126 



(v) Agricultural customs and wants of the neighbouring 

 ■population. — In most instances the agicultural customs and 

 the mode of life of tlie local population have an important 

 bearing on the management of the forests, both with regard 

 to the direct supply of the wants of the people in forest 

 produce and to the adoption of a system of management that 

 will interfere as little as possible with established customs. 

 Such facts, where they influence forest management, 

 should therefore be briefly stated. 



Jlxample.-'T\i6 inhabitants are all of necessity cattle-farmers as well as cultiva- 

 <toi's, as there are ao canals in tbe district and water lies too deep from the surface to 

 make well-irrigation profitable. Heace caltiration is confined to the areas near the 

 rivers, wbeie, however, owing to tbe irregularity of the floods, farmiug affords at 

 best but a poor and precarious means of subsistence. The combined system of cattle 

 farming and tillage in vogue U, therefore, the only means by which the people can 

 manage to support themselves. Even in the driest years, when the bare lands near 

 the villages contain no fodder at all, there are in the forests some grasses and the 

 leaves of many trees which can be used as fodder, and by these means the villagers 

 contrive to keep large herds of camels and cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats from 

 -which they derive a considerable addition to their income and their food-supplies. 

 It follows that, while grazing must be provided for, the number of animals pastured 

 shculd be restricted to the possibility of the forests in leaf and grass fodder. Unless 

 such a limitation is enforced the forests must inevitably disappear and the great 

 'increase iu the stock kept by the villages threatens this already. 



3. Tlie compositiou and conditiou of the forests U) Distri- 

 bution and area.— It is generally necessary, especially 

 where the report deals with a number of scattered forests, to 

 •explain in a few words how the gross area is distributed. 



Example.— Hhe total forest aiea is formed of a large number of separate blocks 

 ■occupying the steeper slopes and less accessible portions of the higher hills all cul- 

 turable portions and the lower valleys having been brought under the plough. The 

 number of demarcated forests in the valley is 80, and the average area of each is 

 :about 900 acres. These relatively small forests are scattered over the whole area of 

 ;the valley, iu the basins of the tributaries of the Eavi and Siul, at elevations of 

 \between 5,500 and 8,500 feet above sea-level. 



The detail with which the area statement should be 

 compiled depends on the nature and degree of elaboration 

 of the plans to be prepared. When possible, the areas of 

 the wooded, blank and unoulturable portions of the forests, 

 and the areas occupied by enclosures of private or other 

 land not under forest management but within the boundaries, 

 should be stated separately for each block and sub-division. 

 This information is required in laying out coupes, especially 

 where the possibility is prescribed by area. Where, how- 

 ever, large areas are to be felled over by the selection 

 method a less complete area statement suffices, but would 

 usually be supplemented by a more detailed description of 



