AFFORESTATION OF NEW AREAS, 159 



practically desert land by irrigation with the surplus water of the 

 Bari-Duab canal. The appended illustrations show the land in 

 its natural condition and 17 years after the planting. The best 

 known instance of successful plaating is the Nillambor teak 

 plantation in Madras now up to 75 years old ; it gives a handsome 

 return. 



The most important class of plantations are the taungya 

 {hill garden) plantations of teak in Burma. It is a combination 

 of the rearing of field crops with the sowing (or planting) of teak 

 seed. By establishing them on selected concentrated areas, the 

 production of teak in the future will be a multiple of what it is 

 now, especially as marketable mature trees will be produced in a 

 much shorter time than in the existing natural forests. As the re- 

 generation of Bengal Sal forests by natural means has met with 

 great difficulty, the system of clear-cutting followed by planting 

 has lately been recommended in the Duars forests, the idea having 

 been based chiefly on the results of a Sal plantation made by the 

 author in the year 1875 in the Buxa reserve. 



6. Afforestation of New Areas. 



It has been explained above that the percentage of State forests 

 is small and not sufficient to provide permanently for the require- 

 ments of several provinces. This remark refers to the United 

 Provinces, the Punjab, Bengal, Behar, the North-western Pro- 

 vinces, Ajmer and Baluchistan. In some of these provinces fuel 

 reserves are specially wanted, so that the cow dung, which is now 

 burnt, may be made available for manure. The matter was 

 considered in 1882 as regards the establishment of fuel and fodder 

 reserves in the United Provinces. Thirty years later the Govern- 

 ment of the latter provinces announced, in 1912, a definite policy 

 of afforestation of ravine lands and the formation of fuel and 

 fodder reserves in the dry tracts of the plains. To give effect to 

 this policy, an afforestation division has been established. A 

 systematic survey of waste lands has been started in Jhansi, 

 Hamirpur, Jalaun and Etawah districts, and the work of reclama- 

 tion and afforestation has been taken in hand. 



In the Punjab, plantations in the rakh districts were started 

 52 years ago. Numerous plantations were established especially 

 along the railway lines, including that at Changa Manga already 



