Forestry in India 635 



circles, comprising (except in isolated instances) three to eleven 

 Divisions each. There are in India 28 working circles, of which 

 five, consisting of provinces containing but little forest, include 

 only one Division each. Working circles never cross provincial 

 boundaries. Each working circle, excepting the five noted, is in 

 charge of a Conservator. 



The Conservator, while paid and to a great extent selected by 

 the Government of India, is directly responsible to the Provincial 

 Government in carrying out the Forest Code. Originally there 

 was but one Conservator in each province. As the work intensi- 

 fied and the staff increased, the supervision necessary became too 

 much for one Conservator. The principle, which appears un- 

 natural, was then followed of dividing the province into two, and 

 finally into as many as four Working Circles, each in charge of a 

 Conservator directly responsible to the local government, and 

 entirely independent of the other Conservators in his province. 

 There was no controlling correlating influence governing the 

 different working circles, and the local government soon found 

 itself with as many separate forest departments on its hands as 

 there were Circles in the province. The policy was then inaugu- 

 rated in Burma, followed in United Provinces and Central Provinces 

 and now recently sanctioned for Bombay and recommended for 

 Madras, of appointing a Chief Conservator for the Province, 

 who would be in full charge of the work in the Province and with 

 whom alone the Provincial Government would take up questions 

 of forest administration. 



The Chief Conservator is hampered by being without assist- 

 ance other than native office staff. The influence of his office is 

 measured by the amount of work he can personally accomplish. 

 He does not reach the position imtil late in life, and can only 

 occupy it on an average of 6 or 8 years before the 55-year limit 

 retires him from India. It being a one-man office, there must be 

 a violent break in ideas and policy each time a new man enters 

 the position. It seems that a stronger organization, that would 

 make for more continuity of policy, would have been developed if 

 a form of specialist organization had been built up when the work 

 in the province became too great for one unaided Conservator. 

 The work could have been classified into three or four broad 

 divisions and an Assistant Conservator appointed for each class 

 of vrork who would supervise this work over the whole Province. 



