( 54A ) 



after 20 years, the annual revenue to be derived from the plantations 



may be calculated roughly as follows : 



Rs. a. p. 



From the sale of timber, firewood and bark ... 5 per acre 

 From the sale of hay ... ... ... 100 ,, 



From grazing dues ... ... ... 8 ,, 



Total 680 



In inaccessible areas, that is areas situated at a distance from 

 the railways and unprovided with good roads, the revenue may 

 possibly not exceed Re. 1-8-0 or Rs. 2 per acre per annum. 



On the other hand, taking the estimate for the Etawah division 

 as a guide, the expenditure is likely to work out at about Rs, 2 per 

 acre per annum. 



9. The writers, therefore, are of opinion that the financial 

 prospects of fuel and fodder reserves established on reclaimed land 

 within 15 miles of a railway are decidedly good, but that, on the 

 other hand, the reclamation of ravines in more remote localities is 

 not likely under existing conditions to prove a siiccess looked at 

 from a purely financial point of view, without taking into consider- 

 ation any indirect return, credit for which could not be shown in the 

 balance-sheet. At the same time it must not be overlooked that in 

 the more remote localities forest officers would naturatty sow mainly 

 timber trees which it would pay to export from greater distances, 

 that, in these days of progress, remote localities may be rendered 

 accessible by means of tramways and other means of mechanical 

 transport, and that factories for the manufacture of such products 

 as tannin extract or wood spirit or matches might be established, 

 thus rendering the reclamation of these remote areas also a profit- 

 able investment. 



10. In the last few paragraphs the possibilities of ravine 

 reclamation have been examined from a strictly financial point of 

 view. There still remain to be considered those indirect returns 

 suggested by Gr. 0. no. 165-L/XIV and those additional indirect 

 returns suggested in this report. G. 0. no. 175-L/XIV refers to 

 the saving which will be effected by the prevention of the loss of 

 much excellent soil. The process of erosion is apparently so gradual 

 that it is probable that it is not generally realized how enormous 

 this loss really is. Some years ago some figures appeared showing 

 the enormous amount of soil which was scoured out by an American 

 river. The writers cannot produce accurate figures to show the 

 extent of the damage done by the rivers of these provinces, but 

 in his report for the Bhadawar estate in the Agra district Mr. 

 Courthope calculated that the annual loss of cultivated land in 



