INDIAN FOREST MEMOIRS. 



goats and sheep which have been actually grazed in this area during the four years period 

 1904-08 :— 



Grasslands 

 and Afforest- 

 ation. 





Number op Animals Grazed annually. 



Area open to Grazing- annually in 

 .Square Miles. 



Buffaloes. 



Cows and 

 Bullocks. 



Goats and 

 Sheep. 



Total. 



197,c25 



1,597,949 



7,683,682 



4,489,476 



13,771,107 



In many parts of India, with the increase in the numbers and in the prosperity of the 

 local population of recent years, the number of cattle for which grazing is required in the 

 Government Forests has steadily risen and the question of what measures are to be taken in 

 order to satisfy as far as possible the urgent needs of the people with regard to fodder and 

 grazing, without thereby unduly decreasing the area required for the satisfaction of the 

 wants of the country in respect of wood, fuel and other forest products, for the protection 

 of the headwaters of streams and for improving the water supply required for cultivated 

 tracts, is now one of great difficulty and of pressing importance. 



In whatever way a solution of this question of securing a satisfactory allotment of 

 forest areas for these antagonistic interests is ultimately arrived at, it appears certain that 

 large areas of the greatest value as grazing grounds, or as areas productive of good fodder 

 grass, to meet present needs, or to serve as a reserve in times of famine, will always be 

 situated within the boundaries of the Government Forests and such areas will consequently 

 remain under the management of the Forest Department. It is also clear that with regard 

 to such areas the forest estate will not adequately fulfil its task of satisfying, to the full 

 extent of its possibilities, the needs of the people in respect of the produce which it is 

 capable of yielding, until these grasslands are managed in such a way as to make them 

 most productive of the best class of article required from them, i.e. until they are made to 

 yield the maximum quantity of the best fodder grass which they are capable df producing. 



3. On the other hand, large areas of grass- 

 land exist in forests almost throughout India which are not needed primarily for the 

 production of fodder and which have been for many years carefully protected from fires and 

 grazing in the hope that they would soon become naturally reaiforested, with, in many 

 cases, so far as can be seen, little or no practical result. Many of our forest grasslands 

 also are annually burnt under proper control in order to diminish the danger of fire damage 

 to the surrounding forest which would result from the accidental firing of the masses of 

 dry inflammable grass contained in these areas in the dry season. Little is known at 

 present regarding the effect, injurious or otherwise, of these annually repeated fires on the 

 production of fodder, or on the capacity of the soil to produce good forest growth. The 

 great importance of initiating an inquiry into the best method of treatment to apply to 



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