100 INDIAN FOREST MEMOIRS. 



damaged. The natural result of this injury is that only the interior and upper smaller 

 leaves are able to develop, while owing to the more or less complete destruction of the outer 

 and lower leaves, the culm is poorly nourished and shows exceptionally feeble development, 

 both as regards the length of the internodes and diameter of the culm. Grazing therefore 

 tends to produce a depauperate form with unusually small green leaves situated, close to the 

 ground surface, the mature flowering culms of which are minute, often filiform and a few 

 inches high, with a panicle sometimes not exceeding 1 inch long. Grass-cutting (on a lawn 

 for instance) obviously has precisely the same effect, the interference with the plant's develop- 

 ment being more severe, the lower and nearer the ground the shoots are cut or bitten off. 



Owing to the period of vegetative activity being prolonged in areas which are grazed, 

 or where the grass is cut, and to the fact that the subterranean stolons during the period of 

 vegetative activity continue to produce fresh young culms, this species is capable of produc- 

 ing a practically perennial supply of palatable young shoots and small leaves which consti- 

 tute good fodder, and incidentally it may be noted that, for a similar reason, it is capable 

 of forming a fairly good green sward, or lawn. 



As regards the best treatment for pastures of this grass it is obvious that the growth 

 on those areas where the plants have been allowed to develop undisturbed through the 

 rains is too coarse to be of any value and this ought to be fired if good fodder is desired. 



Duthie writes as follows regarding this grass : " Cattle relish it when young." * * 

 " In Australia it is called ' blady grass ' and the young succulent foliage which springs up 

 after the occurrence of a fire is much relished by stock. I have observed the same effect 

 resulting from periodical fires on certain parts of the Himalaya where this grass is plenti- 

 ful." 1 



' It forms the chief constituent of the turf in the Botanical Gardens at Calcutta." 2 

 Relations of 79. This species is not an injurious competi- 



Grassland to . L J 1 



woodland, tor of the Sal tree and m this locality it is only dominant on limited areas which are as a 

 rule unsuitable for the growth and development of Sal seedlings on account of the soil, in- 

 sufficient aeration, a deficiency of available moisture at certain critical times of year, frost 

 or other causes. Its importance as regards the forest therefore consists mainly in the 

 danger of fire resulting from the masses of inflammable dry leaves existing in the areas 

 occupied by it during the fire season. This danger is best dealt with, in the usual way, by 

 firing the grass under suitable control. It should be noted that if areas which have thus 

 been burnt could be well grazed throughout the rains, the result would be to produce a non- 

 inflammable sward which, if continually grazed, would require no further firing. In 

 localities where this grass is plentiful, or could be cheaply introduced, treating fire-lines 

 and blanks in this way might considerably reduce the cost of fire protection. 



Misceiiane- 80. Like kans this species is liable to take 



possession of agricultural lands which have lain fallow and is then exceedingly difficult to 



1 Fodder Grasses of Northern India by J. F. Duthie, p. 23. 



2 List]oj the Grasses of North-Western India (1883) by J. F. Duthie, p. 14. 



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