HOLE : SOME INDIAN GRASSES AND THEIR CECOLOGY. 121 



hairs, barbs, and so on. Whether firing is, or is not, a beneficial treatment to 

 adopt in grasslands of such species will depend entirely on the characteristics of 

 the particular species dealt with, on the nature of competing species, and on the condi- 

 tions of the locality. Thus Andropogon contortus Linn., Andropogon foveolatus Del. and 

 Andropogon annulatus Forsk. are probably all to be reckoned as xerophilous species and all 

 yield in consequence fairly good fodder. The first, however, is often avoided by cattle on 

 account of the characteristic masses of its long-awned and barbed fruiting spikelets and for 

 this reason it is often considered of little value in India. It is, however, hardly correct to 

 speak of this plant as a coarse species which is a term best reserved for the more robust 

 hygrophytes and mesophytes and it should be noted that, apart from its peculiar fruiting 

 spikelets, this species is a good fodder and Duthie writes as follows regarding it : " Largely 

 used as fodder both before and after it has flowered, but chiefly when it is young and tender. 

 * * On Mount Abu the people consider it the best fodder grass they have. * * In 

 Australia it is looked upon as a splendid grass for a cattle run, as it produces a great 

 amount of feed." 1 It is undoubtedly a fact that this species frequently tends to increase in 

 burnt grasslands, whereas in similar stations which are protected it has to give way, to a 

 considerable extent, to such species as Andropogon foveolatus and Andropogon annulatus. 

 An experiment initiated by Mr. R. S. Pearson some years ago in the Panch Mahals Division 

 of Bombay and of which details have kindly been supplied to me has shown this to have 

 occurred in that locality, while in Dehra Dun a comparison of the grasslands known as 

 Zabarkhet and Gola Tappar indicates that in protected areas Andropogon contortus is to 

 a great extent replaced by Andropogon intermedins. The fact that Andropogon contortus 

 tends to spread in burnt areas is probably due to the fruit being fire-resistant, on account 

 of the very hard enclosing glumes. 



Thus it will be clear that, while a generalisation, to the effect that fire is as a rule bene- 

 ficial in areas where hygrophilous or coarse mesophilous grasses predominate, appears to be 

 justifiable, we cannot proceed further to say that fire is as a rule beneficial with all species. 



As regards local grasslands, therefore, it may be said that where Erianthus, Saccharum 

 Narenga, Saccharum Munja and Imperata are dominant, early firing is as a rule decidedly 

 beneficial so far as the fodder supply is concerned inasmuch as this (1) increases the quan- 

 tity of palatable fodder available from these species themselves, and (2) either by directly 

 injuring the plants themselves (as in the case of Saccharum Munja on sand), or indirectly 

 by drying the soil, tends to replace these coarse species by less vigorous and generally more 

 valuable fodder-grasses, such as Andropogon monticola on sand and Andropogon contortus 

 on loam. 



The value of Saccharum spontaneum for fodder is also, as a rule, probably increased 

 by early firing which cleans the clumps of debris and old culms and insures the production 

 of a good supply of vigorous young shoots from the ground. In places where it cannot be 

 easily fired owing to the wet conditions of its habitat and where vigorous growth during the 



1 Fodder Grasses of Northern India by J. F. Duthie, p. 32. 



[ 121 ] 



