APPENDIX. 



I had completed the draft of my pamphlet when the 

 following correspondence reached me. 1 print it here, not 

 only because it refers to the five samples of paper spoken 

 of at page 8, but because it confirms what T have said as 

 to the Conservators of Forests being unable to undertake 

 more work than is already allotted to them. The Additional 

 Conservator justly says : " As the Forest Department is at 

 present constituted, and with the work in hand of selecting 

 reserves, &C., it has not the time to enter into experiments 

 with regard to the disposal of minor forest products" These 

 views, emanating from Mr. Ribbentrop, carry extra weight, 

 for this gentleman's great administrative ability, zeal, and 

 energy have gained for him the distinguished and excep- 

 tional office of Additional Conservator of Forests. 



I do not think, however, our fibre-yielding Indian plants 

 can fairly be called " minor forest products." If the fibres 

 which I have mentioned ultimately prove marketable com- 

 modities, they may, perhaps, form one of the principal 

 sources of revenue to all our forests, other than those where 

 teak, sal, and sandalwood are grown. 



The reasons given by Mr. Ribbentrop in support of his 

 opinion that the cost of producing the fibre will exceed its 

 value when produced, do not convince me. Granted that, 

 as compared with other trees, the Ficus are at present scat- 

 tered over a considerable area, there is no valid reason why 

 they should not be brought within a convenient distance of 

 the factory, if their fibre is of sufficient value to warrant 

 such steps being taken. And so likewise with Broussonetia 



