( 10 ; 



adapted for that of field crops. At present such areas usually bear a scanty growth of 

 chheula, stunted saj, seji and aonla, mixed with her, karonda, makor, ghont, chhind and other 

 shrubs, standing out of dense masses of coarse grass. Such tracts -would be profitably in- 

 cluded within the limits of Poorest villages, as provided for in para. 100 below. 



TYPE III. Found on shalloiv, rocky soil. This type is confined to the upper slopes 

 and tops of hills. The underlying rock is frequently exposed on the surface and elsewhere 

 a thin growth of grass covers the ground. The crop is invariably stunted and open and 

 consists largely of shrubs. Kulu, salai, gabdi, harua, gunja, semal, dudhi, khair, prickly 

 shrubs, such as air, bilsena, ghont, makor and stunted trees of better species, such as teak, 

 saj, dhawa, seji, tendu, &c., are most frequently seen. A marked feature also is the occasional 

 occurrence of straight well-developed individuals of erma and bahera. Stunted, bushy khair 

 is often found practically pure over small areas and in the northern range kardehi is fre- 

 quently met with, generally in company with ghont, the former in small thickets in and 

 near the rocky beds of nalas, the latter occupying the higher slopes and bluffs of hills. 

 The average height of tree species rarely exceeds 20 30 feet in this type and natural re- 

 production is extremely slow and uncertain. 



37. As a general rule, the crop, consisting, as it does, largely of irregular coppice 

 growth, is of inferior quality, due principally to the poverty and shallowness of the soil, to 

 the severe climate, to long-continued destructive and uncontrolled exploitation and to the 

 unregulated grazing of the past. Owing to these causes also natural reproduction is very poor, 

 and this poverty is beyond remedy in view of the unfavourable soil and climate. 



ARTICLE 6. Injuries to which the Crop is liable. 



38. The principal causes of injury are (A) grazing, (B) fire, (C) frosts, and (D) insects. 



39. (A) Grazing. These forests have for years served as grazing grounds for the 

 cattle of the highly cultivated haveli portion of the Juhbulpore and Damoh districts. 

 Subjoined are given the average number of cattle which resorted to the forests during the 

 five years' period 1887-88 1891-92 (i.e., before the famine materially affected their numbers) 

 and which may hence reasonably be expected to visit these forests in times of normal pros- 

 perity. Camels, sheep and goats are not allowed to enter : 



The actual pressure on the area is very much lighter than that represented by the 

 preceding figures, which even by themselves do not indicate excessive grazing. The private 

 grazing areas are extensive and many cattle-owners, merely in order to keep themselves 

 quite safe from the risk of trespass, pay for a larger number of animals than they actually 

 need send into Government forest, especially as the grazing fees levied are so insignificant. 

 It must also be remembered that the greater number of the cattle graze in our forests only 

 during a part of the year, although this is the worst time for the interests of every kind of 

 reproduction. But, although the average pressure of the grazing is light, still according to 

 custom, encouraged by the absence of any attempt hitherto to control the grazing, cattle 

 are concentrated at certain points, where consequently both the forest and soil have severely 

 suffered. 



40. (B) Fire. None of the forests are self-protected. According to the soil and 

 situation, the grass over limited acres becomes dry enough to burn as early as November- 

 December. Without protection fires begin to rage from the early part of February, and 

 those which occur after April are impossible to extinguish and only burn themselves out 

 when they reach obstacles which they cannot cross. Such obstacles must, however, be 

 several hundred yards wide, for burning leaves and twigs are carried up by whirlwinds and 

 may he deposited at a distance of 300 yards or even further. 



41. (C) Night-frosts. These are frequent in this Division in December and January 

 and do considerable damage to the forest growth. They effectually prevent the re-stockirjg 

 of the open grass-covered blanks by cutting back year after year all young growth which 

 may appear and also destroy the foliage, shoots, flowers and young fruit of trees. A good 

 example of the damage done is to be seen in the Baraiyakhera Keserve, as described in more 

 detail in the second part of para. 46 below. 



42. (D) Insects. Great damage has of late years been done to the forests of this 

 Division by insects, especially to teak by the defoliating moth (Paliya damastesalis). Its 

 life-history is as yet imperfectly known and no time should be lost in determining this and in 

 evolving a scheme to combat the pest. Still less is known about those insects, the larvae of 

 which attack and completely destroy the wood of nearly all the inferior species found in these 

 forests if cut outside the rainy season. 



