16 PRACTICAL FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



coppice with standards was adopted. Despite its shortcomings, it 

 assured at least a wonderful improvement in the state of the 

 forests, and paved the way for more scientific systems. 



In 1896 1900 the chir pine forests of the Chakrata and Naini 

 Tal divisions were brought under the shelterwood system, a system 

 eminently suited to this gregarious and light demanding species, 

 and which has proved extremely successful, wherever the regenera- 

 tion areas have been successfully fire-protected for 20 25 years, e.g., 

 Chakrata. But the holocaust of incendiarism throughout Kumaun 

 in 1921 has done immense damage in many of the regeneration 

 areas of the Naini Tal and Eanikhet divisions and wiped out to a 

 great extent the successful regeneration of the past quarter of a 

 century. All the pine and deodar forests of the hills, for which 

 working plans have been prepared, have now been brought under 

 the shelterwood system, and it is safe to state that the only danger 

 to the complete success of the system for these species is fire. 



In 1908 the shelterwood or uniform system was first tentatively 

 introduced for the Motipur Working Circle of the sal forests of 

 Bahraich division, and considering that this was the pioneer 

 attempt to apply this system to a difficult species such as sal whose 

 silviculture at that time was only imperfectly known, the results 

 have been distinctly promising. In 1914 and 1916 the working 

 plans of Haldwani and Kamnagar divisions were revised, and all the 

 extensive and valuable Bhabar forests of these two divisions were 

 brought under the shelterwood system with periodic blocks. In 

 1914 a system of clear felling and regeneration largely by coppice 

 was introduced for the sal forests of Gorakhpur with extremely 

 successful results, and with an enormous and fully justified increase 

 in the revenue. The experience gained in these forests, combined 

 with the increase in knowledge of the silviculture of sal which 

 recent research work (discussed below) has made available, justifies 

 a very considerable extension of the adoption of concentrated 

 regeneration in annual or periodic blocks, with a shelterwood, 

 where frost or drought are to be feared or where sufficient 



