FOREST POLICY OF THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 103 



away from its foot has been rendered sterile. To cure the 

 evil it is necessary to stop grazing, at any rate that of goats 

 and sheep, so as to allow the hills to re-clothe themselves with 

 a covering of plants, shrubs and trees, and to help by artificial 

 sowing and planting wherever required. It is understood that 

 the Government of the Punjab has of late paid attention to 

 the matter and inaugurated measures with the object of 

 preventing further mischief. 



Although the case of the Hoshiarpur Chos, as they are 

 called, is the worst of its kind in India, there are other 

 instances which prove that afforestation is essential on hill 

 sides, wherever the rock is friable and liable to be carried 

 away by the continued action of water. It would, however, 

 be a mistake to assume that every hill slope requires to be 

 under forest. Over considerable areas the rock is firm and 

 capable of holding its own without the steadying help of a 

 growth of forest vegetation. 



c. Forest Produce required in India. 



Although India has an extensive seaboard along which 

 forest produce can be landed, it does not derive so much 

 benefit from this fact as might be assumed at first sight, 

 because it is such a vast country. The distance between the 

 seashore and the places of consumption in the interior of the 

 country amounts frequently to many hundred miles ; raihvays 

 are as yet not as common as they are in England, and forest 

 produce is for the most part bulky ; hence only the coast 

 districts would profit by the more ordinary classes of imported 

 forest produce, even if they could be brought in sufficient 

 quantities from other countries. As a matter of fact, only a 

 certain number of railway sleepers and a limited quantity of 

 timber is imported. By far the greater part of India must 

 rely on the timber and fuel produced in the country. 



The iron industry of India is at present very limited, so that 

 the bulk of iron and steel is imported ; hence their use is 

 much more restricted than in England, timber l)eing, as a 



