8 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. 111. 
CHAPTER III. 
Statistics regarding the Growing-Stock and Yield of Various Teak Forests. 
1. General. 
An accurate comparison between the growing-stocks of the various 
teak forests of Burma, and a clear idea of 
Difficulty in comparing what the proportion and density of teak in 
natural forests should be, is not such an 
easy matter as might be supposed, for the 
statistics 
ing-plans 
of 
comparing 
different work- 
following reasons :— 
(1) Mos" of the teak forests for which working-plans have been com¬ 
piled have been heavily worked—in many cases much over-worked—in 
years past, and contain a smaller proportion of large-sized timber than 
they should normally contain : some forests, on the other hand, have 
escaped lightly. 
(2) The classification adopted in different working-plans is not al¬ 
ways the same. Thus some working-plans take no account of young 
teak, while others make no mention of unsound trees. These facts are 
perhaps hardly of very great importance, because the accurate enumera¬ 
tion of teak saplings and seedlings, particularly in the hot weather when 
they are leafless, is a most difficult matter, while as regards unsound 
trees, the distinction between these and sound trees is often a matter of 
mere speculation, particularly when left to Burmese enumerators and 
coolies. 
2. Past Working in Teak Forests. 
Turning to the question of timber working prior to the working-plans 
enumerations, the following facts may be noted with regard to the various 
forests hitherto examined :— 
Forests of the Pegu Yoma .—The great majority of these forests have 
been heavily worked during past years. Before the annexation of Upper 
Burma in 1886, the Pyinmana and Taungdwingyi forests were in parts 
almost recklessly depleted of large-sized timber, while under-sized trees 
were also felled in considerable numbers. In Prome, Tharrawaddy and 
Rangoon a good deal of girdling was carried out from 1856 onwards, 
but not to the same wasteful extent as in Pyinmana. In Pegu, 
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