424 XXIII. LEGIBIINOSAE 



are Acacia Farnesiana, Alhizzia Lebbek, Tamurindus indica, Parkinsonia 

 aculeata, ZizypJms Jujuba, Azadirachta indica, Cordia Myxa, C. Bothii, and 

 Ficus bengalensis. 



Northern and central India. Acacia arabica is scattered in greater or less 

 abundance in suitable localities in the plains of the Punjab and United 

 Provinces, and is frequently grown along canal banks : it is occasionally 

 foimd in the drier parts of Bihar and Chota Nagpur, on embankments, waste 

 lands, &c. In the Punjab it does not extend to the extreme north-west, where 

 the cold in winter is too severe, but elsewhere it is one of the commonest trees 

 of the plains, attaining a good size near water and in irrigated tracts. It is 

 found in many parts of Rajputana and the Central India States, chieflj' in 

 the form of scattered trees in fields and waste lands and along roadsides, 

 bmids, and railway embankments. 



In the United Provinces the most important babul tracts are in the dry 

 southern districts. In the sub-Himalayan tract the tree occurs only in certain 

 isolated localities. Under the policy of afforestation promulgated by the 

 United Provinces Government in 1912, the reservation of tracts of babul 

 forest or of land capable of growing babul was commenced a few years ago in 

 the Hamirpur and Etawah districts, with the idea of being extended to other 

 districts as further experience in methods of afforestation is gained. It has 

 now been definitely proved by the Kalpi plantation in the Jalaun district 

 and the Fisher forest at Etawah that ravine lands in the southern districts of 

 these provinces can be successfully afforested with Jbabul ; the rainfall here 

 is between 30 and 40 in. These plantations are referred to on pp. 437- 

 440, under ' artificial reproduction '. 



Central Provinces and Berar. In the Central Provinces proper Acacia 

 arabica occurs for the most part on open cultivated or waste lands and grazing 

 grounds outside the large forest tracts, usually frequenting black cotton soil 

 or alluvial ground in the neighbourhood of streams : it is also frequently met 

 with on bunds and embankments. 



The most important babul tracts are found in Berar, where the State 

 babul forests extend over about 15,600 acres, while an additional area of public 

 land (grazing grounds, &c.), roughly estimated at 12,500 acres, either contains 

 crops of babul or is capable of supporting them. The tree also occurs in con- 

 siderable abundance over private lands, along boundaries between cultivated 

 fields, along banks of streams, and elsewhere. According to Mr. Shrinivasulu 

 Nayadu ^ the distribution of the babul in Berar is determined mainly by 

 situation, soil, and altitude. The underlying rock consists throughout of 

 Deccan trap, and there is a varying depth of black cotton soil over it. The 

 topography of the country is characterized by three main features : (1) on the 

 north the Gawilgarh hills (the Melghat), averaging 3,400 ft. in elevation ; (2) on 

 the south the Ajanta hill range (the Balaghat), comprising undulating plateaux 

 about 1,600 to 2,200 ft. in elevation; and (3) between these two hill ranges 

 the broad valley of the Purna river system, known as the Payanghat plain, 

 800 to 900 ft. in elevation. The Gawilgarh hills are unsuitable for babul, 

 since even in the ravines and valleys the substratum is dry, while frosts of 

 some severity occur : the rainfall here is about 58 in. In the Bahxghat babul 



1 loc. oil., p. 491. 



