ECONOMIC RESOURCES. 93 



Mr. Blanford, accepting the late Mr. Casperz's data, deduced the result that the 

 yield of charcoal per square mile (taking renewal of trees at 12 years) from forest land 

 was 264 tons per annum. The quantity of forest land, therefore, to be leased for 

 works yielding 200 tons a month of charcoal pig, would have to be fourteen square 

 miles. Taking the trees at fifteen years' growth and the same out-turn of iron, 

 seventeen square miles would be required. 



Mr. Julius Eamsay, the Manager of the last Kumaon iron-works, calculating for 

 an outturn of 6,000 tons of charcoal pig a year from ore of 45 per cent, iront and 

 limestone somewhat purer than kunkur, apportioned 7,500 tons of charcoal. 



This amount of charcoal is equal to 2,500,000 cubic feet of wood— 1,000 cubi c 

 feet of wood yielding three tons of charcoal on an average. 



He estimated that the trees renewed themselves in fifteen years, and that each 

 square mile would yield 219 tons of charcoal. Taking twelve years' growth, the yield 

 would be 270 tons. The produce of an entire square mile is computed at 1,097,930 

 cubic feet of wood, or 3,92J tons of charcoal. 



These figures coincide remarkably with those given by Mr. Blanford, and as 

 Mr. Ramsay (who was a Swede) could lay claim to a large amount of practical expe- 

 rience in connection with charcoal furnaces, his conclusion as to average yield of 

 forest land in India helps to establish the estimate that one square mile of forest land, 

 when the rate of renewal is twelve years, gives an out-turn of about 250 tons of 

 charcoal a year. 



If any thought be entertained of erecting charcoal furnaces in the loha mehals, 

 the above figures will be some sort of data from which to compute the area of land 

 required. 



To the above I would add that, taking into consideration the pre- 

 sent state of the so-called forests, planting and conservation would have 

 to precede the establishment of furnaces by at least seven or eight years. 

 Practically, Mr. Hughes' figures may be said to establish the fact that 

 a sufficient supply of charcoal (to keep large furnaces in operation, and 

 with an outturn that could not only cover expenses but also yield a 

 profit) is not likely to be found in the Rajmehal hills, except under a 

 most rigid system of cultivation of timber. Even with the most 

 scientific treatment, the soil in the laterite areas is too poor to admit of 

 the free or rapid growth of timber. 



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