ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, NOVEMBER 4, 1874. 209 



ence at Simla in September 1875, and the publication of a quarterly 

 Forest Magazine was resolved upon. 



In glancing through the report of this conference it is striking to 

 observe that the same conclusions are arrived at in some points of 

 forest management, as those obtaining in this country under very 

 different circumstances. For example (p. 194), the nursery culture 

 and planting out of Deodar in the Himalaya appears to be very simi- 

 lar to the system most approved in Scotland, as to its congener the 

 larch. " We all agreed that the proper system would be as follows : 

 seed to be sown in nursery beds in November. Seedlings to be 

 bedded out at three inches apart in July following ; these seedlings 

 to be transplanted at six inches apart at the commencement of the 

 following rains to remain for twelve months, and then to be finally 

 planted in the forest at four feet apart." 



Again the difficulty of confining the rivers in flood within their 

 banks has been great, especially in the sandy districts of Sindh 

 and the Punjab. The following extract from the Report on the 

 Administration of the Punjab Forests for 1872-73, shows that the 

 plan successfully carried out in this country has been adopted on a 

 larger scale in India : — 



" A stream, which during the rains becomes much swollen and 

 rapid, runs through the middle of this Bela. During 1871-72 a 

 quantity of land was cut away by the action of this stream, and 

 this year I was determined to do something, if possible, to prevent 

 such damage in future. Accordingly, when the stream was at its 

 lowest, I caused the almost perpendicular bank to be sloped at 

 twelve feet from the old bank and the slope afterwards planted 

 with willow slips at one foot apart. This method has up to the 

 present time — and we have had a heavy flood — acted admirably, 

 even beyond my expectation. Not in a single instance has the 

 slope been broken, and the willow slip and grass having now taken 

 good root, I have no fear for the future. Altogether it is a great 

 success, and I think that more attention should be paid to this 

 branch of forest work, especially with reference to the Belas, the 

 banks of which might, in my opinion, with little difficulty, be made 

 perfectly secure." 



In conclusion, I call upon you, especially the young country 

 members, to make good use of the opportunities afforded to you 

 to-day, examining both the museum and the garden, which are 

 arranged with skill and judgment, and which at a glance tell of the 

 eminent and enlightened men of science who have been charged 



