ACACIA 425 



occurs to a greater or less extent along the banks of streams, and on cultivated 

 and other land where there is sufficient immunity from frost and weeds : the 

 rainfall of this tract averages 38 in. 



The Payanghat plain is the important babul-bearing tract of Berar, and 

 it is here that most of the State babul bans are situated. In this plain over- 

 lying the Deccan trap is a deep alluvial deposit, often 150 ft. in depth. 

 Black cotton soil occurs at the surface, with yellow calcareous loam beneath ; 

 this loam often appears at the surface, and is less favourable to tree growth 

 than the black cotton soil. Deposits of silt are frequent in the river valleys 

 and along the sides of streams. The water-bearing stratum is at a considerable 

 depth, but the superficial strata are sufficiently retentive of moisture to support 

 the growth of babul. The rainfall in the Payanghat tract averages 30 in., 

 rain falling mainly during the south-west monsoon from June to September, 

 with occasional showers from November to January. Frost is of rare occur- 

 rence ; indeed, wherever it occurs in Berar the babul is easily capable of standing 

 the winter cold, suffering only in abnormal years, as in January 1911. Babul 

 forms about 90 per cent, of the tree growth of the Payanghat, its chief com- 

 panions being Acacia leucophloea, A. ebnrnea, Prosopis spicigera, Diclirostachys 

 cinerea, Balanites Boxburghii, Azadirachta indica, Zizyphus Jujuba, and Phoenix 

 sylvestris. Common species of the undergrowth are Cassia Tora, C. auriculata, 

 and Capparis grandis. In situations favourable to the babul this tree forms 

 pure crops, the associates becoming more prominent where the black cotton 

 soil gives place to calcareous loam or shallow soil. Phoenix sylvestris pre- 

 dominates on swampy ground. Babul occurs most plentifully and shows the 

 most vigorous growth in the deep moist soil in the neighbourhood of streams 

 and particularly along the Purna river : in such places it benefits by the 

 annual inundations during the rainy season. Both the telia and the kauria 

 varieties are common, the former seeking the localities with deep moist soil 

 and the latter being more plentiful on the higher and drier ground away from 

 the streams, or where there are calcareous deposits near the surface, or where 

 the salinity of the soil becomes marked : the growth of the kauria is much 

 slower than that of the telia variety, and the rate of growth of the latter 

 decreases away from the streams. 



Bombay Deccan. The principal babul tracts of the Bombay Deccan are 

 situated in the Khandesh, Nasik, Ahmednagar, Sholapur, Poona, and Satara 

 districts. The actual area of these tracts is difficult to estimate, as the babul 

 is restricted to certain localities and is not distributed over the whole forest 

 area. In 1908 the total area of State babul forests was estimated at 45,000 

 acres. The forests are for the most part widely scattered over cultivated 

 lands, usually in isolated patches of comparatively small size, and along the 

 banks of rivers. The underlying rock is mainly trap, over which there is 

 frequently a varying depth of black cotton soil favourable to the growth of 

 babvil, but on the higher ground away from rivers the soil usually becomes 

 a dry shallow murram, the result of the disintegration of the trap, or a calcareous 

 kankar unfavourable to babul. The best babul tracts are invariably situated 

 on deep sandy alluvium along the banks of rivers and streams subject to 

 annual inundation. Here the tell variety flourishes and often forms dense 

 crops. On the deep black cotton soil of the lower ground the babul also 



