Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. YII 
tracts vast quantities of fodder grasses are being left untouched; simi¬ 
larly, while unlimited stores of fuel decay in the forest, the inhabitants 
of the plains, for want of any substitute, have to burn the cattle manure 
for fuel, thereby decreasing, or perhaps altogether absorbing, the Supply 
available for manuring their fields and cultivation. And again the 
absence of adjoining forests renders it impossible for the average vil¬ 
lager to build himself anything better than the miserable mud hovel, 
with which everyone is familiar. 
3. But whether afforestation of waste lands in the plains be treated 
as an economic measure to improve the life conditions of the people, 
or as a financial proposition, there can be no doubt of the success of 
such a policy. The existing conditions of intense demand and inade¬ 
quate supply preclude the possibility of failure, assuming always that 
it is possible to cover with forest or plantations these extensive wastes at 
a reasonable initial cost. This note has been written to describe work 
carried out during the past six years by the Forest Department on a 
more than experimental scale, in afforesting waste lands of a peculiar 
but widespread type (the desert-like ravine lands of the Jumna-Chambal 
tract), which afforded conditions so apparently unfavourable that suc¬ 
cess had never previously been achieved, and failure was by some ex¬ 
perts confidently prophesied. 
To Sir John Hewett (late Lieutenant-Governor of the United Pro¬ 
vinces) is due the credit of inaugurating a strong Afforestation Policy, 
while from the Start to the present time the energy and enthusiasm 
of Mr. P. H. Clutterbuck, C.I.E., I.F.S. (Chief Conservator of Forests, 
United Provinces), has been a strong influence in the success achieved. 
No reference to this afforestation work would be complete without an 
acknowledgment of the work done by Mr. Nevill, I.C.S., another 
moving spirit in the scheme, while the credit for the actual evolution 
of methods established, and for the organisation and carrying out of 
details of work done is due to Messrs. Courthope, I.F.S., and Benskin, 
I.F.S., who were in turn in charge of the Afforestation Division. 
4. There is one outstanding point to be noted from the work hitherto 
carried out. The afforestation of ravine tracts in the Etawah District 
was a compromise between three schemes, i.e., (1) Bavine reclamation, 
to prevent further erosion, (2) The creation of fuel and fodder reserves 
for the local villages, (3) A financial scheme for obtaining a profitable 
return from waste lands. 
Conflidering the third scheme only, these ra vine tracts selected for 
afforestation are as badly situated as any area that could be found in 
the plains. By their very nature, they are comparatively expensive to 
turn into successful plantations, the lack of communications is deplor¬ 
able, and some of the plantations are over 25 miles away from the 
nearest railroad with no facilities for extraction of the produce. If 
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