284 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



trade whose existence depends on the slaughter of animals 

 should be a regulated one. It requires to be under super- 

 vision in order that a proper meed of protection may be 

 accorded to the animal. Such supervision in India can only 

 be effectually given by the Supreme Government. 



It is difficult to understand why the economic value of 

 the fauna of the country as a whole has not been realized. 

 Most people are aware that the flora contains many species 

 of high economic value, whether as timber, food and medi- 

 cinal products, or other commercial articles, such as dyes, 

 tannins, grasses, and so forth. Many of these come from 

 the forests. The Forest Officer, for instance, is well aware 

 that timber by no means constitutes the only commercial 

 article which the forest produces. In fact he may be in 

 charge of areas which produce no timber of commercial size 

 at all. His trees may only grow to a size which yields fuel, 

 such as in some of the Punjab plains forests. But in most 

 cases the fuel is by no means the only saleable article the 

 forests contain. There will be usually what the forester 

 collectively designates " Minor products." The Indian 

 forests contain a very large number of these minor products, 

 varying with the variations in the flora and climate. Lac, 

 for instance, is the product of an insect which is now 

 carefully cultivated in blocks of forest in the Central 

 Provinces and elsewhere and yields a handsome revenue 

 in the parts of the country where it thrives. Bamboos 

 are a minor product which the future may see largely 

 used for the production of paper pulp ; for it has been 

 commercially proved that they can be used in the produc- 

 tion of classes of this commodity, the demand for which 

 is ever increasing. Other products are grasses, also used in 

 the manufacture of paper and for thatching purposes ; canes, 

 dyes, tannins, resin, gums, wax, and so forth, are all minor 

 products, the collection of which in the forest is well under- 

 stood and the sale of which forms a very handsome pro- 

 portion of the annual sum realized from the Indian forests. 

 These are derivable, all but lac and wax, from the flora of 

 the country. Why has not equal attention been paid to the 

 products which are obtainable from the fauna ? Horns, 

 hides, furs, plumes and feathers, and flesh and the fish of the 

 rivers and streams. There is a good source of revenue here. 



The horns shed annually by the deer {Cervidce) in the 

 forests throughout the country must represent many 



