26 
Indian Forest Records, 
[Vol. VIII 
27. The chief points of interest in this experiment are : 
(1) Except in Sub-Plot (3) where the soil was hoed around the 
plants, removing the overhead cover above 3-years-old 
seedlings raised in the shade has resulted in the death of all 
the plants in a period of 2 years. In Sub-Plot (3) it has 
resulted in the death of 86 per cent of the existing 
seedlings, 79 per cent of the plants dying within 3 
months after the felling. 
(2) With reference to the above result it must be remembered that 
1916 was an unusually dry season, and also that opening 
the cover in the cold weather would probably have given 
rather better results than in this case where the cover was 
removed in May. By opening in the cold season the surface 
soil would have obtained a considerable supply of moisture 
from the heavy dews which would probably have helped 
the plants to withstand the hot season in April-June. On 
the other hand, it must be remembered that the number 
of plants on the ground at the beginning of the experiment 
represent what is likely to be obtained only after a full seed 
year and after an unusually favourable season for germina¬ 
tion and early growth, as was the year 1913 when the areas 
were sown. Also, the loosening of the surface soil by hoeing 
in Sub-Plot (3) is likely to have considerably mitigated the 
injurious effect of the late removal of the cover in May. 
On the whole, therefore, it is believed that the results in 
Sub-Plot (3) fairly represent what is likely to be obtained 
from this system on a large scale in the forest, without hoeing 
the soil. 
(3) The results obtained in Sub-Plot (3) show that under this system 
of working we may expect an average height-growth of 10 
inches after 5 years, with less than 2 per cent, of surviving 
plants calculated on the number of seeds sown. If it is pro¬ 
posed to incur the considerable extra expense necessitated by 
hoeing the soil, in order to increase the number of survivors, 
it is obviously advisable to make sure of a large percentage 
of survivors by supplementing the work with artificial 
sowing. Thus, by sowing directly on dug soil in the open, 
as in Plot IV (see paras. 22 and 23 (6) above), we could get 
in one year the same height-growth as would be produced 
under the other system in 5 years and with more than 60 
per cent, of surviving plants. 
[ 188 ] 
