298 On the Vegetation of the Jhelum District. [No. 3 



the Punjaub, A few trees, however, of Seikh times still exist near 

 wells, and shew splendid timber. The Datives of the district would 

 induce one to believe that this had formerly been a common tree and 

 that during the Punjaub campaign it had been cut down. I believe it 

 has been introduced since our conquest of the country, with the 

 exception of the specimens near Tullagung. 



Zizyphus jujuba, " Baer," is a good, rapid growing tree, produces 

 excellent wood, highly valued by the zemindars, and requires no 

 care or trouble to rear ; its fruit and leaves yield good fodder to goats, 

 sheep, &c. and its branches make excellent hedges. 



The " Baer" and the " Kekur" are the staple woods of the whole 

 district, from which all the woodwork required by the agricultural popu^ 

 lation is made. They spring up naturally from their seeds, whether 

 distributed by winds, men or animals. They require no care in their 

 youth, and both grow freely without water, (or at least under very 

 straitened cirrcumstances for it,) so long as they have some soil to 

 grow in. On stony, sandy land they do not grow, but on clay they 

 spring up readily. At present there are few or no old trees in the 

 Jhelum tract and decidedly not many in any of the other tracts ; that 

 is to say, trees fit for timber. This is due solely to carelessness and 

 jiegligence on the part of the zemindars to substitute young trees for 

 those cut down ; hence there is at present a scarcity of timber, which 

 in a few years, if the present state of things goes on, will end in a 

 nullity of local produce. It appears to me that Government should 

 take up this subject in earnest, and only permit trees of above a certain 

 age to be cut down, making it an established rule, that for every 

 tree cut down, a proportionate number of young trees be planted. 

 The greater the age of the tree cut down, the larger should be the 

 number of young trees required to be substituted for that one re-? 

 moved ; and thus, instead of a scarcity of timber, in a few years, 

 a cheap supply of wood grown on the locality would be the result, 

 besides the benefit that would otherwise accrue to a country at present 

 all but destitute of trees. In replacing trees cut down, it is strongly to 

 be recommended that the Baer and Kekur be preferred to any others ; 

 not even excepting the Sissoo, which, although a valuable timber tree, 

 takes too long a time to become useful and is too tender, requiring 

 too much nursing in its youth, to be of real paying benefit. The 

 rapid growth of the Baer and Kekur and their non-liability to injury 



