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Fisher forests- 



Kalpi babul 

 plantation. 



results of oertain experiments on a small scale, whioh had already 

 been started, were ascertained. 



In spite of every discouragement, Mr. J. H. Fisher, i.o.s , in 

 1884, determined to start on his own and for this purpose he called 

 together the zamindars who owned a large tract of ravine land, some 

 eight square miles in extent, situated to the west of the town of 

 Etawah ; and these proprietors agreed to hand over their land for 

 the creation of a fodder and fuel reserve and for the protection of 

 the ground from erosion and further deterioration. The owners 

 of the land were to provide the necessary funds and in return the 

 profits were to be divided pro rata according to the money furnished 

 and the land held in each case. The management of this reserve 

 was entrusted to the Collector, who placed the area under working 

 in the same year. Grazing was prohibited in the area, the soil 

 broken with the country plough, and seeds of babul, neem and 

 shisham sown ; and in order to dam up the rain water and locally 

 raise the spring level which was extremely low, bandhs were 

 thrown across the ravines in suitable places. Besides these 

 sowings, planting of various species was undertaken. 



Although this forest remained under the management of the 

 Collector till 1902, very little is known of the actual results except 

 that a fairly good crop of babul was established, sufficiently dense 

 and valuable to encourage a business firm to take and work the 

 forest for the bark on. a lease for 60 years at a purchase price of 

 approximately Bs. 2 per acre and an annual rental of Ee 1 per 

 acre. 



The scheme worked well for a time, and it was felt that if it 

 proved a success it might be copied by other landowners in the 

 hundred square miles of similar country in the district and that 

 there would consequently be no need for Government interference. 



Beyond the Etawah scheme nothing'much was done except the 

 preservation of some existing forest tracts for protective reasons 

 until December, 1901, when, at the instance of the Military depart- 

 ment, an enquiry was held into the means by which the supply of 

 babul bark for the tanneries at Cawnpore could be most effectually 

 increased and the possibility of establishing babul reserves within 

 easy reach of the factories. Mr. Hobart Hampden, Deputy Conser- 

 vator of Forests, was deputed to this enquiry, with the result that 

 a small experimental plantation (850 acres) was started in the 

 ravines adjacent to the railway line at Kalpi, district Jalaun, and a 

 further small plot of level cultivated land known as Piprayan (162 

 acres), situated four and a quarter miles south-east of Ata railway 

 station, was acquired. Mr. Hobart Hampden's whole scheme, which 

 covered an area of 10,800 acres, was not accepted until the experiment 



