PRIMITIVE TREATMENT OF FORESTS. 63 



By this practice vast quantities of most valuable timber 

 have been destroyed. 



A good crop of hill rice, or millet, is obtained in the first 

 year after the consumption of the wood, a small crop is 

 taken off the ground in the second year, and sometimes in 

 the third, after which, as has been stated, the spot is 

 deserted. In the south, where land is more scarce com- 

 pared with the population, the same land is cultivated 

 with Koomaree anew in 12, 10, and 7 years ; but in North 

 Canara, the virgin forest, or old Koomaree, 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, 'prevails 

 under various names in different eastern countries. It is 

 called Koomaree in Mysore and Canara, Pounam in Malabar, 

 Punaka in Salem, Chena in Ceylon/ 



The name Koomaree 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 imple- 

 ment 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.' 



Dr Francis Buchanan, in his report of a journey from 

 Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara, and 

 Malabar, published, under the authority of the Directors 

 of the East India Company, in 1807, makes mention 

 repeatedly of the practice in these countries under the 

 designations of Cotu-cadu, Cumri, and Ponna. Of the 



