406 FOBESTBY IN BRITISH BUBMA. [Apeil, 



close of the year in the contractors' and disbursers' ledgers amounted 

 to 46,000 rupees, of which 40,000 represented advances covered by 

 timber in transit. 



The Pegu Ciecle. 



An inevitable result of the coming into force in July of the British 

 Burma Forest Act, with the lengthy procedure prescribed for the 

 formation of reserves, was that not a single tract was added during 

 the year to the area of reserved forests. In the Tharawaddy division, 

 however, the necessary formalities were gone through with regard to 

 a reserve of thirty-eight square miles, which had been previously 

 reported on, and at the close of the year, the period for appeal having 

 elapsed', nothing remained to be done beyond the issue of the final 

 notification declaring it to be a reserved forest. The Paunglin 

 reserve, also, in the Eangoon division, with an estimated area of 124 

 square miles, was preliminarily notified under the Act, but was not 

 finally disposed of by the end of the year. In the Toungoo division 

 areas suitable for reserves, amounting to 246 square miles, were also 

 preliminarily notified, and all claims! disposed of; but the final settle- 

 ment of these reserves must still occupy some months. 



The small Cutch reserves in the Thayetmo district of the Prome 

 division, containing some 6,000 acres, the settlement of which was 

 last year considered unsatisfactory, have been dealt with, and now 

 only await the result of any appeal which may be made against the 

 orders passed. The importance of maintaining a continued supply 

 of Cutch trees for the support of an industry that gives occupation, in 

 Cutch-boiling and other processes, not only to a large number of 

 Burmans residing within British territory, but also to immigrants 

 from Upper Burma, has often been remarked upon, and the Govern- 

 ment of India have specially pointed out the urgency of assuring the 

 reproduction of Cutch by natural or artificial means. Throughout 

 the Cutch-producing parts of the Thayetmo and Prome districts the 

 powers of natural reproduction of the tree, both from seed and from 

 stool, are so great that the majority of the sites of the toungya 

 clearings are thoroughly well stocked with a young growth of Cutch. 

 Numerous small areas on old toung^ja grounds have been selected for 

 Cutch reserves, in which it is proposed to allow considerable rights to 

 grazing, bamboos, and firewood to the villages, which in these com- 

 paratively thickly populated districts must of necessity be in close 

 proximity to any reserves which may be constituted. 



With a view to check the obstruction of the forests situated 

 in the shelter of the Eangoon Pdver and to guarantee a constant 

 supply of fuel to the large villages situated in the rich plains between 

 Eangoon and the sea coast, steps have been taken to demarcate such 



