Part II] Hole : Regeneration of Sal (Shorea robusta) Forests 51 
tration is obviously desirable), we shall be obliged to resort to fires to a 
greater or less extent in the future if we wish to avoid a steadily increasing 
financial loss due to the absence of regeneration in woods approaching 
maturity. Now, in order to minimize the damage done by fire to the 
standing crop, a concentration of the regeneration areas to be burnt is 
essential and, therefore, in order to obtain concentration and to prevent 
an increasing financial loss in the future some initial financial sacrifice 
is justified. During the period of conversion from an irregular forest 
to one in which a system of concentrated regeneration has been applied 
throughout, it would usually be possible to fell a considerable number 
of the trees attaining maturity in the forests not actually under regenera¬ 
tion, without materially increasing the irregularity of the crop or seri¬ 
ously interfering with the gradual introduction of a method of concen¬ 
trated regeneration. 
Concentration will, no doubt, at first, involve some financial sacrifice 
on account of the felling of some trees before they attain maturity. It 
must be remembered, however, that, starting as we do with a more or 
less abnormal forest, no matter what system of regeneration we decide 
to adopt, some initial sacrifice must in any case be incurred, in 
order that we may attain the first desideratum of scientific manage¬ 
ment which aims at attaining a maximum sustained equal annual yield, 
viz. a normal series of age-classes. 
In any case, also, the introduction of a system of concentrated rege¬ 
neration does not necessitate the immediate introduction of rigid unifor¬ 
mity at a great financial sacrifice but merely entails a series of fellings 
steadily tending to produce a reasonable degree of uniformity in the 
crop at a minimum financial sacrifice. 
Moreover, some initial sacrifice is undoubtedly justified in order to 
obtain concentration, seeing that the latter 
(1) greatly facilitates all sylvicultural work, such as cleanings, 
thinnings, fellings and operations for favouring the produc¬ 
tion and development of regeneration, in addition to im¬ 
proving the general quality of the forest. 
(2) is commercially desirable, inasmuch as it facilitates transport, 
and causes the aggregation of timber of a particular size 
and quality on well-defined compact areas. 
On the other hand, seeing that sal is naturally a strongly gregarious 
tree, there is no reason to believe that such concentration will materially 
increase the damage done by insects or fungi, provided that the woods 
are properly tended. Even if such damage did increase, however, con¬ 
centration would greatly facilitate control measures. That there are 
difficulties in the way of introducing a concentrated system of regenera- 
[ 213 ] 
