466 Notes on the hifiuencc [No. 36, 



Ttcport of Sargco7i C. I. Smith, of the 31 y sore Commission, on 

 the effect of Trees on the Climate and Productiveness of a 

 Country. 



To the Secretary to the Commissioner for the Government 



of the Territories of His Highness the Rajah of Mysore. 



SiK, — I have the honor to forward for submission to the Commission- 

 er, the following observations on the influence of trees in modifying 

 and altering climate, and more especially in regard to the effect of 

 their clearance in diminishing or otherwise the annual supply of rain. 



In Mysore there has not been any clearance of wood to an extent 

 sufficient to bear upon the question, and in the absence of meteorolo- 

 gical observations in the jungly districts, we must avail ourselves ot 

 the only other mode of gaining information, viz., popular opinion. The 

 superintendent of Coorg, in answer to a Circular from the Commis- 

 sioner's Office, writes as follows : " They (the Coorgs) are fully im- 

 pressed with the belief that to clear them (the jungles) extensively, 

 M'ouid tend greatly to diminish the quantity of rain and of water in 

 the rivers, and thereby destroy their paddy cultivation, the principal 

 produce of Coorg, and also render the inhabitants less healthy,— thus 

 it will be observed, that the general belief mentioned in the 3d para, 

 of the Honorable Court's despatch, extends itself to the Coorgs." 



The only part of Coorg that has been recently cleared is a small 

 district on the west bank of the Cauvery, around" Kooshalnuggur, for 

 the purpose of establishing a cantonment for the corps of Sappers 

 and Miners, — the influence of this small clearance on the falls of rain 

 has not been remarked. 



The opinion of the superintendent of Nuggur is, that the clearance 

 of trees diminishes the quantity of rain, — speaking of the clearances 

 and the destruction caused by coomri cultivation, he says " it causes 

 the most rapid destruction of the forests, which, it is a well ascertain- 

 ed fact, lessens the quantity of rain and moisture, and must thus in 

 the course of no very long time seriously affect the cultivation and 

 prosperity of the country." 



The superintendent of Chittledroog writes as follows : " There ia 

 not much scope for forming an opinion founded on experience and 

 observation within the limits of this division as respects the influence 

 of trees on rain ; there are no forests or extensive jungles, or ranges 



