PART I. 



SUMMARY OF FACTS ON WHICH THE PROPOSALS ARE BASED. 



CHAPTER I. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE TRACTS DEALT WITH. 



1. The forest with which this Working Plan deals forms part of the Banjar Range 



and is called the Ban|ar Valley Reserve ; it is situated in the 

 southern part of the Mandla district and lies on the 22 N. latitude 



and 80 longitude. The forest is 34 miles from Nainour, the nearest Railway Station on the 

 Bengal-Nagpur line, and is about the same distance from Mandla, the headquarters of 

 the district. 



2. The ground varies in elevation from about 1,700 to 2,800 feet, and, as will be 



afterwards pointed out, these differences in elevation have a 



Configuration of the ground. marked effect Qn ^ natufe Qf ^ growjng 



The configuration of the ground is essentially hilly. Broadly speaking, the area is 

 surrounded by a line of steep and rugged hills rising to an elevation of 600 feet above 

 the enclosed plains, the interior being composed of less conspicuous hills, and in many 

 parts of more or less even ground. 



The hills comprise a part of the Maikal Range. Many of the larger hills are charac- 

 terised by having flat tops of some extent known locally as " Dadars." 



The gradient of the hills is steep, the surrounding country slopes gradually up to 

 the base of the hills, which are well marked. The drainage is good throughout, the whole 

 area being much cut up by streams. The most important of these are the Sulkum and 

 the Ghangar, both of which contain abundant water throughout the year. 



The larger portion of the area eventually drains into the Banjar River ; only a small 

 portion on the east of the forest drains into the Halon River. 



3. The forest is situated in the Deccan Trap area. An extraordinary mixture of 



different rocks is met with ; gneiss conglomerate, trap, lime- 

 stone, clay, laterite and shale being found in close proximity. 



The soil derived from these rocks is generally good and favourable to forest growth consist- 

 ing of a sandy loam, of good depth, frequently reddish in colour. In the low-lying portions 

 there is an admixture of black soil. On the tops and slopes of the higher hills the soil is 

 shallow, large masses of naked rock being often exposed. 



Iron is often met with in scattered lumps. Mica is exceedingly abundant everywhere 

 and is present in the water in minute particles. 



4. The year may be divided into three seasons, the cold, the hot and the rainy seasons. 



The cold season commences about the middle of October and 

 gradually merges into the hot season about the middle of March. 



The temperature varies from 70 in the day time to 5 below freezing point at night, 

 and as the range of temperature is both great and rapid, the cold is much felt and causes 

 great damage to trees in low-lying parts and hollows. 



The hot season terminates on the bursting of the monsoon, which takes place about 

 the end of June. 



Severe hailstorms not infrequently pass over the country in April and do much 

 damage to sal foliage. 



The hot season temperature goes up to IOO in the shade during the day, but owing 

 to the masses of vegetation, and the high altitude, the heat is never excessive and the 

 nights are always cool. 



The rainy season lies between the hot and the cold seasons. The rainfall varies 

 from 50 inches to 60 inches, most of which falls in July, August and September. 



The hot weather months are the healthy months, the rainy and cold months being 

 correspondingly unhealthy. Fever is very prevalent in the rains, while fever and lung com- 

 plaints are common in the cold weather. 



5. In the event of, at any future date, works of similar nature to the sleeper works of 

 1 901 1903 being undertaken, the following facts may prove 



Effects of the climate during u ^ e f u i ._ 

 the sleeper works of 1 901 

 1903. 



