NOTE ON DHAUKA OR BAfc.LI. 



7. Notes on Distribution and Extraction in different Provinces. 



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(i) Central Provinces. 



Vernacular names. Dhamora, Dhaura, Dhawa. 



Local distribution. Over the greater part of the Central Provinces 

 the tree is not very plentiful, but in the west it occurs to a larger extent 

 than elsewhere, being reported from Raipur to form sometimes 20 per 

 cent, and from Jubbulpur 15 per cent, of the whole crop. It grows best 

 on low-lying land up to 1,500 feet but occurs up to 2,500 feet in smaller 

 sizes. Very exposed dry slopes do not suit it but it thrives on the lower 

 slopes on north and west aspects in mixed deciduous forests. On plateaux 

 and high slopes it is dwarfed, much branched and early becomes hollow. 

 In South Chanda girths of 6 feet are recorded with a total height of 90 

 feet and a clear bole of 60 feet, but two or three feet is a much more 

 common girth measurement, with 40 feet height and in some divisions 

 25 feet is more usual. In Berar the tree produces chiefly fuel being 

 felled in Coppice with Standards and sometimes pollarded. In parts 

 of Nimar it produces timber. In 1892 and 1897 the tree suffered greatly 

 in the Damoh forests from the ravages of a small caterpillar which 

 devoured the whole leaf. New leaves were produced in July (R. C. 

 Thompson) . 



Extraction. The forests containing the tree are almost everywhere 

 worked under the system of Coppice with Standards so that large timber 

 is not available as a rule, except in the more remote forests of a few 

 districts. Extraction is done almost entirely by carting by the purchasers 

 of the annual coupes, who undertake the whole of the work in most cases. 

 Government has to cut back the unmarketable stems left on the ground. 

 The coppice is largely used for fuel, but the larger stems are very useful 

 in cart-building. When some of the inaccessible forests are opened up 

 by roads, a large quantity of this timber will be available and will be in 

 good demand on account of its strength and toughness. In the following 



