APPENDIX. 



Ixi 



good new and early crop of grass. The needles of cliir fall about 

 this time and undoubtedly suppress the grass and render the hill- 

 sides difficult and even dangerous to cattle. The villagers' time 

 established remedy for this is burning the forest and when no 

 restrictions exist burning is resorted to everywhere at this season. 



2. With established customs such as these the policy of the 

 Forest department? must at present be to arrange our protective 

 measures so that an adequate area of forest, either " Open Civil " 

 or where necessary reserved, can be burnt at the season that the 

 people wish, without unduly endangering the forests which it is 

 desired to protect. 



3. As the result of experience gained more particularly in the 

 bad fire seasons of 1915-16 and 1921 the following remarks may be 

 made : 



(i) In chir forests firelines with chir trees standing on them 

 are practically useless as the needles fall at the season 

 when the efficiency of the fire lines is required to be at 

 its highest. The needles are in such quantity parti- 

 cularly in a dry year that after their fall even clearing 

 of a narrow path to counterfire from the fireline is a. 

 very slow operation. 



(ii) Banj and rhododendron stop a fire to great extent, there 

 is little grass and debris under them. They are to be 

 encouraged along the edges of the firelines. One . 

 drawback to them is however that they generally have 

 several dry branches stumps, wounds, or hollows and 

 these burn and smoulder for a long time. In fighting; 

 fires therefore arrangements have always to be made 

 for putting these out. 

 (iii) Counterfirtng should only be allowed by villagers under 



the orders of a forest official. 



In a cold weather and when the forest is damp, fires in chir 

 forest can be often put out by beating, together with short counter- 

 fires either on ridges, in na.las, horizontally or sloping. In the 



