18 
Indian Forest Records . 
[Vol. VIII 
can be devised, tbis should prove an economical means of giving the land 
its first cultivation. A semi-portable saw-mill of American design is 
being tried and appears to be well suited to cutting tea-box planking for 
which there is a strong demand. These small experiments should give 
us an idea of the type of outfit suited for extraction, conversion and, 
possibly, cultivation in our small coupes. 
22. In conclusion, it seems reasonable to hope that a system of in¬ 
tensive taungya, besides overcoming the difficulties of reproduction, 
will increase the revenue by concentrating exploitation if not by inducing 
faster growth. The system seems well adapted to local conditions for 
the even-aged forest crops, by maintaining a close canopy, keeping 
down weeds and, until this canopy has formed, the ground is kept clean 
by profitable field-crops, thus increasing the advantages and decreasing 
the disadvantages of the rapid growth of vegetation of all kinds induced 
by the moist Bengal climate ; for it must not be forgotten that this 
luxuriance is not an unmixed blessing and the fact that a valuable 
sapling may attain a height of 8 feet in its first year is to some extent 
discounted by the fact that the same climate produces climbers capable 
of pulling down 8-foot saplings in a few months. 
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