( 62A ) 



in the Agra district and certain waste lands on the bank of the 

 Jumna river in the Muttra district. 



6. The possibilities of the schemes of reclamation. It is now 

 generally admitted that all ravines can be reclaimed and that the 

 further extension of ravines can be prevented ; further it is admitted 

 that fuel and fodder reserves, or even gardens, can be established 

 on the reclaimed land provided enough money is expended. In 

 G. 0. no. 175-L/XIV, dated 30th September, 1914, it is stated 

 that the returns from such schemes will take three forms (1) the 

 ultimate revenue from forest trees, (2) the immediate value of grass 

 and grazing which will result from the reclamation, and (3) the 

 indirect saving which will arise from the prevention of scouring and 

 ultimate disappearance of much excellent soil, In the opinion of 

 the writers to these returns must be added (1) the very large saving 

 which Government will effect in times of scarcity and famine by 

 having a stock of fodder in the impoverished districts instead of 

 having to import it from great distances, (2 ) the indirect returns 

 due to the saving of cattle manure for the fields as insisted upon by 

 Dr. Voelcker, and (3) the indirect increase of revenue to Govern- 

 ment which must follow upon the increased prosperity of the 

 inhabitants of the locality. 



7. Dealing first with the commercial possibilities of the scheme 

 generally, that is to say, with the sources of direct revenue as com- 

 pared with the expenditure, the chief factors necessary for success 

 are a sufficiently large area and accessibility. To reclaim even a 

 small area a permanent establishment of trained employees must 

 be maintained, but this same establishment can supervise a very 

 large area. There are not at present sufficient data to enable the 

 writers to state definitely what the cost of reclamation will be, but 

 they believe that they are not being over sanguine in estimating the 

 cost at about Rs. 25 per acre, excluding the cost of establishment. 

 The additional cost per acre for establishment depends entirely on 

 the amount of ground annually reclaimed : it has been estimated 

 that the annual cost of the full establishment for reclaiming and 

 managing 25,000 acres in the newly formed Etawah division will be 

 about Rs. 25,000, though there is reason to hope that it may be 

 rather less. Assuming that only 1,000 acres per annum were 

 reclaimed, the cost for establishment would be Es. 25 per acre and 

 the whole cost Es. 50 per acre, and the writers think that this 

 figure may safely be taken as a maximum, provided the schemes are 

 on a sufficiently large scale. It is to be noted that this figure 



ncludes'the cost of reclaiming the ravines and establishing and 

 maintaining plantations thereon. 



