18 
Indian Forest Records . 
[Vol. VIII 
The appearance of the plants surviving in these plots when 2 years 
old in July 1915 is shown in Plate III. The appearance of the surviving 
plants when 5J years old in January 1919 is shown in 
Plate IV. 
23. The chief points of interest in this experiment are :— 
(1) The year 1913 in which this experiment was commenced was 
an unusually favourable one for sal seedlings. Rain during 
June and July was well distributed and not excessive, while 
a light rainfall in August and a dry September tended to 
prevent damage from bad soil-aeration. The total rainfall 
was unusually light, being only 45 inches during June to 
September, as compared with the normal rainfall of 75 inches. 
The rainfall during June to September 1914 was also less than 
usual, being only 63 inches instead of the normal 75 inches. 
From 1915 to 1917, however, both years inclusive, the rain¬ 
fall for this period was either normal or more than 
normal. 
(2) The southern half of Plot IV received more shade from the sun 
during the middle of the day than the northern half; and 
it was noticed that, at first, during the years of short rainfall 
the growth in this southern half was decidedly the best. 
This can be seen in the photograph Plate III Fig. 1. After 
the normal rains of 1915, however, the growth in this part of 
the bed steadily deteriorated. The statement given above 
shows that, in 1919, the height-growth in the southern half 
was less and the number of surviving plants greater, owing 
to the fact that the growth of the stronger plants had not 
been sufficiently vigorous to kill out the others by suppression, 
as was the case in the northern half. The poorer growth can 
also be seen in the photograph, Plate IV Fig. 1. The effect of 
this shade on the south was to keep the soil perpetually 
moist which, in years of normal rainfall, caused the plants to 
suffer from a badly aerated soil and also from the attacks of 
twig, and leaf-killing fungi. The extra wetness of the soil 
was obvious to the eye, and was also indicated by a dense 
growth of mosses and liverworts on the soil surface which 
hnally gave way to a vigorous growth of ferns. Note the 
strong growth of ferns in the southern half of the bed in 
January 1919, Plate IV Fig. 1. 
(3) It was noticed that, during the rains, the soil of Plot IV in the 
open remained, on the whole, drier than that of the shade 
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