( 12 ) 



banks of the tank and in its immediate vicinity where the soil was fairly deep, the interven- 

 ing area being sown up with teak and other species. In 1876 a well was sunk and two malis 

 appointed to look after the plantation, which was fenced and protected from grazing and fire. 

 It appears, however, to have been carelessly looked after, the bamboo clumps were not attended 

 to, and cattle frequently allowed to" trespass. On this account, and also because the soil was 

 probably in the majority of cases not suited to the species sown, the plantation did not thrive 

 and at present a few fine clumps of bamboos near the tank are the only signs which indicate 

 the position of the old plantation. 



Probably about the 'same time as the above operation an attempt was made to extend the 

 narrow belt of teak found on the banks of the Bearmi river in the Baraiyakhera .Reserve by 

 sowing in the more or less level area on the east of the forest ; the young seedlings were, how- 

 ever, cut down by frost and the young shoots which were thrown up from year to year by the 

 root-stocks were similarly killed. About four years ago it was considered that if the old 

 stumps were cut back close to the ground young shoots might be put out, which would be 

 sufficiently vigorous to get above the grass and the frost zone. This was accordingly done, but 

 the resulting shoots were all killed in the first frost. The fact that this frost also killed 

 outright several saplings on the edge of the teak belt, which were 20 30 feet in height, suffi- 

 ciently demonstrates the futility of attempting to introduce teak into this area while the 

 natural conditions are so obviously opposed to its growth. 



47. (C) Improvement Fellings. Such fellings have been made at various points in the 

 Division over an aggregate area of about 750 acres, the oldest dating from 1892-93. These 

 were principally carried out in 1892-93 in the central and south-western ranges, but no 

 accurate record appears to have been kept of the area then cut, neither do these fellings 

 appear to have been carried out on a systematic plan. The areas cut over were kept closed to 

 grazing for only three years and were then again thrown open. Since 1897-98 systematic 

 improvement fellings have been carried out on practically the same lines as those prescribed in 

 this working plan. 



The location of the fellings and the acreages cut over are given in Appendix III. The 

 figures for the period preceding 1897 are entirely problematical, as it is not certain that the 

 acreages given were actually worked over. They rather represent the areas intended to have 

 been cut over at each place under the system of "provisional working circles," the object of 

 which was principally to induce people to give up indiscriminate felling everywhere and resort 

 to " located fellings. " 



48. (D) Sylvicultures', Experiments. Two sets of experiments have been instituted 

 since 1898, the one to ascertain the relative and absolute injury caused by fire occurring in 

 different months of the fire season in different types of forest; the other to discover the best 

 time for coppicing and the effect of the coppice treatment on all our more important species 

 and the principal forest types, including the rate of growth. 



For the first experiment several sets of contiguous -acre strips each, the strips in 

 each set being similarly stocked and growing under identical conditions, have been laid out. 

 One strip being left intact, the rest are every year burnt over in successive order at intervals of 

 a month beginning from November. After a few years of such experiment the difference in the 

 condition of the various strips and in the increment of the trees will give fairly trustworthy 

 data regarding the effects, absolute and relative, of fire occurring at different times of the year. 



In the second experiment also similar sets of twelve -acre strips have been laid out, the 

 successive strips being cut back in successive months from January to December. If it 

 should be found that coppice of timber-yielding species, such as saj, seji, dhaora, &c., poles 

 of which cut outside the rainy season possess no durability at all, is not the worse for cutting 

 in the rains, a most important fact will have been established, having far-reaching effects on 

 the revenue, on the exploitation of the forests and on the supply of the people. 



49. (E) Propagation of Lac. -This work has been carried on in these forests with 

 varying degrees of energy, "either by departmental agency or through the lessees, from a very 

 early date. The climate and the composition of the forests are both extremely favourable for 

 the production of lac and but for the famine of 1896-97, during which no protection was 

 possible against the thousands of free collectors of edible produce who swarmed all over the 

 forests, the annual yield would now be a very large one, exceeding a net value of Rs. 10,000. 



50. (F) Buildings. Only a single departmental building worth the name exists in 

 this Division, viz., the Forest Guard's chaoki at Kotatala, which was erected in 1898-99. 



ARTICLE 3. Past Revenue and Expenditure. 



51. The average annual revenue and expenditure for the Division during the past three 

 years (1806-97, 1898-1899) are exhibited in detail by ranges and according to budget sub- 

 heads in Appendix IV. As the present ranges were constituted in 1897, the figures cannot be 

 taken further back. While the revenue has been Rs.28,639, the total charges have been 

 Hs.33,800 (A = Rs.7,623,B=Rs.26,177), thus involving a deficit of Rs.5,161. Itshould, 

 however, be said that two out of the three years in question were years of famine, the effects 

 of which were still felt also in the third year. It would therefore be fairer to take for the 

 revenue the average figures for the five years from 1887-88 to 1891-92, which preceded the 



