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 Chapter V. 



FINANCIAL 



It has been stated that a fair comparison can be drawn between 

 the reclamation of ravines and the reclamation of the sand dunes in 

 the neighbourhood of Bordeaux Les Landes in France. It is 

 almost inconceivable that the French Government of about 100 

 years ago can have hoped to establish valuable coniferous forests 

 on those vast stretches of apparently pure silver sand, but the 

 Government did realize that it was possible and necessary to check 

 the encroachment of the sand on the inland cultivation. Accord- 

 ingly the French forest department began to hold up the shifting 

 sand by planting tufts of coarse grass and when these were buried 

 the forest officers planted more- It is easy to imagine the despair 

 of those officers at the apparent hopelessness of their task, but 

 they persevered and in the end their patient efforts overcame the 

 forces of Nature. The shifting sand was fixed and they began to 

 sow seed. On what was once a rolling waste of sand now flourish 

 dense pine forests, in which the peasants find ample work for them- 

 selves and pasture for their cattle, and behind the shelter of which 

 they cultivate their fields in security. 



The work still goes on, more and more sand is reclaimed, and it is 

 noteworthy that fiere, as in other different localities, the French 

 forest department is content to go on preparing the ground for 

 future afforestation for 20 or 30 years before planting any trees and 

 without looking too closely into the direct financial possibilities. 



So far the Government has not viewed ravine reclamation by 

 afforestation in the same light and every scheme has to be sup- 

 ported by prospects of remuneration. The cost of ravine reclama- 

 tion is expensive and in order to render it directly profitable 

 the areas must be well situated for the sale of the produce. 

 It is doubted whether the establishment of fuel and fodder reserves 

 in the ravines would be a profitable undertaking except in very 

 favourable localities near towns, unless a certain amount of big 

 timber was produced increasing in amount according to the dis- 

 tance. Fortunately it has been found that shisham, a tree for 

 which there is almost unlimited demand, grows excellently and 

 without difficulty. It must also be remembered that the whole of 

 the area in which the ravines occur is a danger zone in famine 

 years, depending for the preservation of the cattle on the carriage 

 from outside districts of hay over long leads by rail and rough 

 roads. These famines occur on the average about once in every 

 five years. The ravines after treatment yield excellent hay and 

 even in dry years the crop has been known to yield 10 maunds per 



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