REPOET OP THE COUNCIL. Ixxxiii 



communication with the Officers of the Census, who, however, the Council 

 have reason to believe, are fully capable of carrying out the details of the 

 investigations proposed. 



The Secretary of State for India has forwarded a copy of this letter to 

 the Government of India for consideration. 



(2) That the Council be requested to represent to Her Majesty's Government 

 the importance of giving more prominence to Botany in the training of Indian 

 Forest OflBcers, 



A Committee consisting of Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Sir George King, 

 Professor Marshall Ward, and the General Officers, was appointed to 

 report on this matter. 



As a result of their deliberations the following letter was addressed by 

 the President to the Secretary of State for India : — 



The Council of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 having had under consideration the remarks made by Sir George King at 

 the meeting in Dover in September last, as to the deficiency in botanical 

 knowledge of the officers in the Forest Department of India, think that 

 the subject is one of such great importance as to justify them in bringing 

 the conclusions at which they have arrived before the Secretary of State for 

 India. 



The Forest Department in India not only has charge of the great 

 forests of that Empire, but is frequently called upon to supply trained 

 officers for the care of those of our colonial possessions. It is needless 

 to insist that those who practise the art of forestry ought to have a firm 

 grasp of the scientific principles on which the art is based. They should 

 be able to do more than, as a matter of routine, follow out conscientiously 

 the rules laid down for them ; they ought to possess the scientific knowledge 

 which will enable them to seize opportunities which may present themselves 

 of extending the resources and developing the economic value of our 

 forests, and which will give them power over unforeseen difficulties 

 occasioned by plant diseases or other causes. 



There seems, however, to be little doubt, from evidence which has 

 been laid before a Committee of this Council, that, with some exceptions, 

 the forest officers on actual duty have at most a very slender equipment of 

 botanical knowledge. It appears that they are in many cases unable to make 

 intelligent use, or, indeed, in individual cases, any use at all, of the excellent 

 technical works provided for their use at the expense of India by the 

 Secretary of State. The majority of them are unable to give scientific 

 precision to their reports, or to demonstrate the contents of the forests under 

 their charge to foreign experts. Indeed, probably it may be said with truth 

 that the native subordinate officers trained in India at Dehra Dun possess 

 a more accurate knowledge of Indian botany than do the European 

 officers under whom they have to serve. 



My Council desire to urge upon the Secretary of State for India that 

 this undesirable state of things — undesirable for many reasons, among 

 others that through it the capabilities of our forests are probably not as 

 fully developed as they might be, to the detriment of Indian revenues — • 

 may be traced in part at least to the circumstances under which the forest 

 officers are selected. 



The mode of selection adopted ought to be such that the Indian 

 Forest Service should draw into its ranks men whose aptitudes and tastes 



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