APPENDIX IV. 



Report on the ravine land oj the Etawah district, with certain 



proposals for the improvement of the pasture, by MB. E. A. 



COUBTHOPE, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Afforestation 



division, dated the 30th April, 1913, with letter of the Collector 



of Etawah on the subject. 



IN resolution no. 348, dated the 26th August, 1912, it is stated 

 that the attention of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor has been 

 directed to the importance of the future development of a defined 

 policy in the matter of the preservation of the existing forests of 

 the province, and of the re-aSorestation of denuded areas, and 

 of the establishment of fuel and fodder reserves throughout the 

 province. The resolution admits the incontrovertibility of Dr. 

 Voelcker's arguments in favour of formation of fuel and fodder 

 reserves, and the truth of his statements that this is " the 

 one practical measure which calls for the most urgent attention 

 and from which the greatest benefits may be expected to 

 follow " ; but goes on to point out that there are certain inherent 

 difficulties which render it in this province a more difficult 

 matter than in Madras where the State owns all waste land, to 

 summon forestry to the aid of agriculture. On the other hand, 

 it is stated that Sir John Hewett was not convinced that these 

 difficulties were in any way insuperable, and the resolution concludes 

 by suggesting the possibility of establishing an agricultural branch 

 of forestry in the province. 



As a result of this resolution I was deputed on my return from 

 leave early in December, 1912, to make a preliminary survey of 

 the waste land of the province, and in due course I shall submit 

 a report on my observations and conclusions. During the progress 

 of my tour I received instructions from the Conservator of Forests, 

 Eastern circle, to inspect and report on a block of 3,000 acres of 

 ravine land, the acquisition of which was contemplated in the 

 Etawah district, a district which I should in any case have visited 

 later on in the season. 



In consultation with the Collector of the district, Mr. H R. 

 Nevill, I decided that it would be useless and most unwise to 

 acquire tnis block, as it was too small to demonstrate practically 

 and economically the advantages conferred on a district by the 

 proper management of such waste areas, while, in the Collector's 

 opinion, the acquisition of selected blocks from certain villages 

 would inevitably cause jealousy and bad feeling among the land- 

 holders. In this opinion the Conservator fully concurred 



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