INTRODUCTION. 



immediately under the influence of favouring conditions, whether natural 

 or artificial. Of the natural incentives to recuperative growth the most 

 beneficial is seasonable rainfall. In the case of large areas of grass land, 

 the only way in which we can assist nature during the critical periods of 

 deficient rainfall, is by preventing indiscriminate grazing. The effects of 

 over-grazing are not only directly injurious to grass vegetation, but indi- 

 rectly in consequence of the destruction of young trees and shrubs, under 

 the shade of which many kinds of grasses find sufficient protection to be 

 available as fodder long after every blade, not so protected, is shrivelled 

 up and destroyed. Before proceeding to make arrangements for the 

 formation of grass reserves, it should first of all be ascertained whether the 

 existing grasses are of sufficient value as fodder or forage to justify the 

 cost of such protection. Every grass reserve should contain a large per- 

 centage of the best of the prevailing indigenous species of the district, 

 rather than be stocked with introduced kinds, however superior they may 

 prove to be in other localities. Attention should also be directed to the 

 extension of all the really good local kinds in the place of useless or noxi- 

 ous weeds. There are certain tracts of country, however, where the na- 

 tural or indigenous grasses are found to be very deficient in nutritive 

 value, and which can be advantageously replaced by superior kinds intro- 

 duced from other countries. In New Zealand, for instance, I am told that 

 an acre of land, where only the indigenous grasses exist, will support only 

 one sheep ; whereas three to six, or more, can be maintained on an acre 

 which has been sown with grass seed introduced from Europe. 



The Preservation of Eodjder. — During ordinary seasons, when the 

 rainfall is up to the average, the yield of fodder throughout Northern 

 India, in the form of grass alone, must be very largely in excess of actual 

 requirements. A very large portion, however, of the spontaneous or 

 indigenous fodder supply is practically unavailable for the same reason 

 that the value of the produce of some forests diminishes according to the 

 distance to the nearest suitable market. Nevertheless, many outlying grass 

 tracts can be utilized to some extent by driving the cattle to such places 

 for grazing purposes; in fact there are certain classes of graziers, who 

 both in the plains and on the hills habitually migrate with their herds to 

 distant localities during the different seasons of the year. Notwithstand- 

 ing this, there must be a very large quantity of good grass which is never 

 grazed nor cut for fodder. During seasons of long continued drought the 

 whole of the spontaneous growth of grass within the area affected is sud- 

 denly checked, and the supply of fodder from this source becoming reduced 

 to a minimum the usual results take place, viz., the loss or impoverish- 

 ment of an immense number of cattle. The custom of migrating from one 



