the plots is recapitulated below : 
Plots IY and Y were originally selected in the Lachiwala sal forest 
in 1912, and are only 46 yards apart. The light intensity in the two plots, 
determined with a Clements’s photometer in September 1912, was 0-02 
in plot IV and 0*06 in plot Y. The ground was cleared of humus and 
sal seeds were sown in dug soil, in 1912, in both plots under shade, all 
standing trees and saplings being left untouched. The result was practi¬ 
cally a complete failure in both plots but was slightly better in plot Y, 
with 4 per cent, surviving seedlings in April 1913, than in plot IV with 
no living seedlings on that date ( l.c . pp. 48-52). The object of the 
present experiment was to repeat the sowings in both plots after removing 
the overhead shade in plot IV, and then to compare the development of 
the seedlings growing with full overhead light in plot IV with that of 
the plants growing under shade in the adjacent plot V. The surviving 
plants in the plots were dug up in May 1913, and the central bed in each 
plot was again prepared for sowing and kept clear of dead leaves. At 
the end of May 1913, the overhead cover was removed above plot IV 
by felling all the trees above and in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
plot, the total cleared space having a diameter of 60 feet, or a little less 
than the height of the surrounding trees. The light intensity which 
was 0*02 in plot IV in 1912 was in this way raised to 0-2 in 1913, i.e. 
the light intensity was increased tenfold. The area of the bed sown 
in each plot was 18 feet X 3 feet, but as the treatment in plot Y varied 
in the two halves of the bed, the observations recorded are noted below 
[ 178 ] 
