18 THE WORK OF THE FOREST DEPARTMENT IN INDIA. 



ant forest tramways in British India are those in the 

 Goalpara division, Assam, which has recently been 

 converted for steam traction, in the Andamans, at 

 Changa Manga in the Punjab and at several places 

 in Burma. The best forest ropeway is that in the 

 Eawalpindi division of the Punjab, which was 

 erected a few years ago in order to facilitate the 

 delivery of fuel to the troops stationed at Murree. 

 Simpler ropeways worked principally by gravity are 

 used in various parts of the Himalayas for the car- 

 riage of sleepers over difficult ground. So far there 

 is only one instance, in Burma, in which skidders 

 have been used by the Forest Department. 



There can be no doubt that the gradual introduction of 

 systems of management involving concentrated working wiH be 

 accompanied by great expansion in the use of mechanical appli- 

 ances for the extraction of timber. No very great attention has 

 been paid to this subject so far, but with the appointment of 

 forest engineers and the increase in the demand for timber it is 

 hoped that there will be considerable progress in the near future. 



Water transport includes wet slides for the conveyance of 

 sleepers to points whence they can be floated, telescopic floating 

 in small streams where there is not enough water, or where the 

 obstructions are too great for the scantlings to pass down un- 

 aided, ordinary floating, rafting and conveyance by boats. The 

 department possesses a small steamer for the carriage of timber 

 from the forest camps in the Andamans to Port Blair. 



7. Forest Products. 



Forest produce is divided into two main heads (1) Major 

 produce, that is, timber and firewood, and (2) Minor produce, 

 comprising all other products such as leaves, fruits, fibres, 

 grass, gums, resins, barks, animal and mineral products, etc. 



The average annual volume of timber and fuel and the value 

 of minor produce removed from State forests during the five 



