28 THE WORK OF THE FOREST DEPARTMENT IN INDIA. 



litter and manure, fibres and flosses, oil seeds, tans and dyes, oils, 

 gums, resins, rubber, drugs and spices, edible products of various 

 kinds, animal products such as lac, honey and wax, silk, hides, 

 horns and ivory and mineral products. Some of the principal 

 items are considered below. 



(a) BAMBOOS. 



Bamboos are extensively used for building, basket-making 

 and innumerable other purposes, and are extracted in enormous 

 quantities, the average annual value during the five years 1910- 

 11 to 1914-15 amounting to no less than Rs. 12,14,025. In some 

 localities, as in Burma, they are so abundant as to be regarded 

 as weeds, while in others, for example in the sub-Himalayan 

 tract and the drier parts of the Peninsula, they are carefully 

 worked on a system designed to prevent depletion. Within 

 recent years special attention has been given to the utilization of 

 bamboos for the manufacture of paper pulp, a subject dealt with 

 on pages 48-51 below; this is an industry in which extensive 

 development is possible, and bamboo forests at present little 

 exploited will no doubt in time be worked to their full capacity 

 for the manufacture of paper pulp. 



(&) GRASS AND GRAZING. 



The question of fodder grass and grazing is one of the most 

 important and difficult matters with which the Forest Depart- 

 ment has to deal, for whereas on the one hand the agricultural 

 prosperity of India must depend largely on the supply of grass 

 from and grazing facilities in the forest tracts, on the other hand 

 strict regulation and limitation of grazing is necessary in the 

 interests of the forests themselves, for excessive grazing must in 

 the majority of cases result in the extermination of tree growth, 

 since it prevents the regeneration of tree species, while on hill 

 slopes its evil effects are intensified by causing denudation. In 

 times of famine the supply of grass from forest tracts is a matter 

 of great importance, and cutting and baling operations on a 

 large scale are organized for supplying the affected districts. 

 During the five years 1910-11 to 1914-15 the average annual 



