NOTE ON BABUL. 9- 



small quantities only. The sleepers are reported to have had a life 

 of about ten years, if laid in places where they are not liable to attack 

 by white-ants, and to have been supplied by contractors at the rate of 

 Ks. 2-12-0 each. The Port Engineer, Karachi, states that in Karachi 

 Babul sleepers, measuring about 10'xlO"x5", were laid down for the 

 Port Trust yard Kail way lines, but as they were found to be subject 

 to eiarly destruction by white-ants their use was discontinued. 



IV. Minor Products- 



(a) LEAVES. 



The leaves form a useful cattle-fodder and are sometimes farmed 

 out, together with the pods, for the purpose. They also yield a dye. 



(6) PODS. 



The pods form an important item of cattle-fodder, and the late Mr. 

 C. S. McKenzie, when he was Divisional Forest Officer of Jerruck, wrote 

 that, in that Division, they were almost solely used for that purpose. 

 He says : '.' The pods are sold annually as they stand on the trees .... 

 Cattle eat Babul pods in their green state, and, in years of very plentiful 

 pod crops, the seed is sometimes stored, to be used as fodder at a later 

 date. When their use is so postponed the pods are usually boiled 

 before being given to the cattle." 



In some divisions, the sale of pods for fodder forms an important 

 item of revenue, but in others, notably in Madras, their collection is 

 allowed free. The Divisional Forest Officer, Poona, writes that, in that 

 division, the right to collect pods is sold with the condition attached 

 that a proportion of the undigested seed is returned for sowing purposes ; 

 while the Divisional Forest Officer, Tinnevelly, states that though the 

 collection of pods is now allowed free, they fetched as much as Rs. 6,800 

 per annum before the privilege was granted. 



Babul pods also form a tanning and dyeing material, but 

 Mr. McKenzie writing from Jerruck stated that " they yield an inferior 

 tan, and Babul bark is preferred for this purpose." According to Watt's 

 Commercial Products of India " Babul pods impart a beautiful 

 colour to leather, and mainly on that account enjoy a certain local 

 reputation as a weak tanning and dyeing material, useful in conjunction 

 with other substances. At the Cawnpore tanneries, the pods are em- 

 ployed almost exclusively for the purpose of removing the lime from 

 skins and hides, before the leather is tanned with Babul bark or other 

 substances. The dyers of India often use Babul pods to obtain certain 

 shades that are admired in calico-printing." 



