1885.] THE INDIAN FOREST SURVEY. 435 



been cleared away to make Avay for the plough and the inereashif' 

 population, and when forests were left, most of tlic accessible timber 

 was cut and brought away to be used as fuel and charcoal, for 

 shipbuilding, for railway sleepers, for bridges and other l»uildings. 

 Hence it came to pass that forests, which in olden days were 

 regarded as a thing to be got rid of and as an obstacle to civilization, 

 attracted attention, and tliat the necessity for preserving them began 

 to be considered." 



One of the first things to be done was to select and demarcate 

 the principal forest tracts, so as to put a stop to further encroach- 

 ments caused by the spread of cultivation, to free the demarcated 

 area as far as possible from the rights which villagers and other 

 persons possessed in them, and to frame a clear record of all rights 

 which could not be so got rid of. The most important of the rights 

 here referred to are the cutting of trees, tapping for resin, the 

 collection of dead leaves from the ground, burning the grass, and the 

 grazing of cattle, sheep, and goats. All of these, and many other 

 such practices, are manifestly extremely hurtful to the forest, and 

 unless they can be made to cease altogether, or at any rate unless 

 they can be controlled and limited, forest conservation becomes 

 impossible. But such rights are very difficult to deal with, for 

 while on the one hand it is in the interest of the country at large 

 that extensive and well-distributed areas should be permanently 

 maintained under forest for the supply of timber and other produce 

 to the population, the curtailment of them is frequently a matter of 

 real hardship to the individuals who possess them. The fact that 

 the continued exercise of injurious riglits will ultimately destroy the 

 forest, and thus render their further enjoyment impossible, is not 

 recognised, and if this could be proved to the minds of the right- 

 holders they would not be much affected by it, as they are, generally 

 speaking, satisfied if there is enough to provide for their own 

 personal requirements without considering those of their descendants. 



Although the Forest Act did not appear until 1878, the process 

 of demarcation has been proceeding for the last thirty years, and 

 the areas reserved on the 1st April 1883 were as follows: — 



Bengal Presidency, . . 35,667 square miles. 



Madras, . . . . 2,782 



Bombay, . . . . 9,823 



Total, . 48,272 



or about 5^ per cent, of the total area of British India, not including 

 the Native States. The forests now consist of the principal areas 

 to which cultivation had not extended at the time that the Forest 



