312 THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE. [Sept. 



there was a very large proportion of the country not available for 

 forests, unless the people were expatriated. A thing that destroyed 

 forests more than anything else was grazing. When the trees got 

 beyond the stage of being injured by cattle, grazing was a very 

 valuable adjunct. The cattle were exposed to great risk from forest 

 fires. The department made it worth while for people to put out 

 fires for the sake of reward. One forest path in Scinde was 17-4 

 miles long and 100 yards wide. A considerable number of the 

 population was employed as forest guards. 



Dr. Lyons stated that during the Franco-German war the forestal 

 service of France furnished 7000 volunteers. 



Witness agreed the number of persons employed in forestry in 

 India would not be less than those in France. Some of the natives 

 had suffered from the deprivation of forestal or customary rights in 

 the forests, and it was doubtful whether the wages they received 

 would compensate them. On the other hand, they were undoubtedly 

 destroying the forests, and depriving themselves of their own means 

 of livelihood. The forests in India were on the whole paying 

 their way, and the revenue was increasing year by year. It was 

 well known in India that the denudation of forests had an effect on 

 the water supply. In the North-West Provinces the denudation of 

 forests had led to the washing down of immense quantities of sand. 

 In a portion of Bombay the people complained bitterly of the 

 decreased product of the rice lands, which he attributed to the 

 denudation of forests. India was dependent on wood for fuel, and 

 therefore the supply of wood was of the greatest importance. The 

 effect of the establishment of a forest department had been to raise 

 the price of wood. On the other hand, the department ensured a 

 wood supply for future years, which, but for their action, would not 

 exist. Materials were also supplied for architecture and furniture. 



By Mr. Seely : A teak forest ought to have a rest of about forty 

 years. One of the principal points with which a forester had to 

 deal was the period at which the timber should be cut. 



By Dr. Farquharson : A great variety of trees were grown in 

 India — largely the pine. He did not suppose the authorities at 

 Windsor would allow that the royal forests in England and Scotland 

 were not scientifically managed, but it was the opinion in India that 

 they were not. It required a great deal of scientific knowledge to 

 establish a forest on the system of natural reproduction. 



By ]Mr. Seely : The forests in India were divided into blocks, and 

 on these a system of rotation of crops of timber in twenty-five or 

 forty years was practised. A forest generally consisted of one 

 kind of timber, say teak, with a quantity of undergrowth. 



Col. Nolan asked what would be the effect on Ireland of the 



