Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/79

 PAR 71 perty, and as, save in very exceptional instances, I have not assumed them as an asset of revenue, I look on them as a considerable resource in bad years and other times, upon which the pálguzár can fall back. If we assume every tree to produce twenty.sers' of dried flower, this, at the price at which mahua has sold for the last four years-vis., it maunds per rupee--would represent a sum of Rs. 1,44,856. It is largely used for the distillation of spirit, and, when plentiful, is given to cattle. As a rule, the mahua crop is not good save once in three years. The seed of the rahua (which succeeds the flower from which the spirit is made), is extensively used for the manufacture of oil for burning; and the failure of the mahua crap is usually followed by a high price of oil throughout the year in which the failure occurs." The tamarind (Tamarindus Indica) and other trees.--That most graceful and beautiful tree, the tamarind, is everywhere common, toge- ther with the shísham (Dalbergia sissoo), the tun (Cedrela toona), siras (Acacia speciosa), jámun (Eugenia janbolona), gúlar (Ficus racemosa), and ním (Azadirachta Indica). It is dotted about throughout the groves of the district. The wood of the tamarind is used for fuel only. The jámun and gúlar come in most usefully in the construction of the niwár" or wooden supports of masonry wells. The wood of the shíshain and tun are expensive, and are only accessible to the wealthy few. The latter is highly esteemed for furniture, and the former in the manufacture of bullock carriages, or “bakals” as they are called. The ním is prized for its medicinal properties. Its seeds yield an oil which is used chicfly as a therapeutic, although the poorer classes burn it in their houses. The disagreeable odour it emits is its principal drawback. The wood of the ním is somewhat soft, but enters largely into the nianufacture of small articles of domestic use. Who has not heard of the "nim-ka-miswák"* or famous native tooth-brush, which is said to exert so beneficial an effect on the enamel of the Indian ivory? From the older trees there exudes at times large quantities of sap of exceedingly bitter taste. This is care- fully collected by the people, and is used as a tonic in cases of boils and other skin eruptions. The kathal or jack fruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) and other fruit trees.---The kathal or jack fruit tree occupies a high rank in the estima- tion of the people. The fruit is much sought after, and in the season the price varies, according to the size, from two pice to one rupce each. Other fruit-bearing trees--such as the barhal (Artocarpus lakoochay), shahtút or mulberry (Morus Indica), bel (Ægle marmelos), karaunda (Carissa caran- das), and ámla, or as it is commonly pronounced aonla † (Phyllantirus emblica)—are all more or less common; while the orange, lemon, guava, pomegranate, and other finer fruits, find a place only in the gardens of the wealthier zamindars and residents in large towns. with this subject-- vit., that thc Raikwár is alone of all Rajput clans forbidden the use of the bím tooth-brush. Also called Paillanthus emblica, of the natural order Euphorbia ceæ.
 * Mr. Elliott, iu bis chronicles of Oongo, mentious a curious circumstance in connection