20 



PRACTICAL FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



History of 

 afforesta- 

 tion 



Report 

 by Dr. 

 Brandis, 

 I. G.F., 

 1879. 



The Kalpi 

 Plan- 

 tation, 

 1904. 



A brief reference to the gradual development of the afforestation 

 work of the province may also be made. 



The question of utilising the waste lands ir\ Agra, Etawah 

 and adjoining districts and the establishment of fuel and fodder 

 reserves was the subject of a report in 1879 by Dr. Brandis, 

 tnen Inspector-General of Forests to the Government of India. 



In this report attention was drawn to the large tracts of ravine 

 country lying on both sides of the Jumna river and the extent of 

 wastes to be found in several districts of the Doab. 



The measures recommended in this report for the encourage- 

 ment of forest growth on these lands were 



(1) The exclusion of fire, 



(2) Bestriction of grazing, 



(3) The protection from all cutting of wood, and 



(4) Filling up of blank areas by planting and sowing. 



The report recommended the acquisition of suitably situated 

 and sufficiently large blocks of waste land which should not be 

 too far from the markets for the produce. However, the report 

 led to nothing, and no action was taken at that time. 



The question was revived in 1884, when Mr. J. F. Fisher, 

 Collector of Etawah, started the " Fisher Forest". 



In 1904 the growing scarcity of babul bark for tanning led to 

 the commencement of the Kalpi Plantation. 



Again for a long time no further action was taken in the 

 matter of afforesting the Jumna ravines. But in 1912 Sir John 

 Hewett, the Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces, issued 

 a most important resolution, in which he defined the policy of 

 Government in the matter of afforestation of denuded areas, and 

 the establishment of fuel and fodder reserves throughout the prov- 

 ince. This resolution was the commencement of a new epoch 

 in the history of afforestation in the United Provinces. An 



