With the irregular distribution of forests, the peculiarities of Indian
government affairs and population, and the wild and difficult forest
conditions themselves, it is but natural that the work thus far has been
chiefly one of organization, survey, and protection.
In the protection against unlawful felling or timber stealing and
grazing, the Government of India has shown itself fully equal to the
occasion by a liberal policy of supplying villagers in proximity of the
forests with fuel, building material, pasture, etc., at reduced prices
or gratis. Over $1,500,000 worth is thus disposed of annually, the
incentive to timber stealing being thereby materially reduced. A
reasonable and just permit system for grazing, where again the needs of
the neighboring villagers are most carefully considered, not only brings
the government a yearly revenue of over $800,000, but enables the people
to pasture about 14,000,000 head of animals in the State forests without
doing any material damage to tree growth. Thirty-one per cent. of the
total forest area is open to grazing.
The work of preventing and fighting fires can with the means available
not be carried on over the entire forest area, of which large tracts are
not even crossed by a footpath, and in a land where the regular firing
of the woods has become the custom of centuries, and where, in addition,
intensely hot and dry weather, together with a most luxuriant growth of
giant grasses, render these jungle fires practically unmanageable. Each
year, however, additional territory is brought under protection. In
1902, nearly 37,000 square miles, or nearly 40% of the area in reserve,
but only 12% of the total government forest area, were under protection
at a cost of $4.00 per square mile or less than one cent per acre, half
of what it was 10 years before, and over 2 per cent. of the gross
revenue. Nearly 5,000 fires occurred, to be sure, which burnt over
3,000,000 acres, that is to say over 90 per cent. of the area the
protection was effective. For nearly half the fires the cause remains
unknown. Danger from fire has, however, become less in protected areas
because of the changes in herbage and moisture conditions. Yet it costs
still about two per cent. of the gross revenue to protect the area, and
the figures just cited show that this expenditure is only partially
effective. In 1909, the protected area had increased to 43,000 square
miles, the cost to $5, the efficiency to 94 per cent.
The first successful attempts to deal with forest fires were made in
1864 by Major (later Colonel) G. F. Pearson, who was then Conservator of
Forests in the Central Provinces, and who devised a system of cleared
fire lines or “fire traces,” surrounding the areas to be protected,
which were cut and burned over early in the season, a system now in
vogue in all India. In the jungle forests the traces must be broad; the
grass often taller than an elephant must be cut and burned before the
grass on either side of the fire lane is dry enough to burn.
This protection forms the most important duty of the forest officials,
a trying one as it has to be carried on during the hot season.
A separate branch of the forest service carried on the work of surveying
and mapping the forest area instead of the regular Survey of India, with
the result of cheapening the cost. Some 74,000 square miles had been
mapped on the scale of 4 inch to the mile, the standard, some smaller
areas on smaller scale, at the rate of $25 per square mile. In 1908,
however, this work was handed over to the Survey.
_Silviculture._ Silvicultural practices are naturally but little
developed. Protection against fire, grazing, overcutting has been the
first requisite. The unregulated selection system with a diameter limit,
which Brandis introduced, still prevails mostly, although beginnings of
a compartment and group system in converting miscarried selection forest
of Deodar, Pine and Sal have been made, or rather of an improved
selection method, which seeks to secure reproduction in groups.
Clearcutting with seed trees held over is practised in the coniferous
mountain forest. Coppice and coppice with standards (reserves of
sprouts) is a natural condition over large areas, especially with Teak
and Sal. Even improvement cuttings or sowing on barren hillsides with
remarkable success, are not absent.
The attempts at securing reproduction, especially in the truly tropic
forests have often miscarried, inferior species filling the openings.
Girdling of inferior species to favor the better classes has hardly had
the desired result. In the deciduous forest, the same difficulty of
undesirable aftergrowth is experienced, deteriorating the composition,
except in the case of the gregarious Sal tree (_Shorea robusta_), the
treatment of which for reproduction has, after many failures, been well
established. Other gregarious species also can be satisfactorily
reproduced. The culled and burned-over forests, of which, there are
many, are re-habilitated in a manner by merely removing the old
overmature and defective timber, with comparative success.
In some parts, the large gregarious bamboos are a serious obstacle to
reproduction. Here, the only chance for reproduction exists when they
flower and die. Killing the bamboos by cutting the annual shoots proved
a failure, but burning over the whole area and sowing seems to be
followed by success.
In other parts, as in the large Teak forests of Burma, as well as of
other provinces, the useless kinds of trees are girdled, huge climbers
are cut off, and a steady war is waged against all species detrimental
to teak regeneration with satisfactory results. With Teak, even planting
on a larger scale is resorted to, especially by means of _taungyas_,
i.e. plantations, where the native is allowed to burn down a piece of
woods, use it for a few years as field (though it is never really
cleared) on condition of planting it with teak, being paid a certain sum
for every hundred trees found in a thrifty condition at the time of
giving up his land. Similarly, the department has expended large sums in
attempting to establish forests in parts of the arid region of
Beluchistan, and, on the whole, during 1894-95 about $150,000 were
expended on cultural operations, which up to that time involved about
76,000 acres of regular plantations and 36,000 acres _taungyas_ (mostly
teak,) making a total of 112,000 acres, besides numerous large areas
where the work consisted merely in aiding natural reproduction.
But, in 1909, the plantations seem to have been reduced to 59,000 acres,
(probably through failures), the taungyas however increased to 84,000
acres, and the budget for plantings and other cultural measures formed a
little over two per cent. of the gross revenues.
We see then, that though the forests of India are now, and will continue
for some time to be little more than wild woods with some protection and
a reasonable system of exploitation in place of a mere robbing or
culling system, yet the work of actual improvement steadily increases in
amount and perfection.
In disposing of its timber the Government of India employs various
methods. In some of the forest districts the people pay merely a small
tax and get out of the woods what and as much as they need. In other
cases, the logger pays for what he removes, the amount he fells being
neither limited in quantity nor quality. The prevalent systems, however,
are the permit system, when a permit is issued indicating the amount to
be cut and the price to be paid for the same, and the contract system,
when the work is more or less under the control of government officers
and the material remains government property until paid for. To a
limited extent the governments carry on their own timber exploitation.
* * * * *
_Working Plans._ Only a relatively small part of the total forest area,
each year, however, increasing, is as yet worked under plans. In 1885,
only 109 square miles, in 1899, 20,000 square miles, and in 1903, nearly
30,000 square miles, about 13 per cent. of the total, or 30 per cent. of
the reserved area, were operated under working plans, and each year
about 4000 square miles are added, so that now (1909) over half the
reserved area is under working plans.
Only gradually was the character of these plans brought into practical
form, and their execution, in spirit at least, enforced, the
Conservators having the right to deviate from the plans.
A map, prepared by the survey branch naturally forms the basis of the
plan. The form of the plan is prescribed by the provincial regulations,
and the preparation is also carried on by the provincial service under
advice and supervision of the imperial department. The “strip valuation
survey,” which Brandis introduced, covering sometimes as much as 30 per
cent. of the area, is employed in determining number of trees and sizes,
growing stock and cut, modeled after the European practice, except that
little, perhaps too little, money is spent on their elaboration,
especially on determining the proper amount of cut. That the cut is
controlled at all is the most important result.