ACACIA 447 



effectively along lines. Sowings have given good results in Ajmer-Merwara 

 in places where the soil was not too dry. Line sowings in conjunction with 

 the raising of field crops have been tried experimentally in Berar, and this 

 system would appear to be the most satisfactory one to adopt : the details of 

 this form of sowing are given on p. 435, under Acacia arahica. 



Rate of growth. Reliable statistics of rate of growth are wanting. 

 The tree is generally considered to be slow growing. A section 2 ft. 5 in. in 

 girth, including bark, in the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun had 31 rings,, 

 giving a mean annual girth increment of 0-94 in. 



3. Acacia Catechu, Willd. Cutch tree. Syn. A. Sundra, DC. ; Mimosa 

 Catechu, Linn. Vern. Khair, Hind., Mar. ; Kagli, shemi, Kan. ; Karangalli, 

 Tam. ; Sundra, tella tumma, Tel. ; Sha, Burm. 



A moderate-sized deciduous tree with a light feathery crown, the branch- 

 lets armed with twin hooked prickles. Bark 0-4-0 -5 in. thick, dark grey or 

 greyish brown, rough, exfoliating in long narrow strips, brown and red inside. 

 Sapwood yellowish white ; heartwood dark or light red, very hard and durable. 

 The wood is largely used for house-posts, agricultural implements, wheels, 

 tool-handles, and other purposes : it also gives excellent fuel and charcoal. 

 The substances cutch and kath are obtained by boiling down chips of the 

 heartwood : the former is largely exported for dyeing and tanning, and the 

 latter is used for chewing with betel-nut. The tree sometimes reaches a fair 

 size : Fig. 168 shows one 10 ft. 6 in. in girth. Prain ^ distinguishes three 

 varieties : 



(1) Var. Catechu proper. Calyx, petals, and rachis covered with spreading 

 hairs. Chiefly in the Punjab, Garhwal and Kumaun, Bihar, Ganjam, and in 

 the Irrawaddy valley : also in North Kanara and the Konkan (Talbot). 



(2) Var. catechuoides. Calyx and petals glabrous, radhis puberulous. 

 Chiefly in the Sikkim tarai and Assam, also in Upper Burma, Mysore, and the 

 Nilgiris. 



(3) Var. Sundra. Calyx, petals, and rachis all glabrous. Chiefly in the 

 Indian Peninsula and Upper Burma. 



Distribution and habitat. Throughout the greater part of India and 

 Burma, except in the most humid regions. The tree is most typically found 

 in one of two main classes of forest : (1) in the shingly or sandy alluvial beds 

 of rivers and streams which may or may not be dry for a considerable portion 

 of the year ; here it is markedly gregarious, often forming entirely pure 

 forests : (2) in dry types of forest on high land away from watercourses, 

 where it is frequently more or less gregarious, though commonly mixed with 

 other species characteristic of dry regions. Examples of forest types in 

 different localities are given below, and it will be seen that although the tree 

 is capable of growing on the poorest soil in dry localities, it occurs also in 

 mixed forest of good quality as in the drier types of teak forest in Burma 

 where it may attain considerable dimensions. 



Rock and soil. Acacia Catechu occurs on a variety of geological formations 

 and soils, though it undoubtedly thrives best on porous alluvium composed 

 of sand and shingle and on well-drained sandstone, as in the Pegu Yoma. 

 It is known to occur on granite, gneiss, schist, quartzite, shale, basalt, trap, 



1 Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, LXVI, ii (1898), p. 508. 



