situated between the Yellapur and Hubli Roads. Blocks III (1,704 acres) and 

 IV (2,226 acres) are east of Sirsi and are reached by the Hubli and Banvdsi 

 Beads. All the forest is within 6 miles of the town. 



7. State of the boundaries. 



As far as possible roads and well defined nallas have been used as block 

 boundaries. As a rule, however, the boundaries are somewhat irregular owing 

 to the country being much cut up by cultivations, gardens, and soppin-betta 

 assignments. 



8. Legal position Mights and privileges. 

 The forests are reserved under section 1 9 of the Indian Forest Act. 



The whole or part of the forest of 26 villages are included in the plan. 

 Of these, 10 villages were settled by Mr. W. D. Sheppard atd his proposals 

 sanctioned by Government under Resolution No. 6890 dated 16th September 

 1897. Ten villages were settled by Mr. G. L. Laird- MaoGregor (Government 

 Resolution No. (5907 dated 2nd August 1910) and the remaining 6 villages by 

 Mr. Wingate (Government Resolution No. 278 dated 13th January 1590). 



Only rights of way and of access to temples and water were admitted. 



Under the settlements areas of Minor Forest were allotted to each village 

 for the exercise of what are now known as the A-class of privileges under the 

 Kanara Forest Privilege rules. Proposals regarding the grazing of cattle were 

 also made, but pending the introduction of a working plan grazing has been 

 permitted in practically all forest except evergreens. 



9. Composition and condition of the Forest. 



The main patches of jungle consist of good forest. The trees are small, 

 but, as a rule, the ground is fully stocked, and the forest well suited for the 

 production of firewood and small timber. 



Jamba is the commonest tree and large areas consist almost entirely of 

 this species. In the mixed deciduous forest the common good species are 

 jamba, matti, kindal and nandi. Bonne, jambul, birda, bilkumbi and black- 

 wood are also fairly plentiful. The average height growth of the trees is about 

 40 feet. Regeneration is good. 



The above is the character of the greater part of the forest, but towards 

 Sirsi Town and in the neighbourhood of the larger villages there are consider- 

 able areas of inferior jungle. These consist either of grassy patches containing 

 only small koulu and hirda trees, or of open matti and kindal jungle, which 

 has been ruined by men and cattle. In such parts there are little or no signs 

 of regeneration, or it consists only of the thorny and undesirable species usually 

 associated with heavy grazing. The areas of good and poorly stocked forest in 

 each block are shown in the coloured map attached to the report. 



Evidence of theft and manufacture of deadwood is apparent nearly every- 

 where, and unless checked the proportion of bad forest to good will rapidly 

 increase. 



10. Injuries to which the crop is liable. 



The 3 principal sources of injury are (1) Heavy grazing, (2) Fire, (3) 

 Theft. 



Parts of the forest are very heavily grazed over, and if not given periodic 

 intervals for recuperation, tree-growth will disappear altogether. As is 

 always the case when the head of cattle is large, and numerous grassy patches 

 exist in and around the forest, there is great temptation to the owners to fire 

 the grass in the interests of grazing. Such intentional firing is common and 

 has done a lot of harm. Fires caused through accident, or rather through 



