CONSERVATORS’ WORK 119 
These three important considerations of working 
plans, demarcation, and settlement, gave full and 
interesting occupation when added to the routine 
work of a Conservator of Forests. To both special 
and routine work reference may be necessary later 
on, but it still remains to present some idea of the 
official attitude to the work of the forester, as this 
had more influence on the progress of State forestry 
than even the attitude of the population, whose 
views were naturally, to some extent, reflected in 
official policy. To the executive Forest Officer the 
position assumed by other officials was not of vital 
importance, for any irremediable differences of 
opinion could be referred to the Conservator, who 
had access to Government, and from whom orders 
were taken ; but during the first half of my service 
T could not but note that the feelings towards the 
work of a new department were as a rule biassed 
either by indifference, by distrust, or by dislike, 
and this caused the more astonishment to one who 
was accustomed to the very different conditions 
prevailing in Germany, where the Forest Officer 
enjoys the highest consideration and status. 
But Indian official sentiments of those days were 
founded on a perfectly natural and explicable ignor- 
ance. England has no need of forests. Her water 
supply is assured, and crop failure may entail distress, 
but not disaster; her hills are quiescent, and their 
feeble crumbling does not require that the soil 
should be upheld by the root systems of forest trees. 
Such silviculture as was required in the past in the 
interest of sport and scenic beauty was entrusted to 
land-agents and foresters, who did good work guided 
