CHAPTER II. 
DISCUSSION OF THE EVILS OF “‘SARTAGE” 
IN INDIA. 
WHATEVER may justify and recommend the practice of 
Sartage, in certain circumstances, the practice 1s not pro- 
ductive of unmixed good. 
By Dr Ignatius it is stated, in the passage I have cited, 
that the practice has led to the destruction of forests 
upon a great scale, and the conflagrations have at times 
swept over a great extent of country. It may be ques- 
tioned whether, even in such occurrences, the good does 
not preponderate over the evil; and it may be admitted 
that this must depend on the conditions under which 
these happen. I shall revert to this subject ere I 
close; but there are other consequences dependent on 
conditions under which it is practised, which deserve 
some consideration. 
It is a practice which seems to be generally condemned 
by those who have taken a comprehensive view of its 
results, though there are those who have done so who 
approve, or, at least, do not feel free, to condemn its 
application to forests in certain circumstances. Sir J. E, 
Tennant questions whether the alleged advantages re- 
sulting from it in Ceylon, suffice to counterbalance 
evils consequent upon the practice of it, and in India 
some of its demerits have been fully discussed. There, 
in 1847, under date of 31st August, Mr T. S. Blane, 
Collector of Canara, wrote to the Board of Revenue :— 
‘The practice of Koomaree cultivation is one of so 
wasteful and improvident a nature that it appears to 
me it ought not to be tolerated, except in a very wild 
