BABUL 



JJcada arabica, Willd. 



Natural Order. Leguminosae (Mimoseae). 



Vernacular names. Babul (Hind.); Kikar (Pb.); Babur (Sind); Gabur 

 bakar (Sonthal) ; Babola (Mai Pahari) ; Karuvelam (Tarn.) ; Tuma, 

 tamma, nella tuma (Tel.) ; Gobli, gobalu, jali, karrijali, jaligida 

 (Kan.) ; Bamura (Jubbulpore) ; Babli (Hyd.) ; Karu velagum (Mai.) ; 

 Babulo, khoiro (Vinya). 



Introduction. 



The data, on which this note is based, are those collected by the 

 Forest Economist, and consist chiefly of reports from Divisional Forest 

 Officers, and extracts from works of reference, and from articles which 

 have appeared from time to time in the " Indian Forester." The 

 subject will be dealt with under four heads : I. Distribution, II. 

 Silviculture and Management, III. Timber, and IV. Minor Products. 

 As the series of bulletins, of which this note forms a part, is designed 

 to treat of forest trees, chiefly from a commercial point of view, the 

 silviculture of the tree will be dealt with as shortly as possible. 



L Distribution. 



Babul is indigenous in Sind, Rajputana, Berar and the Central 

 Provinces, Gujarat, and the North Deccan, but it is also cultivated 

 and grown in the drier parts of India and, to a small extent, in 

 Upper Burma. 



It occurs as far north as Jammu, etc., where it is found at the lower 

 elevations, especially near cultivated lands, and extends to the very 

 south of the Peninsula. This does not mean that there are large Babul 

 forests all over India. On the contrary, a large proportion of the 

 growth occurs in Revenue lands in the form of small patches of isolated 

 trees. The District Forest Officer, Guntur, Madras Presidency, for 

 instance, states that " isolated trees are everywhere met with "; and he 

 estimates the Babul-bearing area in his district at 19,093 acres, of 

 which only 4,817 acres are reserved forest a state of affairs which 

 must be typical of many Indian districts. 



