Ill 



45attle, and which, in. the interests of the community, should 

 be devoted to the productioQ of fodder. Such areas require, 

 however, to be placed under forest treatment, with a view to 

 the preservation of the trees whose roots penetrating to 

 deeper and fresher soil maintain active vegetation in the dry 

 season, thus enabling the overhead cover to protect and 

 ■conserve the shallow-rooted grasses which would otherwise 

 inevitably succumb. 



As cases in vrhioh the pastoral method may have to be organised, there may be 



«lted tfaoae tracts ia some of the drier parts oi Indii where th? land, except irheii 

 irrigated or adjoining perennial rivers, is unculturable, the rainfall insufficient-, 

 and the water level too far below the surface for any system of well-irrigaticn to be 



:profitable. Cultivation is, therefcre, confined to the banks of rivers; but, even there, 

 gives a poor return. Large numbers of people, however, frequently manage to subsist 

 in these areas owing (o the addition to their income and food-supply derived from 



. their herds and flocks. These anima'is obtain food from the trees and bashes dotted 

 about in the uninhabited and uncnltniable tracts away from the rivers, and which 

 even in years of drought, owing to the deptii to which their roots penetrate in the 



-soil, yield some leaves which can be used as fodder. In such eases the grazing lands 

 are the very life of the people, but should the trees on them disappear they would 

 become almost absolutely barren. It is, therefore, necessary in the interests of the 

 people to subject the lands to f( rest management, and so resliiot grazing so far as 

 may be necessHry to ensure the maiutenauce of the trees. It should not be sought, 

 however, to produce timber except such as maybe yielded by some method of treatment 

 that will not interfere with grazing. Tliese lands in many cases only produce annually 

 some two or ihree cubic feet of wood worth not half »8 many annas. The grazing 

 fees, if the number of cattle were limited to what the lands could support, m'ght well 

 bring in as much. Apart, however, from considerations of State revenue, if the number 



-of people benefited by the grazing, as compared with the number benefited by wcod 

 culture, is taken into account, the recult is much in favour of pastoral treatment. 



3. Application of the pastoral method.— The treatment of 

 Itdian forests, primarily with regard to the fodder they pro- 

 duce, has been perhaps insuflS.ciently studied in view of the 

 enormous importance of such areas in the economy of the 

 country. It may be accepted that the greatest quantity of 

 fodder will be obtained by absolutely closing the area to 

 -cattle grazing and by allowing grass-cutting only, or by a 

 combination of the two, that is, cattle grazing following on 

 -grass-cutting. It is indisputable that animals, while grazing, 

 trample and destroy more grass than they eat, damage young 

 seedlings and trees, and harden the soil. But the exclusion 

 of cattle and the enforcement of grass-cutting is not often 

 feasible, owing to the distance to which the fodder would 

 Tiave to be carried and to tlie small value of the animals. 

 There are many areas which it would be impossible to utilise 

 except by cattle grazing. In such cases it will generally 

 be possible to sufficiently restrict injury to the trees and to 

 ensure their reproduction and perpetual maintenance by— 



(1) limiting the number, or the kinds and classes, of 

 animals grazed ; or 



