( 20A ) 



grazing to keep the animals alive now, but there is no reserve of out 

 grass fodder whatsoever. 



The whole of the ravine country is sparsely covered with a low 

 scrub, consisting mainly of karil. The tree-growth is very un- 

 even. In the parts most remote from villages there is often a fair 

 covering of miscellaneous trees, in a few places the growth was 

 noticed to be remarkably good but elsewhere nothing is to be seen 

 except scattered babul, cheonkar, rionja, and nim trees, and even 

 these are generally lopped. Along the bottoms of the ravines good 

 - sissoo is occasionally found. Eeproduction is almost non-existent, 

 trees getting but little opportunity to produce seed owing to the 

 ruthless lopping which is carried on by herdsmen, while such seed- 

 lings as spring up here and there are regularly year by year tramp- 

 led down and browsed over by buffaloes and goats. As has already 

 been mentioned, there is- plenty of grass on the ground if it were 

 allowed to grow. The quantity and quality vary from place to place 

 but it is most noticeable that there is more and better grass where 

 there is a light covering of trees than where the ravines are wholly 

 bare. 



The ravines are the property of zamindars. No grazing fees 

 are levied from the tenants directly, but permission to graze is 

 utilized as lever for raising rents. Occasionally fees are levied 

 from owners of cattle sending their animals from " foreign" villages, 

 as, for instance, in the ravine south of Auraiya, where inhabited 

 sites are few and the demand for grazing rights by resident tenants 

 is not so heavy. 



No attempt is made by the zamindars or by the graziers them- 

 selves to control or regulate the gazing or to preserve the fodder; 

 there is no restriction within the village boundaries on the number 

 of cattle which may graze in any area. 



No attempt is made by most zamindars to promote tree-growth ; 

 villagers may lop trees as they please, and may fell them after 

 obtaining the formal consent of zamindars, which is rarely withheld. 



There is little, if any, export of timber, firewood or charcoal, 

 even into the city of Etawah, which has in consequence to obtain 

 its supply at almost prohibitive rates from a great distance- ^t 

 present there is no great demand for firewood outside the city and 

 larger towns, as the people prefer using their cowdung as fuel to 

 picking up the very scarce fallen wood or going to considerable 

 distances to out dry trees. 



The above depressing state of affairs may be briefly summa- 

 rized as follows : 



The Etawah district contains a relatively greater proportion of 

 waste land than any other in the plains of this province and yet 



