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are eaten by men. The flowers are not eaten like the flowers 

 of the ordinary mahua tree but from them, a syrup is 

 prepared which is boiled down into sugar. It is equal, if not 

 superior, to ordinary date-sugar. The gur having small grain 

 fetches a smaller price. The oil is used as a substitute for 

 ghi and largely employed for adulterating ghi. It burns with 

 a bright light without smoke or smell and it makes excellent 

 soap and candles. This tree has not been taken such notice 

 of as it deserves. The oil is extracted in the following 

 way. The seed is beaten to pulp and put in bags and 

 subjected to pressure until all the fat is expressd. About 

 35 per cent, of fat is obtained out of the seed. It is 

 largely used mixed up with attar as a hair oil by up-country 

 people who call the fat phulwa. 



402. The common Mahua tree which is found abundantly 

 in the dry and stony regions of Bengal is highly appreciated 

 by the poorer people for its edible flowers which drop in abund- 

 ance in March and April. The fruits from which an edible oil 

 is extracted ripen 3 months after the shedding of the flowers. 

 In Famine times the Mahua tree is regarded as a life-saving 

 tree. The timber of the Mahua tree is also of considerable 

 value and in dry and arid regions in the plains where ordinary 

 agricultural pursuits prove difficult, the propagation of this 

 tree should be encouraged as much as possible. The dried 

 flowers being steeped in water and allowed to ferment, 

 yield a spirit by distillation which is largely consumed by 

 aboriginal tribes. Over 6 gallons of proof spirit can be 

 produced from i cwt. of Mahua by European methods 

 of distillation. Each tree yields 5 to 8 maunds of fresh 

 flowers, which give about I maund of dry food. The dry 

 flowers are an excellent fattening food for cattle. They keep 

 very long and they seem to resist the attack of weevil. 



403. The Mahua oil is extracted from the kernel of the 

 fruit. The kernels are taken out from the smooth chestnut 

 coloured pericarp by being bruised, rubbed and subjected to 



