timber for agricultural purposes, while they get their green leaf manure from 

 the soppin-betta areas assigned to them. According to the rules they graze 

 their cattle at 2 annas per head. 



17. A detailed description of the crop is given under Appendix III, so that 



only a brief general description of the growing stock 



Composition and condition { nece ssary owing to the varying conditions of the 

 of the crop. .. *. ., , .. , , . 



locality, such as altitude, aspect, soil and underlying 



rock, together with the former treatment to which the crop has been subjected. 

 The forest has assumed five somewhat distinct types : - 



(a) In the east and, therefore, in the forests farthest removed from 

 the sea, on the upper slopes of the hills and spurs coming down from the 

 Arbail ghats, true deciduous forests containing Teak are found. There 

 the height growth is about 70 feet a'ad the forest is fairly well stocked, 

 containing, besides Teak, good Nana, Kindal, scattered Sissum, Heddi, Honui, 

 Jamba, a few Matti, inferior species and Bamboos. 



(b) The second type of forests is found on the lower-lying ground, 

 along the main stream and up the larger valleys. Here the ground is 

 covered with moist deciduous forests, with generally speaking a height of 

 80 to 100 feet and a full stocking of large Matti, Nana, Kindal, Jamba, 

 Dhamni, Womb, a few Sissum, Honni, Heddi, inferior species, many Bam- 

 boos and a heavy growth of Karvi, but practically no Teak. From the 

 more accessible areas in this class of forests the fellings of Matti, Jamba, 

 Nana and in places Heddi, have been very heavy in the past. Thus in the 

 Kolga, Kendga and Marugudda valleys, north of the Gangavali River, and 

 again in and around Shavkar village and in the Halvalli-Kuntgani valley 

 south of the river, most of the large trees of these species have been ex- 

 ploited, leaving good young growth and many large misshapen trees. 



(c) In the small narrow valleys and on the upper slopes above the 

 1,000 feet contour line, especially on north and north-east aspects, evergreen 

 forest appears, forming a very marked contrast to the deciduous forests 

 below. In places the deciduous and evergreen forests gradually merge 

 from one type of forest into the other, and only where former " Kumri " 

 cultivation has upset the balance of nature is the line distinctly marked. 



(d) The fourth type of forest is very local, being chiefly confined to 

 the Dongri and Hegarni plain, where a species of exaggerated scrub jungle 

 has come into existence containing stunted Matti, Kindal, Hirda, Khair and 

 thorny bushes. This type of forest is the result of former cultivation which 

 impoverished the soil by laying it bare and when reduced to such a state 

 that even a meagre crop could no more be raised, it was allowed to lie 

 fallow and has since produced this poor class of forest. 



(e) Lastly, a very distinct feature of the growing stock, but one which 

 does not form an altogether different type of forest is the growth which 

 has come into existence on the former " Kumri " areas. At the higher 

 elevations the forest so produced is a crop of nearly pure Jamba, now in 

 the pole stage, which is sparsely intermixed with well grown Nana and Kindal 

 but few other species. Lower down the slopes the percentage of Jamba in 

 the crop becomes less, while that of the better deciduous species increases, 

 till, in the valley, the result of this clearing of the forest growth has resulted 

 in very promising Matti pole woods mixed with other valuable species. 



18. Regeneration. Regeneration from coppice has probably played but 

 a very small part in the origin of these forests, by far the greater portion of the 

 growing stock having originated from seed. It may at once be stated that the 

 natural regeneration is good and in some places excellent. In a forest contain- 

 ing such a variety of species and in which the production of seed of most of the 

 species is assured, the distribution of the species must depend largely on their 

 powers to withstand shade in the struggle for existence and it is on this point 

 that the future of these forests depends. 



The Teak producing area is small as compared with the rest of the forest, 

 so it is the other more valuable species that we must chiefly take into consider- 

 ation. Of these, in order, Matti, Nana, Kindal and Jamba are those for which 

 there is at present the greatest demand. Matti is without doubt the greatest 



