Forest Conditions, 323 
mailes, of which 25 percent (280,000 square miles) is 
probably forested and waste, some 232,000 square 
miles or nearly 150 million acres of which are so far 
declared government property. 
The British territory is divided into three presidencies. 
(Madras, Bombay and Bengal) and nine provinces, 
each with a separate government under a governor, or 
commissioner, with a council, and all subject to control 
by the resident governor-general or viceroy and his 
council, and he in turn is responsible to the Secretary 
of State at home. 
There is, however, little centralization of govern- 
ment functions, the provincial governments being to 
a large degree at least semi-autonomous, like the states 
in the United States, and considerable variation exists 
in the conduct of affairs. The difficulties in intro- 
ducing something like a uniform forest policy were, 
indeed, not small, and much credit is due to the wisdom 
and tact of the three German foresters, who in suc- 
cession filled the difficult position of head of the Im- 
perial Forest Department and organized the service— 
Brandis, Schlich and Ribbentrop. 
1. Forest Conditions. 
In the tropics rainfall conditions more than any 
other factor determine forest conditions. The rains 
of India depend on extraordinary sea winds, or ‘mon- 
soons,” and their distribution is regulated by the 
topography of land and relative position of any dis- 
trict with regard to the mountains and the vapor- 
laden air currents. Thus excessive rainfall char- 
acterizes the coast line along the Arabian Sea to about 
