12 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VII. 
water to another ravine, the condition is ideal. An escape 
skirting the edge of a bandh will very soon Scour out and 
undermine the bandh, which will never survive. Frequently 
a well planned bandh will have a sheet of water stretching 
to 100 yards on the upside in the rains. 
(3) Bandhs must be at right angles to the flow of water, and never 
in a narrow gorge with steep banks. 
(4) The water escape must be capable of taking off all flood water. 
Its bottom level must be carefully fixed so as to be at least 
3 feet below the top of the bandh. 
The amount of band'hing required varied considerably with the 
country. As an example, 250 acres in the Fisher Forest were efficiently 
and adequately bandhed with 83 bandhs in 1914, or about 1 bandh 
per 4 acres. Of these about 10 bandhs were broken through in the 
first rains, but were successfully repaired. Again in 1919, in Bhindwa- 
khurd plantation, 24 bandhs were made in 108 acres. After one or 
two years, a bandh is practically safe. It is sown up as soon as possible 
with shisham, babul, etc., and the growth on bandhs is always wonder¬ 
ful. 
On the upper side of each bandh, where a pool of water collects 
in the rains, considerable silting occurs, and in a year or two a flat 
broad bed of rich loose fertile loam is formed, on which wonderful tree 
growth results. Such areas are also utilised for the production of munj 
grass, Saccharum arundinaceum. 
Soil preparation. 
The method of afforestation. 
18. Simultaneously with the bandhing 
work, the sides and heads of the ravines 
are prepared for tree growth. 
(1) Preparation of the flat high level land. 
The whole surface is ploughed up deeply with English sabul ploughs, 
to a depth of 9 inches or 10 inches, and the surface crust thoroughly 
broken up. (In famine years this work is done by hand to create a 
big labour demand for the famine-stricken population, as was done 
in 1919.) 
Small parallel ridges (1 feet high and 2 feet broad at the base) 10 
feet apart are then made by hand labour, usually with a shallow ditch 
on the upper side. These ridges act as seed beds, and the soil is kept 
loose and the clods well broken up, so that the rootlets of the young 
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