CHAPTER II. 



DISCUSSION OF THE EVILS OF "S ART AGE" 

 IN INDIA. 



WHATEVER may justify and recommend the practice of 

 Sartage, in certain circumstances, the practice is not pro- 

 ductive of unmixed good. 



By Dr Ignatius it is stated, in the passage I have cited, 

 that the practice has led to the destruction of forests 

 upon a great scale, and the conflagrations have at times 

 swept over a great extent of country. It may be ques- 

 tioned whether, even in such occurrences, the good does 

 not preponderate over the evil ; and it may be admitted 

 that this must depend on the conditions under which 

 these happen. I shall revert to this subject ere I 

 close ; but there are other consequences dependent on 

 conditions under which it is practised, which deserve 

 some consideration. 



It is a practice which seems to be generally condemned 

 by those who have taken a comprehensive view of its 

 results, though there are those who have done so who 

 approve, or, at least, do not feel free, to condemn its 

 application to forests in certain circumstances. Sir J. E. 

 Tennant questions whether the alleged advantages re- 

 sulting from it in Ceylon, suffice to counterbalance 

 evils consequent upon the practice of it, and in India 

 some of its demerits have been fully discussed. There, 

 in 1847, under date of 31st August, Mr T. S. Blane, 

 Collector of Canara, wrote to the Board of Revenue : 



'The practice of Koomaree cultivation is one of so 

 wasteful and improvident a nature that it appears to 

 me it ought not to be tolerated, except in a very wild 



