HAPPY INDIA 69 



hundred years ago there was a fine forest are now, 

 owing to the destruction of the trees and the grass, 

 bare deserts. The desert in the Etawah district 

 was increasing at the rate of 250 acres a year, due 

 to the torrents in the rainy season making deep 

 ravines in the land which was unprotected by any 

 vegetation. He says that the area of cultivation in 

 the Saharanpur Terai has diminished in the last 

 fifty years. We know that in England forests were 

 cut down in order to make charcoal for the smelting 

 of iron, and the same thing has happened in India, 

 where charcoal was used for smelting iron until 

 cheaper British iron was introduced into the country. 

 In England the plentiful rain has sufficed to make 

 the grass grow, so that the destruction of forests has 

 not deprived us of grass or of water. But in India 

 the conditions are quite different, and the destruction 

 of forests leads to a great deal of destruction of 

 good land. Because damage has been done in the 

 past, there is no reason why it should not be repaired 

 now. The destruction of forests was going on long 

 before the English came and took control of the 

 land, but it went on long after the English came, 

 and perhaps at a greater speed because of the demand 

 for timber for railways and other works, and also 

 because of the increase in population. This increased 

 population would lead to the increase in the number 

 of cattle and goats. Goats are most destructive 

 to trees : where they are allowed to roam about the 

 wood they will destroy the young trees and the 

 shoots and seedlings. Cattle also are destructive to 



