Mr W. Coldstream on Grasses of the Southern Punjab. 277 



Notes on the Gh-asscs of the Southern Punjab. By W. 

 Coldstream, B.A., U.M. Bengal Civil Service. 



(Read 9th July 1885.) 

 {Abstract) 



The tract of country described in the paper is that 

 wliich, till the occurrence of recent administrative changes, 

 constituted the Hissar division. It stretches from near 

 Delhi westward to the Sutlej Kiver to th-e confines of 

 Multan and Bahwalpur ; there are large sandy areas in 

 this tract, which, however, is in parts watered by the 

 Western Jumna Canal, and the stream of the Gaggar. 

 The soil is prolific in the rainy season, which is the time 

 of growth of the principal harvest. The country is on the 

 whole very dry, hot, and sandy. Eainfall varies from 

 12| to 20 inches. Some of the principal trees are Acacia 

 arabica (native name, Keekur), A. leucojohlcea (native name, 

 Ronj), Tecoma tmdulata (native name, Rohira), which has 

 large showy orange-coloured blossoms, and grows wild even 

 in the barren and sandy tracts ; Prosopis sjncigera (Jhand), 

 Cajjparis aphylla (Karil), Salvadora oleoides (Jal), and on 

 the banks of streams and canals the valuable Dalbergia 

 sissu (Sheesham wood), a congener of the Bombay black- 

 wood. The principal crops are Sorghum vulgare (Jowar), 

 and Penicillaria spicata (Baijra). These form the staple 

 food of the people. But wheat, gram (Cicer arieiinum), 

 and on th« fertile spots sugar-cane, are also grown in con- 

 siderable quantities. The unripe sorghum plant is said to 

 be occasionally poisonous to cattle in seasons of drought. 

 The crops sometimes grow on sandhills and wonderfully 

 unpromising-looking soil. The farmer often dreads too 

 heavy a rainfall, because it is apt to w^ash his crop out of 

 the soft and sloping ground of the sandhill. The wild 

 grasses are numerous, and, as this is a pastoral region, 

 their nutritious qualities as fodder render them a peculiarly 

 valuable natural product. For months in the year the 

 cattle are largely dependent on the produce of the unculti- 



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