thorough examination of the whole economics of the supply of fuel to the cultivator. The practice of burning cowdung cakes is partly, no doubt, the result of preference. It is a slow-burning fuel and a fire once started can be left to take care of itself. But, apart from preference, cowdung is at present the only certain supply of fuel which the great majority of cultivators can obtain. As we have pointed out in Chapter IV, before any intensive campaign of propaganda in favour of the substitution of another form of fuel can be justified, not only must a supply of that fuel be available but data proving that it is cheaper for the cultivator to use the substitute offered him than to burn his manure must have been obtained. Such data will require to be based on an investigation in each tract of the loss, in terms of the local crop production, involved in burning cowdung, and of the calorific value of the woods or charcoal available in the locality as compared with that of coal, when price is taken into consideration. We would draw attention to the investigation* recently carried out by the Agricultural Chemist in the Punjab and his research assistant on the loss in terms of crop production by burning cowdung as illustrating the kind of investigation we have in mind. In this connection, we consider that the railways should review their charges for the conveyance of wood, charcoal and coal, and should pitch their rates as low as possible, so as to secure the large potential traffic resulting from the importation into the rural districts, in bulk, of any or all of these fuels. In deciding the relative cheapness of the different classes of fuels, it will be necessary to experiment with suitable cheap stoves in order to ascertain their efficiency value for each class of fuel. In any area in which it has been proved that wood is an economical fuel, steps should be taken by the forest departments, where this has not already been done, to establish fuel depôts for groups of villages. The co-operation of the railway authorities should be sought in the establishment of fuel depôts at stations. WOOD AND CHARCOAL 221. If the investigation which we recommend is to be carried out with (v) NEW SOURCES OF the thoroughness which its importance demands, it is essential that it should include an enquiry into the economic possibilities of establishing plantations for fuel and the creation or extension, for the same purpose, of plantations along canal banks and the margins of rivers and streams. The maintenance of plantations along rivers and streams, especially in their upper reaches, has the additional advantage of tending to confine them within definite channels and thus preventing the deposit on fertile riverain land of coarse sands and gravels as the result of frequent changes in direction. We have referred, in Chapter IV, to the value of afforestation in cases of erosion and, in Chapter X, to the possibility that Government may find, on the ground of profit alone, that it pays to place irrigated land under plantations. The investigation we have here in view is of much wider scope, but a study of the economics of both these special cases should be included in it. We consider that the Forest Department would be the most suitable agency for carrying out this investigation. See Agricultural Journal of India, Vol. XXI, Part II (March 1926), page 115. GENERAL FOR 222. We have received no evidence indicating that any dearth of wood (vi) TIMBER for implements, carts, waterlifts, or other general purposes is experienced. The amount of wood TURAL PURPOSES. used by the cultivator in each village for these general purposes is not large. An instance, to which we have referred in paragraph 105, Chapter IV, suggests, however, that the mass production of wooden articles required by the cultivator would effect a large saving in cost. If mass production is undertaken in or near the forests, the question of how cheaply it is possible to distribute the manufactured article will also require investigation. (vii) SUPPLY OF LEAF MOULD. 223. Where forests are situated in districts of heavy rainfall and are of rapid growth, it does not appear that the forest departments raise any objection to the use of leaf mould. Indeed, one of the reasons assigned for the lack of interest in green manures in Madras is that humus from the forests is available. The difficulty of transporting so bulky a material must prevent its use at any distance from the forests, and the amount which can be taken annually without detriment to tree growth is strictly limited. This is not a source, therefore, from which any general supply of additional nutriment to soils under crop can be looked for. DUSTRIES. 224. The development, by the forest departments, of forest industries (viii) FOREST IN- is a matter of great importance to the agriculturist. We are, therefore, glad to observe that considerable attention is being paid to the commercial possibilities of minor forest products. An important section of the Research Institute at Dehra Dun deals with this work, both generally and also with special respect to the forest products of the United Provinces. The testing of the suitability of various woods for use as containers and the treatment of bamboo for the production of paper pulp on a commercial scale are two important aspects of the industrial activities of the Institute. In the Punjab, a utilisation circle has been created which is mainly concerned with the extraction of resin. Burma also has a utilisation circle, the main object of which is to get local industries to use Burma timbers for such purposes as manufacture of matches and of boxes. In the Central Provinces, an officer has been placed on special duty for the investigation and study of new forest industries and the finding of markets for them. The Forest Department in Madras has a minor forest produce section and has also installed a modern plant at Olavakot, about thirty-five miles from Coimbatore, where woods are being tested for all purposes. Although in Bombay and Bengal there are at present no special agencies for the exploitation of forest products, the evidence we took has satisfied us that the forest departments in both presidencies are alive to the possibilities of, and the need for, industrial development. We consider it desirable that a forest utilisation officer should be appointed in every province in order that the development of forest industries may be made the definite responsibility of one officer. In many cases, cultivators in the neighbourhood of forests are unable to win from the land sufficient to maintain themselves without some supplementary means of livelihood. It is clear, therefore, that, if new industries can be started, or existing industries developed, in which cultivators can participate, they will derive great benefit from them. The making of charcoal as a by-product, the extraction of turpentine, the cultivation and processing of lac, all provide suitable subsidiary occupations. There is also scope for the extraction of essences from medicinal herbs, and of oils, gums, resins and dyeing and tanning materials from forest trees and plants. It has recently been shown by the Madras Forest Department that excellent barrels can be made from local woods. There is a potential demand for cheap wooden handles and frames for agricultural implements to be satisfied, especially if and when local factories are established for the mass production of improved implements. Many even of the lesser known Indian woods are of fine quality; their suitability for furniture and other purposes is now being investigated at Dehra Dun, and when their valuable properties have been demonstrated, new markets for them may be anticipated. We consider that there is a wide field for both experiment and development and that, in exploiting forest produce of all kinds, it is very desirable that the forest departments should work in close touch with those responsible for the development of rural industries. In concluding our remarks on the extent to which forest products are, or can be, utilised for agricultural purposes, we desire to draw attention to the estimated value of forest produce annually taken from lands under the administration of the forest departments by free grantees, usually villagers, and by holders of various rights and privileges. In 1925-26, the value of the produce thus taken was estimated at Rs. 70 lakhs. Not all of it was taken by cultivators, but as grass and grazing " account for over Rs. 45 lakhs and as nearly all the wood used for agricultural implements is included in the total, it is clear that the cultivators' share must be substantial. The figures for 1925-26 are reproduced in Appendix VI. (ix) DISAFFORESTA TION ΤΟ PROMOTE 66 225. Owing to the reservation as forest of the slopes of hills, hill streams often have their source within forest limits. It is true that the rights of villages to use the water of such streams have been preserved, but we have IRRIGATION WORKS. noticed places where the water supply might be improved by new works, which could not be carried out without the permission of the Forest Department. In paragraph 279, Chapter X, we have recommended an investigation by special officers of the possibilities of small irrigation works and we desire to point out that, if land is required for the purpose within forest limits, it should be freely disafforested. 226. We have SOIL PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT. (i) PERMANENT AFFORESTATION. dealt with afforestation as a local remedy for soil erosion in the plains in Chapter IV, paragraph 79. It remains to consider the measures which can be adopted to check the remoter causes of that erosion. The important functions performed by forests in regard to the conservation of rainfall are well known. A wooded area, especially on a steeply sloping watershed, acts like a sponge; it holds up the rainfall from immediate dispersal along the lines of the local drainage and ensures the absorption of much of it in the subsoil, thus assisting in maintaining the general water level of the district. This sponge-like action of the forest and the network of interlacing roots effectually prevent the deposition in the fertile valleys of sterile inorganic soil from the hilly slopes. 66 The cessation of uncontrolled shifting cultivation," which is recommended in paragraph 228, should arrest further harmful deforestation in hill districts. But there is no province in India which has not suffered already, to a more or less serious degree, from such deforestation. In the Central Provinces, Assam and Burma, the damage has not yet affected areas of settled cultivation, and, in the Central Provinces, shifting cultivation has been stopped. In the Punjab, the United Provinces, Bengal and Bombay, serious deterioration is still taking place owing to the deforestation of the Siwalik and Kumaon Hills, of the Chittagong hill tracts, and of the Deccan outcrops and Konkan hills. In regions of heavy rainfall, that is, where the rainfall is over 60 inches, the essential remedy is protection against damage by cultivators and their goats and cattle in order to allow of natural regeneration. In tracts of light rainfall, there is no generally satisfactory remedy, but, in carefully selected areas, artificial regeneration might be possible though at heavy cost. 227. When the soil has reached a stage of exhaustion which requires more prolonged treatment than is provided by the ordinary seasonal fallowing, temporary afforestation (ii) TEMPORARY AFFORESTATION. may, under certain conditions, provide a suitable method of restoring fertility. Plantations of babul trees are made for this purpose in Sind. The babul is a leguminous plant, and, by means of such plantations, which are ordinarily allowed to stand on the ground for ten or twelve years, a combined form of manuring by growing a leguminous crop and by the formation of leaf mould is achieved. The cost of planting and maintenance during the period of growth is approximately set off by the sale or use of the annual crop of seed pods which are a valuable fodder for goats; the sale of the wood for fuel when the plantation is cut down realises from Rs. 70 to Rs. 90 per acre. 228. In many parts of India, the practice of "shifting cultivation " (iii) SHIFTING variously known as jhuming, kumri, taungya or podu CULTIVATION. still persists. Virgin forest is felled and burned, and the land thus prepared is cropped for two or three seasons, after which the process is repeated on a new plot. In tracts where the population is small as compared with the area under forest, this method of cultivation, however wasteful, is comparatively innocuous, provided that it is followed by no serious erosion of the soil. Many of those tribes, whose traditional method of cultivation is by shifting cultivation, are increasing in numbers and find it each year more difficult to discover suitable areas of forest land. We think, therefore, that the time has come when a determined attempt should be made to bring this practice under control and, by education and, possibly, by an increase in the grants given towards the labour expensse of terracing and bunding, such as are already in force, for instance, in the Naga Hills in Assam, to persuade the people to adopt stable methods of cultivation and to forego their migratory habits. Shifting cultivation in the Central Provinces, which used to be of considerable extent, has been gradually stopped and the methods by which this was effected may be worth studying by officers faced with this problem in other provinces. It is scarcely necessary to state that we see no objection to the controlled system of shifting cultivation described to us in Bengal, under which the necessary labour for replanting clear felled forest is obtained by allowing a certain fraction of the forest area to be placed in rotation under temporary cultivation. It is of some interest to note that no complaints were made to us regarding the tree loppings used in the rab system of cultivation under which, in some regions of heavy rainfall, alternate layers of cowdung, loppings and leaves of trees, grass and earth are heaped on the ground which is to form the seed bed, the whole is set on fire and the ashes mingled with the soil. In 1893, when Dr. Voelcker wrote his report, one of the main grievances cultivators in Bombay had against the Forest Department was that, in their desire to exploit the forests commercially, the department restricted unduly the lopping of trees for this purpose. TRATION. (i) RECLASSIFICA TION OF FOREST 229. Dr. Voelcker also pointed out that areas had been taken up in FOREST ADMINIS- the past for growing timber which were not fitted for that purpose. Since his report was written, considerable areas of forest lands have been released and thrown open to general cultivation. In the Central Provinces, for example, the area of forest lands has, since 1906-07, been reduced by 2,500 square miles, which represents a fall of over ten per cent in the total forest area. We were informed by the Chief Conservator of Forests that disafforestation in that province had probably reached its limit. In the plains of the Punjab, where extension of irrigation is making agriculture possible over large areas which were formerly waste, disafforestation has taken place on a very extensive scale during the past quarter of a century. Of the total area of 5,500 square miles of forest lands administered by the Forest Department in the plains at the beginning of the century, 3,000 square miles have already been released, and it is proposed shortly to release a further 1,000 square miles, thus leaving only 1,500 square miles of forest land under the Forest Department in the plains. We understand that, in Burma, reconsideration of the areas reserved for forest is now in progress. Reclassification of the forest area has made great progress in Madras. Local committees for all but six districts have been appointed by Government to examine and report on the classification of the forests as "provincial" and "local" with a view to deciding |