Indian Forest Records. 
[ Vol. IV- 
Wood. 
£6 
valuable forage. The sweet pods are greedily eaten by cattle, and prove 
almost as fattening as barley or other grain. The yield varies from a 
few bushels to often 75 or 100 bushels of ripe pods from the trees on an 
acre of land. The seeds are hard and indigestible and remain in the 
dung when the pods are eaten by cattle. They then seem to be even 
more sure of germination than when the pod is left to rot on the ground. 
By this means alone this tree is spreading rapidly each year over new 
territory, the seeds being scattered far and wide by all classes of animals 
that feed on the pods.'”—( U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull No. 16 by J. Gr. Smith, 
1899, p. 18.) This species is said to be spreading and encroaching on 
the grasslands in the U. S. America as a result of fire-protection. The 
following information refers to this tree in Jamaica :— 
“ The pods are of a sweetish succulent character eagerly sought for by 
cattle : indeed in some parts of this island during droughts they subsist 
largely on them. For horses and mules the pods are also admirable food, 
but I would add that in their case it is very undesirable to allow them 
to feed upon the pods immediately after they have been exposed to rain, 
as ill effects have been known to arise from the partially germinated 
seeds being taken into the stomach, causing great pain and not unfre- 
quently death ; this last occurrence, however, is so rare that it need not 
enter into the calculations of the planter. The tree fruits during drv 
weather when there is little probability of rain, and if the pods are col¬ 
lected and stored in a dry place they will be ready at hand in a sound 
state for all forage purposes. When thus stored, the pods, instead of being 
given whole, are often broken up or ground, when they answer admirably 
instead of corn, oats, etc."”—( Indian Forester , Vol. X, p. £93 ) 
Prof. C. S. Sargent [l.c., 1905, p. 549) describes the wood as 
“ heavy, close-grained, rich dark-brown or sometimes red, with thin clear 
yellow sapwood; almost indestructible in contact with the soil, and 
largely used for fence-posts, railway-ties ; the underpinnings of buildings, 
and occasionally in the manufacture of furniture, the fellies of wheels, 
and the pavements of city streets ; the best fuel of the region, and 
largely made into charcoal. 0 As regards the timber-yield the var. 
velutina which attains the largest dimensions and which is a native of 
the hot valleys of Southern Arizona and Sonora would almost certainly 
give better results than the var. glandulosa which is now in cultivation. 
Possiblv the Jamaica tree (see p. 3 above) also belongs to the former 
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