PROSOPIS 399 



The following coppice measurements in Baluchistan are recorded in the 

 Forest Report of that province for 1915-16 : 



Prosopis spicigera : coppice measurements, Baluchistan, 



Age. Maximum height. Forest. 



years. ft. in. 



4 5 8 Gullushahr 



8 20 1 AbdullaKheli 



9 22 2 



10 22 



11 22 10 



2. Prosopis Juliflora, DC. Var. glandulosa, Sarg. Syn. P. glandulosa, 

 Torr. ; P. pallida, H. B. and K. Mesquit bean. 



This species is very variable : the variety velutina, Sarg., is said to be 

 the more useful timber variety, the tree reaching a height of 50 ft. and a 

 diameter of 2 ft. (cf. R. S. Hole in Ind. For. Records, vol. iv, pt. iii). P. juli- 

 flora, DC, the typical variety (or species) is a small evergreen tree, usually 

 unarmed ; it is cultivated in nprthern India, but not extensively. Var. 

 glandulosa, Sarg. (P. glandulosa, Torr.), is a small or moderate-sized deciduous 

 tree armed with stout scattered axillary thorns : it appears to have been first 

 introduced into India in 1877 from seed obtained through Kew, and in some of 

 the drier parts of India has proved of great importance for afforestation work, 

 for which purpose it deserves further attention. It is recommended for plant- 

 ing shifting sands in dry localities. It is also a useful source of supply of fuel, 

 of faimine fodder, and of food for man in times of scarcity, the pods being 

 sweet and edible. 



Its natural distribution, according to Bentham,^ is ' west tropical and 

 sub-tropical North and South America ; very abundant from Buenos Ayres 

 and Chile, along the Andes, to Mexico and Texas, and frequently planted '. 

 In North America it is ' one of the characteristic trees of the lower Sonoran 

 Zone, an area where the conditions as to rainfall and climate range from arid 

 to semi-arid, that is, the rainfall varies from less than 10 to about 25 in. 

 per aimum '.'^ 



In Jamaica the tree is known as ' cashaw ', and is described as ' an 

 admirable tree (often attaining a height of 40 to 60 ft.) to grow in dry gravelly 

 soil, and in situations where rain does not fall for months together. It is fast 

 growing : the ti^iber is excessively hard and of a remarkably durable character. 

 It is used for making knees of boats and all work requiring strength and 

 tenacity. Posts of cashaw in wire fences last longer than any other, and are 

 in great request for that purpose. . . . The pods are of a sweetish succulent 

 character eagerly sought for by cattle : indeed in some parts of this island 

 during droughts they subsist largely on them.' ^ 



In India it has succeeded admirably in dry regions, reproducing some- 

 times in profusion by seed and by root-suckers : in damp localities, however, 

 the seedlings are apt to die off in the first rains, being susceptible to an excess 

 of moisture. In Sind it has proved a most useful sand-binder, and has been 

 grown there since 1878. It may be seen growing in profusion about Miani 



* Mimoseae in Trans. Linn. Soc, vol. xxx, 1874. 



2 U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 16, J. G. Smith, 1899, p. 18. 



3 Ind. Forester, x (1884), p. 293. 



