( 60 ) [Jan., 



VI. THE FKENCH IMPEEIAL SCHOOL OF FORESTRY. 



By Alfred Pengelly, B.A. Cambridge. 



At a time when we see fully recognized the importance of the 

 maintenance of forests, both for commercial purposes and also for 

 the great influence which they exert on climate, especially in 

 tropical countries, it may not be uninteresting to the public to 

 have set before them the steps which have been taken by the 

 British Government for placing our Indian forests under careful 

 and efficient management. 



We learn from the Report of the British Association for 1868,* 

 that at the meeting of this body in Edinburgh in 1850 a com- 

 mittee was appointed to consider " the probable effects, in an econo- 

 mical and physical point of view, of the destruction of tropical 

 forests." Their Report was presented in 1851 at Ipswich, and h 

 printed in the volume for that year. " Attention was thus directed 

 in India to the importance of preserving every influence which 

 tends to maintain an equilibrium of temperature and humidity, of 

 preventing the waste of valuable material, and the special appli- 

 cation to their various uses of the indigenous timbers of the coun- 

 try. A few years later forest establishments were sanctioned in 

 British Burmah (1855), and in the Madras Presidency (1856) ; 

 and in 1864 Government laid the foundation of an improved gene- 

 ral system of forest administration for the whole Indian empire, 

 having for its object the conservation of state forests, and the 

 development of this source of national wealth. The appointment 

 of Inspector-General of Forests was made, and it is now held by 

 Dr. D. Brandis, formerly the able conservator in British Burmah." 



It is through the combined exertions of Dr. Brandis and 

 Dr. Cleghorn, the latter the author of the paper just quoted, that 

 the plan of sending young men to France and Germany to undergo 

 a special training in forestry has been adopted. 



About the year 1866 Dr. Brandis visited the forests of Eng- 

 land, Germany, and France, and the Forest Schools of the latter 

 two countries, and, as the result of his observations, advised the 

 Government to pursue the course just mentioned. In conjunction 

 with the French and German authorities, he drew up regulations 

 respecting the studies of the English pupils whilst at the Forest 

 Schools. 



At the end of 1866 our Government announced their intention 

 of sending out five young men, duly qualified, for the Forest 

 Department of India. 



* ' On the Distribution of the Principal Timber Trees of India, and the Pro- 

 gress of Forest Conservancy,' by Dr. Hugh Cleghorn': ' Brit. Assoc. Kep.,' p. 91. 

 1868. 



