FOREST EXPLOIfATlOtf. 135 



spot is deserted until the jungle is sufficiently high to 

 tempt the Kumari cutter to renew the process. In the 

 south, where land is more scarce compared with the 

 population, the same land is cultivated with Kumari 

 anew in 12, 10, or 7 years ; but in North Canara, the 

 virgin forest, or old Kumari, which has not been cultivated 

 within the memory of man, is generally selected for the 

 operation. 



' This rude system of culture/ says Dr Cleghorn, formerly 

 Conservator of Forests in the Presidency of Madras, ' pre- 

 vails under various names in different eastern countries. 

 It is called Kumari in Mysore and Canara, Pouiiam in 

 Malabar, Punakad in Salem, Chena in Ceylon. Much 

 information relating to it may be found in Buchanan's 

 Journey through Mysore, &c., Passim, and in Tennant's 

 Ceylon, vol. ii., p. 473.' 



The name Kumari is peculiar to the Canara and the 

 Mysore districts. It is thus described in an extract from 

 the Proceedings of the Board of Revenue : 



' The name is given to cultivation which takes place in 

 first clearings. A hill-side is always selected, on the 

 slopes of which a space is cleared at the end of the year. 

 The wood is left to dry till the following March or April, 

 and then burned. In most localities the seed is sown in 

 the ashes on the fall of the first rains, without the soil 

 being touched by implement of any kind ; but in the 

 taluk of Bekal the land is ploughed. The only further 

 operations are weeding and fencing. The crop is gathered 

 towards the end of the year, and the produce is stated to 

 be at least double that which could be obtained under the 

 ordinary modes of cultivation.' 



Thus in South Africa do Bechuanas in some districts 

 prepare virgin soil for culture ; thus do the Boers burn 

 down the Rhenoster bush, herbs, and arborescent shrubs, 

 growing on the ground as a preliminary step towards 

 bringing it under cultivation, converting it from veld into 

 land; and in the vicinity of Uitenhage I have seen a 



