918 REPORT—1899. 
Burmese Forests, he was appointed Inspector-General of all the Government 
Forests in British India; and it is to him that we owe for the most part the 
organisation of the Indian Forest Department as it now exists. That organisation 
includes two Schools of Forestry (in both of which Botany is taught), one in con- 
nection with Cooper's Hill and the other at Dehra Dun in Upper India. The latter 
has for many years been under the direction of a gentleman who is distin- 
guished both as a Forester and as a Botanist. In the Cooper’s Hill School, the 
hicher grades of Forest officers receive their training ; at Dehra Dun those of the 
lower grades receive theirs. The officers of the department on the Imperial list, 
according to the latest official returns, now number 208, divided into the grades of 
conservator, deputy- and assistant-conservator, with a single inspector-general as 
chief. In addition to these, there are 566 provincial officers, ranking from rangers 
upwards to extra deputy-conservators. 
Botanists took a leading part in moulding the department in its earlier years; 
for, as already stated, its pioneers—Gibson, Dalzell, Cleghorn, Anderson, Stewart, 
and Brandis—were all Botanists. And to most people, who give even casual 
attention to the matter, it appears fitting that the possession of a knowledge 
and liking for Botany should form a strong characteristic of officers whose main 
duties are to be in the forest. And this belief did for some time exercise consider- 
able influence in the selection of recruits for the department. But, except in the 
Dehra Dun School, it does not appear to guide the department any longer. For 
example, at the Entrance Examination to the Forest Schoo] at Cooper’s Hill, 
only three subjects are obligatory for a candidate, viz. mathematics, to which 
3,000 marks are allowed; German, to which 2,000 are allowed; and English, 
for which 1,000 are given. Botany is one of the nine optional subjects of which a 
candidate may take up two, and in each of which 2,000 marks may be made. 
Botany is taught at Cooper’s Hill, and (according to the Calendar of the 
College) it forms one of the ‘special auxiliary subjects’ for the Forest student. 
I do not wish to say a single word in depreciation of the Botanical teaching at this — 
College, which is probably excellent of its sort. I do not know what value, as 
part of their professional equipment, students are accustomed or encouraged to 
attach to the possession of the means of acquiring a knowledge of the trees and 
shrubs in the midst of which they are to pass their lives in India. But this I do 
know, that the ordinary Forest officer educated in England now arrives in India 
without sufficient knowledge to enable him to recognise from their Botanical 
characters the most well-marked Indian trees. To tell such an officer the name 
of the natural family to which a plant belongs conveys no information to 
him whatever, for he knows nothing of Botanical affinities. Moreover, the 
Forest officer after he has arrived in India is not encouraged to familiarise himself 
with the contents of the forests under his charge. ‘Chis will be better appreciated 
by giving an example than by any number of remarks. Some three years 
ago, Mr. J. 5. Gamble (a Forest officer) published a monograph of the Bamboos 
of British India. From bamboos, as you may possibly be aware, a very large 
amount of Forest revenue is annually derived. The sales of bamboos for the 
year 1896-97 amounted to no less than 110 millions of stems. A great number of 
the species of bamboos have the curious habit of flowering gregariously at remote 
intervals of thirty or forty years, and the flowering is followed by death. The absence 
from the forests for years in succession of flowers of a number of the species, and the 
similarity of many of them in leaves, had hitherto made members of the group most 
difficult of identification. Mr. Gamble had devoted himself to their study for many 
years. He had carefully examined all the previously collected materials stored in the 
Herbaria at Kew, the British Museum, Calcutta, and elsewhere ; and large special 
collections had been made for him by Mr. Gustay Mann and other officers of 
Government. Moreover, he had General Munro’s great paper in the ‘ Linnean 
Transactions’ asa basis. Mr. Gamble’s work was undertaken with the full 
approval of Sir Joseph Hooker, who indeed accepted Mr. Gamble’s account of the 
bamboos for his ‘ Flora of British India.’ Myr. Gamble’s monograph is illustrated 
by a life-sized drawing of each species, with analyses of the flowers on a larger 
scale. When comovleted, the book was published as one of the volumes of the 
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