52 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. IV. 
(10) Labour. 
Local labour cannot be relied upon at all To begin with it 
is scarce and only obtainable in limited quantities after the rice crop 
has been reaped. A Burma cooly can earn 9 annas to Re. 1 per day 
according to the nature of the work on which he is employed. Cooly 
labour from India is obtainable at Rs. 12-0-0 per month, and is ex¬ 
tensively employed and with advantage by the Forest Department for 
work such as clearing fire-lines. It will certainly be necessary to import 
coolies from India, for Burman labour cannot be relied upon in 
sufficient quantities to run a large pulp-mill. 
Carts are procurable in small numbers only, so that here again 
importation will be necessary. It is not generally possible to hire 
elephants, and if it were contemplated to use them for dragging pur¬ 
poses they would have to be purchased. 
(11) Firewood. 
Firewood cannot be obtained easily, for though large quantities 
are forthcoming from the forests, the difficulty in exploiting it 
would be considerable. Were it to be floated down the streams, it 
would probably interfere either with the floating of the teak or with 
the bamboos, while carting would be too expensive. Coal will, therefore, 
be necessary, and its price would be but little higher than in 
Rangoon, especially were the site of the factory to be fixed not far up 
the river from Rangoon and at a place in direct connection with that 
port. 
(12) Chemicals. 
No lime is available in the vicinity of the Okkan Reserve, so 
that it will have to be procured from Rangoon, where the price is 
5 annas per cubic foot. Excellent lime is procurable in large quan¬ 
tities from Moulmein. All other necessary chemicals will have 
to be imported to Rangoon by sea, and taken up the Rangoon river to 
the factory. 
(13) Miscellaneous facts. 
The proposed site for a mill at Okkan is surrounded on every 
side bv open country, generally under rice cultivation. It is a fairly 
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