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YOUNG SAL TAUNGYA PLANTATION, WEEDED. NORTHERN BENGAL, 1925
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1899. Records of growth were kept up to 1902 and then ceased. From observations made in 1915 the average girth and height of the best trees were 2 feet 5 inches and 70 feet respectively.* This experiment was discontinued in 1903, as it was still believed that the sâl was capable of regenerating itself, if aided by properly carried out Improvement Fellings and Cleanings. The next experiments undertaken were those of 1911 and 1912. These aimed at obtaining young sâl growth under a top cover, generally of mallata (Macaranga). Good generation was obtained, but the seedlings did not develop, and the only result of opening out the top cover was the production of a dense undergrowth which killed out the sâl. The ensuing attempt in 1913 was the sowing of sâl seed on ridges made on deserted village lands, the resultant crop being weeded as often as necessary. This was successful, but very costly, amounting to Rs.60 per acre. In the following year mounds I foot high and 2 feet square were tried, made at intervals of 10 feet. The results were successful at first, but the crop was lost, chiefly owing to pigs and rats. In 1915 the cost was cheapened by reducing the mounds to "sods” made 6 feet by 6 feet apart. Mound sowing was also repeated. The cleaning work was very costly, but it was considered that the method was successful. Up to now only abandoned village sites had been dealt with. As land of this nature was not abundant it was proposed to give out for cultivation areas likely to be suitable for sâl, but which at the time were only covered with inferior species. These areas were to be clear-felled and cultivated for four to five years until they were clean. Areas of this description were marked out in the Buxa Division, but were not taken up by villagers; later in this year an area in a cleared fuel coupe in the Jalpaiguri Division was cultivated by villagers. It became at once apparent that after only one crop of rice, cotton and sesammon had been taken off the land became absolutely clean, and it was obvious that it would not be necessary to cultivate for three to five years. In 1916 sâl was put out in the second year's cultivation in Muraghat (Jalpaiguri Division) and in first year's cultivation at Nimati and Poro (Buxa Division). The results at once eliminated

* The records of 1915 were made by Troup. In his Sylviculture of Indian Trees, under this plantation he quotes a tree as 2 feet 11 inches in 1915. Sir H. Farrington was engaged on the 1896 work as Assistant in the Division. He visited the area in 1926. In a letter to the author (17 Feb., 1926), he writes, Troup's 2 feet 11 inches tree of 1915 is now 4 feet 10 inches. Sâl of 6-feet girth in under fifty years seems a certainty."

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further trials with the mound and sod sowings owing to their cost and the recognition that it would be impossible to obtain sufficient labour for the necessary weeding for such operations carried out on a large scale. The taungya method had been slowly worked up to, and from 1917 onwards no other methods have been attempted. The cost incurred was high during the first few years, but has been reduced latterly, and it has never been as high as that of the other methods. The item which has increased the expense of the work in Bengal has been the necessity of fencing against pig, sambhar and cow bison. Round plantations in the Kurseong Division (Sukna) and also at Rajabhatkhawa wire fencing of much the same height as is used in Scotland to keep out deer is maintained. This consists of wove wire with two upper strands of barbed wire fixed to stout posts.

The work was started experimentally at the foot of the hills in the Kurseong Division in 1917-18 and the method has since been developed. The operations will be briefly described.

Sâl is only placed on suitable areas, the other species being grown consisting of Gmelina arborea, Chikrassia tabularis, Bischofia javanica, Terminalia myriocarpa, Artocarpus Chaplasha and Bombax malabaricum. Some of these species are raised in nurseries and put out as seedlings. The initiation of the work at Sukna in the Kurseong Division was difficult owing to the area being notoriously unhealthy and taungya cutters were unavailable. A small labour force of about fifteen to twenty houses has been established, and the field crops, chiefly jute, which belong to the Department, are raised and the sâl seed sown with this labour. The sale of the field crops goes to pay the labour staff. The growth of the sâl (sown in lines) is exceptionally good (the lines run right across the plantation, are 6 feet apart, two to three seeds being sown in each line at 4 inches by 4 inches apart). The growth of some of the other species being tried is even more rapid. Weeds are bad and clearing has to be undertaken for two to three years. At first the experiments made with other species were carried out in a rather haphazard fashion, but a more regular method of utilizing the ground is now being introduced. It must be remembered that in this region of Bengal there is a demand for fuel by the tea gardens, so it should be possible to dispose of all species grown. Up the hill at Toong (6000-7000 feet) taungya is also being practised, the chief species planted here being utis

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