4, THE WORK OF THE FOREST DEPARTMENT IN INDIA. 



defined and demarcated : in the protected forests the record of 

 rights is not so complete, the accrual of rights after settlement 

 not being prohibited, and the boundaries are not always 

 demarcated, while in the unclassed forests no systematic 

 management is attempted and as a rule the control amounts 

 to nothing more than the collection of revenue until the 

 areas are taken up for cultivation or are converted into reserved 

 or protected forests. The total forest area of British India 

 (including the Shan States) on the 30th of June 1915, was 

 249,867 square miles, of which there were 97,580, 10,405 and 

 141,882 square miles of reserved, protected and unclassed State 

 forests respectively. 



Throughout this vast forest area, scattered over the length 

 and breadth of India from the Himalayan snows to Cape Co- 

 morin and from the arid juniper tracts of Baluchistan to the 

 eastern limits of the Shan States, there is, as may be imagined,^ 

 an infinite variety in the types of forest vegetation, depending 

 on variations of climate and soil and on other local factors. 

 Broadly speaking the following main types of forest may be 

 distinguished : — 



(1) Arid-country forests, extending over Sind, a consider- 



able portion of Rajputana, part of Baluchistan and 

 the south of the Punjab, in dry tracts where the 

 rainfall is less than 20 inches. The number of 

 species is few, the most important tree being the 

 babul or kikar {Acacia arabica), which, however, in 

 the driest regions exists only by the aid of river 

 inundations. 



(2) Deciduous forests, in which most of the trees are leafless 



for a portion of the year. These forests, which ex- 

 tend over large areas in the sub-Himalayan tract,. 

 the Peninsula of India and Burma, are among the 

 most important, comprising as they do the greater 

 part of the teak and sal forests. 



(3) Evergreen foiPests. — These occur in regions of very 



heavy rainfall, such as the west coast of the Penin- 

 sula, the eastern sub-Himalayan tract and the 

 moister parts of Burma, and are characterized by 

 the great variety and luxuriance of their vegetation. 



