310 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 32 



able part of which is of the valuable deodar. This is cut into lengths, 

 launched into the streams which find their way into the Jhelum, 

 thence to float down the river to the plains of the Punjab. Here 

 the logs are caught, where the river is slow and shallow, and sold 

 at considerable profit to the State. The deodar is a very handsome 

 tree, and is a variet}^ of the cedar of Lebanon. It will be noticed 

 by visitors to the valley along the road between Uri and Baramulla, 

 especially near Rampur. Less beautiful and less valuable as timber 

 is the blue pine {Pimis excelsa). It grows at a greater height than 

 the deodar, which does not flourish over 6,000 feet, and it may be 

 seen at Gulmarg. The Himalayan spruce {Picea morinda) is very 

 common, and also grows around Gulmarg, but its timber is of little 

 value. Birches grow high up above the pines and next the snows; 

 their timber is of no use, but the bark is much employed for roofing. 

 In the forests are also found silver fir, horse chestnut, and maple. 



Another tree, a native of North India, is the mulberry {Moms 

 indica). This species is a valuable source of income chiefly because 

 of the food the leaves furnish the silkworm. The fruit resembles a 

 small red peppercorn, and such of it as escapes the birds furnishes 

 the native with material for pleasant stews and tarts. The States of 

 Kashmir and Jummu distribute (under certain conditions) to native 

 cultivators of this indigenous tree supplies of the eggs of the silk- 

 worm, Avhose cocoons are in turn sold to the silk factories. In Mo- 

 hammedan Kashmir there is no objection to the necessary destruc- 

 tion of the moth living in the center of his cocoon, and the industry 

 flourishes, but in Buddhist India and Ceylon this act is regarded as 

 a serious religious offense, and it strongly militates against the com- 

 mercial success of the enterprise in certain parts of those countries. 



All the forests are owned by the State and are under the charge 

 of a forest department, often with a conservator from the Govern- 

 ment service at its head. The boundaries of forests are laid down 

 and the State determines under what conditions neighboring vil- 

 lagers and others may be granted the customary concessions for fell- 

 ing timber, grazing, and gathering grass and fuel. It is usual for 

 the State to let fuel and fodder be gathered free and to charge for 

 grazing and for cutting timber for building and agricultural pur- 

 poses. The trees are counted, marked for felling according to their 

 age, and in regular succession, so as to allow of young trees growing 

 up to fill their places. In many other ways the forests are watched 

 so as to prevent their denudation, as well as to avoid the damage 

 that would be caused through the rainfall rushing off at once instead 

 of being held up by the trees. 



By this regulation of the forests the State raises a handsome 

 income ; it insures the soil being retained on the hillsides, and it has 



