( ISA ) 



On the other hand, I was so impressed with the unique oppor- 

 tunity presented by the Etawah district, of carrying out the policy 

 outlined in the resolution, that I have obtained permission from 

 the Conservator of Forests, Eastern circle, to submit a special 

 report on the advisability of acquiring practically all the ravine 

 land of the Etawah district in place of the report originally called 

 for by him, and in anticipation of my annual report I may add that 

 the ravines of the Etawah district are mentioned in a note written 

 by Mr. ' W. H. Moreland, U.S.T., C.I.B., late Director of Agricul- 

 ture, as being suitable ground for afforestation purposes. 



In paragraph 12 of the resolution it is stated that the " fuel and 

 fodder reserves at present in existence constitute an insignificant 

 proportion of the provincial area ... of this reserve much is 

 necessarily not available for fodder or fuel purposes. It is more- 

 over, largely concentrated in certain areas, and extensive tracts 

 are situated at such a distance from the forests that the latter 

 cannot serve as fuel or fodder reserves for them. With the agri- 

 cultural and industrial development of the province a rapidly 

 expanding demand for forest produce, and in particular for fuel, 

 small timber and grass must be anticipated . . . Moreover, the 

 increasing pressure of population and cultivation bids fair at no dis- 

 tant date to react with destructive effect on the cattle supply of the 

 province and through the cattle, directly on its general agricultural 

 prosperity . . . Sir John Hewett regards the needs for definite 

 action as imperative. *' I have quoted the above passages from the 

 resolution, because they seem to me to apply with particular force 

 to the Etawah district. 



A reference to the gazetteer shows that the total area of the 

 district is 1, 082,4-13 acres. Of this area 368,674 acres are shown 

 as uncultivated waste land, 171,943 acres being usar and 130,147 

 acres ravine jungle. 



The figures given in the gazetteer are taken from the survey of 

 1872. Since this date there has been a considerable reclamation 

 of usar, and to a less extent of the ravine belt along the edge of 

 the cultivation, but a comparison of the old and the new maps 

 shows that such gain is more than counterbalanced by the loss 

 of cultivation caused by the inland extension of the ravines, which 

 in some localities has been alarmingly rapid. 



The northern half of the district consists either of usar inters- 

 persed with patches of cultivation or of cultivated land with very 

 numerous patches of usar. 



The southern half of the district is mostly ravine land with 

 strips of unbroken cultivated land. This part of the district is 

 intersected by the Sengar. Jumna, and Chambal rivers, The Sengar 



