158 THE INDIAN FOREST SCHOOL, 
the superior staff. It was pointed out that the existing system, 
under. which the officers of the superior staff were trained 
abroad, presented great disadvantages ; that India was dependent 
on Europe for the education of its officers, while it possessed 
ample means of teaching them in its own forests if a properly 
organised system were set on foot; that the natives of India, 
whom it was extremely desirable to employ in all grades of the 
Forest Department, could not, without a prolonged visit to 
Europe, obtain that systematic training which was necessary to 
render them competent to fill even the executive offices, and that 
on their account, as well as on that of others, the establishment of 
a school in India for the scientific teaching of the principles and 
practice of forestry had long been looked upon by the Govern- 
ment as an object to be effected. The Resolution of Government 
stated that the school would at first be utilised for the education 
of officers for the executive branch of the service, but that it 
was hoped ultimately to admit candidates for the controlling 
branch. The chief forest officers (conservators) of the various 
provinces were to select the candidates, who, after passing some 
time in learning practical work, were to be sent up to the school 
to follow the courses, returning after the completion of their 
studies for employment in their respective provinces. It was felt 
that this was the only way in which the selection of candidates 
could be effected ; for if the men had been chosen by the Director 
of the school, they would probably, generally speaking, have been 
inhabitants of the North-Western Provinces, who would con- 
sequently have been unsuited for employment in many of the other 
provinces. The use of the school by Conservators of Forests, to 
train the men selected by them, was to be entirely permissive, 
and it was not at first made available for men from the Madras 
and Bombay Presidencies, while none but natives of India 
were to be admitted. At that time there were 15,000 square 
miles of demarcated forests in the Bengal Presidency, and it 
was said that if 25 square miles were taken as the average size of 
a range, 600 trained rangers would eventually be required. The 
then-existing staff of rangers and foresters consisted of 327 men, 
a portion of which number it was necessary to recruit from the 
lower ranks (forest guards), and hence it was thought that the 
number of trained rangers might be put at 200, and that 10 men 
sent out annually from the school would suffice to recruit a staff of 
that strength. It was determined to group together a number of 
