730 



NAi URE 



[Flbruary 3, iy2i 



the forests to produce a regular and increasing 

 supply of timber and other products, met with 

 much bitter opposition from short-sighted com- 

 mercial interests and from the local population 

 which had been accustomed to regard the forests 

 as the free gift of Nature. The present genera- 

 tion, however, is enjoying the fruits of the labours 

 of devoted pioneers, who in the face of great 

 opposition have built up 

 " a property of constantly 

 increasing value, t h e 

 future importance of 

 which it is hardly possible 

 to over-estimate." 1 n 

 view of the general 

 apathy regarding scien- 

 tific forestry which pre- 

 vailed in Great Britain 

 itself until the vital im- 

 portance of forest re- 

 sources was emphasised 

 by the recent war, it is 

 indeed remarkable that 

 during the last seventy 

 years the importance ol 

 forestry in India has been 

 steadily kept in view by 

 British administrators. In 

 this respect, indeed, India 

 may well claim to have 

 set a worthy example to 

 the rest of the British 

 Empire. 



ITie most note\\orth\ 

 event in the early history 

 of scientific forestry in 

 India was the enunciation 

 of a definite and far- 

 sighted forest policy by 

 Lord Dalhousie in 1H55, 

 which was followed by 

 the appointment of Dr. 

 Brandis as Superintend- 

 ent of Forests in Pegu in 

 1856. In 1874 the superior 

 forest staff consisted ol 

 seventy -one officers ; in 

 1918 this number had 

 risen to J57, while 

 schemes now under con- 

 sideration are expected to 

 rai.se this figure to 350. 

 It is instructive to com- 

 pare with these figures 

 the following details of 

 the average annual sur- 

 plus forest revenue, in lakhs of rupees, during 

 the quinquennial periods mentioned : 



The value of Indian forest resources, however, 

 must not be judged mainly by financial results. The 

 first duty of the Forest Department is to provide 

 the ordinary domestic and agricultural require- 

 ments of the local population in respect of timber, 

 fuel, grass, grazing and other products. Large 

 quantities of such produce are utilised by right- 

 holders and free-grantees, while in times of 



Fig. 2.— Teak plantation eighteen months old at Kaptai, Chittagong tract. 



Department in India." 



From ■' The Work of the Forest 



famine the people are often largely dependent cm 

 the forests for their existence. The forests also 

 provide congenial employment for a considerable 

 portion of the population, and it is estimated that 

 some five millions of people in India are directly 

 or indirectly dependent on forestry for their liveli- 

 hood for the greater part of the year. In many 

 cases, also, the primar\ object of the forester in 

 establishing and preserving forest vegetation is 



