142 FORESTRY IN BRITISH EAST INDIA. 



however, be remembered that the greater part of the increment 

 is at present laid on by trees which are of Httle or no value, and 

 that this process will continue until the proportion of valuable 

 trees has been considerably increased, a process which will require 

 something like a whole rotation. Besides, great demands are 

 made on these forests for other produce, while the population is 

 rapidly increasing. Moreover, there should now be a great 

 development of forest industries and of export. 



The Indian census of 1911 gave 1,191,367 people and their 

 dependents employed on forest industries in British India, an 

 estimate which was probably much below the actual. With the 

 opening up of the forests, the extension of systematic working, 

 the wider use of known products, and the discovery of new pro- 

 ducts, a steady development of industries dependent on the forests 

 is sure to take place. 



section iv.— development of indian forest 

 conservancy. 



1. Historical. 



If such evidence as is now available can be relied on, the greater 

 part of India was in former times covered with forests. Subse- 

 quently, settlers opened out the country along fertile valleys and 

 streams, but the destruction of the forests on a larger scale was 

 done by nomadic tribes which, moving from pasture to pasture, 

 fired alike hills and plains wherever they went. Many of these 

 tribes consisted of Arians who had come across the Himalayas. 

 This lasted for many centuries. With the advent of British rule, 

 the destruction of the forests became more rapid than ever. The 

 order of the day then became " extension of cultivation at the 

 cost of the existing forests," a process which was carried on for 

 many years without any enquiry as to the ultimate efiects. To 

 this was gradually added an increasing demand for timber, as well 

 as for pasture for rapidly multiplying herds of cattle, which 

 roamed far and wide through the forests. Shifting cultivation and 

 fire did the rest. Then railways came, and with their extension 

 the forests disappeared with greater rapidity than ever, partly 

 on account of the increased demands for timber and firewood 

 used in construction, and partly on account of the fresh impetus 

 given to cultivation along the lines. 



