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ment. For many years these young- men studied forestry in Germany and in 

 France. Gradually the difficulties of studying in a foreign country and in a 

 foreign language made themselves more and more felt, until it was decided to 

 start, in 1885, an English forest school in connection with the Royal Indian 

 Engineering College at Cooper's Hill. Under these arrangements, some 110 officers 

 have been trained and drafted into the Indian Forest Department. At tbe 

 present moment we have twenty-two forest students under insti'uction at Cooper's 

 Hill. 



These young men are destined to recruit the superior or controlling staff of 

 the department. In addition, it was found necessary to let the future executive 

 officers pass through a suitable course of training, Accordingly, an Indian forest 

 school was started, in 1878, at Debra Doon, in the North Western Provinces, 

 which has been gradually developed, so that it now turns out annually some 

 thirty trained forest rangers. These are almost entirely natives of India ; they 

 enter the executive branch of the service, but those of special merit are eligible 

 for promotion to the controlling staff. 



The organization of the department may be shortly described as follows : 

 The Inspector-General of forests is the head of the department, and responsible 

 to the Government of India. The department in each Province is presided over 

 by a Conservator of Forests (or two, and even three in the large Provinces) who 

 is responsible to the Local Government. He is assisted by deputy and assistant 

 conservators, each of whom controls the management of the forests in a district 

 or other part of a Province. Subordinate to this controlling staff' are the execu- 

 tive officers, divided into various grades, and they in their turn are assisted by 

 the protecting staff, consisting of foresters and guards, numbering- many 

 thousands. 



In this manner a well-organized department has been built up during the 

 last quarter of a century, which has under its charge an immense government 

 property consisting at present of some 55,000,000 acres of forest lands. Some of 

 the forests were taken in hand before they had been destroyed, but by far the 

 greater part of the area was taken over in a reduced and even ruined condition. 

 Although a quarter of a century is only a short period in the life of a timber tree, 

 the effects of protection and systematic management are eveiywhere apparent 

 Economic systems of utilization have been introduced, a large proportion of tii 

 forests is successfully protected against the formerly annually recurring fores 

 fires; young growth is allowed to spring up under the protection now afford e! : 

 sowings and planting are carried out when required ; the forests are managed 

 under carefully considered working plans; and all this without interfering with 

 the acknowledged rights of the people, who receive every year enormous quan- 

 tities of forest produce, either free of charge or at comparatively low rates. In 

 many parts of the country the people have come to recognize the importance to 

 themselves of the proper preservation of a suitable forest area, and this feeling is 

 steadily extending. 



What I have said above refers to British territory. Space does not permit 

 my dealing with forestry in native States, beyond mentioning that of late years 

 many native rulers have commenced forest conservancy in their States, with the 

 assistance and advice of officers of the Indian Forest Department on lines similar 

 to those followed in the British territory. 



And now the question may well be asked, how about the cost of all this 

 elaborate organization and the works of protection and improvement ? 



