HAY AND CtJT GREEK FODDER. ]4l 



brought down to the desired figure ; the effective rates in each 

 case will depend on the wealth of the population and the value of 

 the cattle. Sometimes, however, certain classes of people may 

 have to be specially favoured, such as backward jungle tribes which 

 are under our particular protection, or inhabitants of villages com- 

 posed exclusively of our work-people ; and in their case a limited 

 number of animals per family or household may be admitted to 

 graze at lower rates, only those in excess of this number being 

 taxed according to the general tariff. The full rates at present 

 levied in most provinces are far too low in comparison with the 

 amount of fodder consumed and the value of the animals. 



The levy of grazing dues gives, more than the collection of any 

 other kind of forest revenue, special facilities for oppression and 

 extortion, for there is scarcely a household in the neighbourhood 

 of forests which does not possess at least one goat or cow. For this 

 reason the arrangements for collecting the dues must be made with 

 the greatest care. At the same time they should be such as not to 

 engross the time of the establishment. The system will have to 

 be different according to circumstances. For cattle which go to 

 graze in the forests during the day and return to their villages at 

 night, the plan which commends itself most is to require annual 

 returns from the patwaris and headmen jointly, a few of these re- 

 turns being checked, to test their general accuracy, by the forest 

 staff. On receipt of the corrected lists, the dues should be collect- 

 ed by the Collector of the district in the same way as land revenue. 

 In some districts a triennial census of such cattle is made, and a 

 grazing assessment is fixed by villages for a period of three years, 

 the amount assessed being collected annually by the district offi- 

 cials like land revenue. ThiS' is perhaps the simplest and least 

 inquisitorial system that has yet been devised, but many changes 

 may occur in the number of cattle in a village during the period 

 of three years. For cattle which pass 'the night also in the forest, 

 the forest staff must both count the cattle and collect the dues, 

 unless the same cattle have been paid for through another channel, 

 in which case the herdsman must come provided with a pass for 

 the number of head already paid for. A copy or duplicate of such 

 pass must be sent for check to the District Forest office. 



Section II. — Hat and cut green foddek. 



The removal of grass means, just as in the case of grazing, the 

 loss to the forest of so much precious manurial matter ; but, in 

 nearly every case, this disadvantage is much more than counter- 



