B 3 375

i

MAIN LIBRAFtY-AGRiCU!_TURE DEPT

7rV

AFFORESTATION

IN THE

UNITED PROVINCES,

INDIA,

By
E. BENSKIN, M.A., I.F.S.,

t *

Deputy Conservator of Forests, United Provinces.

ALLAHABAD:

Printed by the Superintendent, Government Press, United Provinces,

1922.

Price, Rs. 6.

MAIN L1BRARY-AG5?:C-JUTURE DEPT

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE.

INTRODUCTION ... ... ... ..." ... 1

CHAPTER.

I. — Physical and economic importance of forests ... ... 3

II. -The effects of disforestment ... ... ... 5

III.— The past and present policy of Government regarding

afforestation ... ... ... ... 11

JV. — Tne method of afforestation ... ... ... 19

V. — Financial ... ... ... ... * ... 25

VI. -Bibliography ... ... ... ... 29

A fpENDlCES.

I. —Extract from the revenue settlement reports and Gazetteers

of the Agra and Bundelkhand districts, United Provinces... 1A
II. — Letter 110. 39-C., dated the 6th January, 1912, from P. H. Clut-
ter-bud : , Esq., Conservator of Forests, Eastern circle, to the
Chief Secretary to Government, United Provinces ... 6A

III. -Resolution no. 348, dated the 26th August, 1912 ... SA

IV. — Report of Messrs. Courthope and Nevill on the Etawah dis-

trict, 1913 . ... ... ... ... lfA

V.— Proceedings of the Etawah Conference, July, 1913 ... 31A

VI.— Letter no. 175-L., dated the 30th September, 1914, from the
Chief Secretary to Government, United Provinces, to the
Director of Land Records and Agriculture, Unite 1 Provinces 38A

VII. — Resolution no. 971, dated the 21st December, 1914 ... 4lA
VIII.— Report on the ravine lands of Bundelkhand uud Muttra

districts . ..- ... ... ... 49 A

IX. — Report on the ravines of the Bhadawar Estato, Agra district 76 v
X — Letter no. 259-L., dated the 6th August, 19 ! 5, from the Chief
Secretary to Government, United Provinces, to the Director
of Land Records and Agriculture, United Provinces ... 89A

XI. — Agreement deed between Government and the owners of

ravine waste land in the Etawah district ... ... gjA

XII. — Note on the possibilities of afforestation in the Meerut dist rict 95A

XIII. — Note on the financial aspects of afforestation .. ... ggA

XIV. --Ravine reclamation aud famine relief ... ... IOGA

XV. — Extracts from Mr. Nelson's final famine report of the Ktawah

district (1919; ... ... ... ... 120 A

XVI. — List of the Forest officers employed on afforestation ... 125 A
XVII.-Copy ofG. 0. no. 1503/XIII— 142 of the 9th September,

1920. on the future policy of Government with regard to
afforestation ... ... ... J26A

XVIII.— Revised agreement with owners of waste land as approved

by G. O. no. 1608/XIV— 142 of the 2nd October, 1920 ... i29A

5438 V 2

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.

1. Eroded country typical of the United Provinces and Punjab ... 1

2. The denuded Siwaliks in the Hoshiarpur district, Punjab 5

3. Gaugotri, the source of the sacred Ganges ... ... 6

4. The disforested Mussooree hills ... ... ... 6

5. A stream-bed in the Siwalik hills closed to grazing ... ... 7

6. Hillside erosion in the Appalachian mountains ... ... 7

7. Trees destroyed by gravel brought down from the hills .. 8

8. Hillside cultivation ... ... ... ... 9

9. The goat ... ... ... ... ... 10

10. Typical ravine scenery in the Etawah district ... 12

11. The commencement of a ravine showing typical erosion ... 12

12. Head of a ravine being reclaimed. Result of one year's work ... 14

13. Head of a ravine being reclaimed. Result of two years' work ... 14

14. A village threatened by ravine-erosion •- ... ... 15

15 Famine labour working ridges and ditches on a steep slope ... 16

16. Famine labour employed on bandh construction .. ... 17

17. Soil-preparation on moderate slopes with ridges and ditches ... 18

18. Typical ravine country with soil-preparation completed by famine

labour ... ... ... .. 19

19. Ransome's S. B. plough .:. ... ... ... 21

20. Mild 1 avine land ploughed and sown with shisham, four years old 21

21. A babul plantation two and a half years old at the head of a ravine 22

22. A babul plantation three and a half years old at the bottom of a

ravine ... ... „. ... ... 22

23. Ravine land before planting ... ... ... ... 23

24. The same land five years later ... ... ... 23

25. The China hillside, Naini Tal, 'before the landslide ... ... 25

26. The China landslide- 1880 ... ... ... ... 26

27. The China hillside as it now appears ... ... ... 27

28. Afforestation in the Himalayas. A promising 15-year old

plantation ... ... ••• ... 29

29. A sal forest ... ... ••• ••• •• IA

30. Diagram of a bandh ... ... ... ... 20

£
P-.

—
o

AFFORESTATION

IN THE

UNITED PROVINCES, INDIA.

INTRODUCTION.

THE object of this book is to deal as briefly as possible with
the history of afforestation in the United Provinces, and to plaoe
on record all important information which has been collected
during the past few years. Before doing so it is desirable to
describe briefly the conditions leading up to the necessity for an
organized scheme of afforestation or, more properly speaking, of
reafforestation.

There is evidence that the greater part of the earth was at
one time or another covered with trees and shrubs differing in
character according to local conditions. The increase in population
has gradually made inroads on the natural forests which have
consequently been considerably reduced and, in places, even obliter-
ated altogether.

The reckless extermination of forests by the hand of man or
through excessive grazing by cattle, sheep, and more especially by
goats, is most noticeable in those backward countries where the
people lack education and where stable government is wanting, but
such a state of affairs also exists in every continent of the world.
In many cases steps have already been taken to prevent this whole-
sale destruction by the introduction of scientific forestry in all its
.branches ; but in many countries the forests have already been
reduced far below the requirements of the people and in such
countries afforestation is necessary, if only to meet the demands of
the population in respect of forest produce. Of far more impor-
tance, however, is the deleterious effect of forest denudation on the
preservation of a country from erosion and final sterility.

The United Provinces can be classed as a country where the
reckless extermination of forests has been allowed to continue
unchecked for centuries, until the present forests cover only 7
per cent, of the total area and are confined almost entirely to
the hills and sub-montane regions. Out of 48 districts in these
provinces only 15 districts have forests of any importance. The
present reserved forests can only serve a circumscribed area and
it is most urgently necessary to create new forest estates, not

1

( 2 )

only to meet the requirements of big towns but also the needs
oi the agricultural community. The great decrease in the area
of grazing lands and wooded tracts, especially in Northern India,
has been a serious matter to the people for the last 40 years and
instances have time and again been given where the absence of
forest areas has resulted in the death of thousands of cattle in
famine years. The opening-up of communications by rail and road
throughout the province has mitigated to a certain extent the
severity of fodder famines, but experience shows that the expense
of transporting fodder from sub-montane districts is prohibitive.
The appalling rate at which that portion of the country known as
the Gangetic Plain is being eroded, the increasing sterility of the
soil, the sinking of the spring water levels, the severities of the
climate, all of which are directly due to this wholesale clearance of
the natural forests, require such an Herculean effort to combat that
Government has, up to quite recent years, hesitated to take the
initial step.

The Forest department, which was started in 1864 for the
purpose of conserving the remaining forests, has, on occasions, been
called in to assist agriculture in the creation of local fuel and fodder
reserves. The earliest efforts date back from 1873, when Dr.
(subsequently Sir Dietrich) Brandis gave great impulse to what
has been, on occasions, termed agricultural forests in Ajmere-
Merwara and, later on, in Madras. The great dislike of the masses
to any restriction of their former so-called rights over the forests,
their ignorance and suspicion of Government's motives, are both
serious obstacles in the way of any improvement and Government
policy has been apt to favour the contentment of the present
generation rather than the material advantages of their successors
for all time. The people in their present condition are likely to
do little to find a remedy for these evils and it is only within the
power of Government to do anything to ameliorate the present
state of affairs ; action should no longer be delayed.

The necessity for burning dung for domestic purposes owing
to the scarcity of firewood, thus robbing the soil of its fertility, is quite
sufficient reason for drastic action, but it is intended to show further
how essential forests are for the very existence of agriculture.

Anyone who wishes to study the close relationship of forests
to agriculture is recommended to read Dr. J. A. Voelcker's com-
prehensive report on the improvement of Indian Agriculture, 1893
(Eyre and Spottiswoodi. It will be readily understood that those
forests which are essential to the preservation of the country and
for the improvement of agriculture should be managed quite apart
from any commercial considerations.

( 3 )

\ - '

Chapter I.

PHYSICAL IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS.

As has been stated already in the introductory notes, a new
country is almost invariably covered with dense forests, which are
gradually cleared away by the first settlers to make room for agri-
culture and to improve the general salubrity of their surroundings,
This process continued without restriction in these provinces until
the forests receded for the most part to those regions topographi-
cally or climatically unfit for agriculture, and even here they have
often been destroyed by physical causes resulting from the wholesale
clearance of forests elsewhere. Forests are Nature's means of dealing
with the meteorological forces. It is believed that all rain clouds
are derived from the sea and are driven over the land where they
deposit their moisture, becoming poorer in moisture-content the
further they travel inland until the point of exhaustion is reached.
A forest air and soil are always far damper than that of a cultivated
or barren plain, and the continuous transpiration of a forest creates a
wet halo which serves to enrich the winds with moisture and increase
their precipitation. The geographical position of forests is, there-
fore, of great importance especially in the case of an inland country.

Forests by means of their foliage, root system, and litter serve
as a protection to the earth against erosion and the rapid run-off of
water, thereby causing a more even and regular supply to the rivers
of the country. Forests are consequently of great physical impor-
tance on mountains and hills in checking the rapid wastage of water
and preventing floods which cause the erosion of the country far
down stream. It is not claimed that forests can prevent floods
caused by exceptional meteorological conditions, but it is certain
that without their mitigating influence the floods are more severe
and destructive. There is no doubt that in olden times most of
the big rivers of these provinces were used to a far greater extent
for navigation ; at the present time the floods are generally too
dangerous to negotiate during the monsoon months and during
the rest of the year they are too shallow for craft. • It has been
calculated that the surface wastage from a deforested hillside is seven
to thirteen times the uater wastage from a similar forested hillside.
The great variations in the flood levels of the rivers of these prov-
inces is partly due to water being taken off for irrigation but also
very largely attributable to excessive forest clearance.

The close relation of forests to stream flow and inland naviga-
tion is fully appreciated in America ; in India, where irrigation is so
important, it is surprising that it should have received so little

( 4 )

attention. Forests also tend to mitigate the seventy of the climate
by reducing the extremes of heat and cold.

In framing the policy for the conservation of the existing forests
the Government of India have roughly classed them into four
divisions : —

(a) Forests the preservation of which is essential on climatical

or physical grounds ;

(b) Forests which afford a supply of valuable timber for com-

mercial purposes ;

(c) Minor forests (fuel and fodder reserves). ;

(d) Pasture lands.

The importance of category (a) forests has for many years been
fully appreciated by Government and they are to be protected
regardless of interests which it may be necessary to restrict. In
these provinces, owing to the small area of forests, it might be
justifiable to class almost all forests under this head although not
actually recognized as such. It has already been explained that
forests should not in every case be managed from a direct commer-
cial standpoint, indeed, it may be necessary to expend very large
sums of money in the maintenance of so-called physical forests,
with only indirect benefits to the State and the community.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS.

As the scope of this book is to show the origin and progress
of afforestation in the United Provinces it will scarcely be neces-
sary to dwell at length on this portion of the subject. The present
forests are to a great extent, capable of supplying most of the
commodities required by the big commercial centres although their
remoteness is a serious handicap. It has been stated that 25 per
cent, of a country should be devoted to forests in order to meet
indigenous demands : in these provinces the forested area represents
only 7 per cent, and the neighbouring provinces, being in a similar
position, cannot be depended upon. The greatest need of the moment
is for the creation of agricultural forests in woodless districts for the
supply of firewood and small building material to the agricultural
community and improved pasture for the cattle. The Famine
Commissioners, who were appointed in 1880 to enquire into the
means of mitigating the severities of famines, strongly represented
the necessity for the creation of such forests and the Government
in their resolution on the Commissioners' report suggested that
an enquiry should be made by district officers with a view to ascer-
taining how far cattfe needed protection, and what lands were
available for the creation of fuel and fodder reserves. It was this
order of the Government of India that gave the first impetus to a
policy of afforestation.

( 6 )
Chapter II.

-THE EFFECT OF DISFORESTMENT

Before proceeding further with the progress of the policy of
afforestation referred to above it is necessary roughly to describe
the effect of unregulated forest clearances in different parts of the
world and especially in these provinces.

We know that the sands of the Sahara and Arabia now cover
what was once a fertile land, and that many countries such as
Greece, Tripoli, and Palestine are now only able to support a
scanty population. Ancient historians speak of the equable climate
of Greece, then densely- wooded, and of the perpetual spring of
Babylon. Babylonian tablets of great antiquity refer to the
attempts to reclaim the country thrown out of cultivation by the
sinking of the spring level and erosion, but these efforts were only
of temporary benefit. The floods from the mountains increased
year by year, the beds of the rivers were scoured out, irrigation
became impossible, and the countries gradually developed into their
present desert condition.

Many interesting examples of the effect of disforestment can
be found in almost every country. The United States of America
and South Africa have suddenly awakened to this danger and the
scientific papers are full of glaring instances of erosion, soil dete-
rioration, and exhaustion. In many countries of the old world the
disastrous effect of disforestment has been appreciated and laws
have from time to time been enacted to prevent the destruction of
forests, the most interesting being the old French law of 1669. To
come closer home, we have the case of the Hoshiarpur chos in the
Punjab where, as a result of the destruction by unrestricted grazing
and the cutting down of the woodland growth on the Siwalik hills,
the river beds have become choked with stones and sand. These
dry chos are constantly widening their beds at the expense of culti-
vated fields. After heavy rain they become raging torrents carry-
ing destruction far and wide, but after a few hours the flood water
passes on and the cho resumes its normal waterless state. Hence,
instead of having perennial streams watering a fertile land, the
country is intersected with these wastes of stones and sand
producing nothing of any value to man or beast. In 1910 many
acres of cultivation were carried away by the sudden flooding of
the Kosi and Ramganga rivers : similar instances could be given
in every sub-montane district.

( 6 )

The China landslide at Naini Tal with its attendant loss of
life will be remembered by many. Such landslides of which many
mighfbe mentioned, are very similar to those in the Savoy Alps
on the afforestation of which the French forest department
maintains a separate staff of officers. It is realized that such
places must be afforested and protected for the safety of the
people regardless of cost and monetary returns. For the purpose
of this book it is proposed to deal mostly with the country washed
by the Jumna river as it is in this portion that immediate action
is required.

THE JUMNA VALLEY.

The Jumna takes its rise in latitude 3l°'2', longitude 70C<27'
about five miles north of Jumnotri and eight miles west of Bundar-
punch peak in the Himalayas. Its length from its source to the
confluence with the Ganges is 860 miles. It has 17 tributaries, of
which 5 rise in the Himalayas, 3 in the Siwaliks, 3 iu the Vindhya
Hills, 1 in the Satpura Hills, and 5 in the plains of the Do^ab. If
the reader will pick up a map showing the distribution of forests
in relation to these rivers, he will see how insufficient or altogether
absent is the regulating belt of forest to control the sources of
these streams. In addition to this insufficiency many of the
forests are open to the grazing and browsing of cattle, resulting
in the deterioration of the soil covering and ultimately to the
destruction of the forest. This process is accelerated by the
wasteful habit of burning the forest practised by the village people.
Anybody who has visited the Dehra Dun and Saharanpur
districts cannot fail to be impressed with the enormous damage
done by sudden floods from the Himalayas and Siwaliks and it is
not surprising to find that the area under cultivation in many
villages of the. Saharanpur Tarai has decreased during the last 50
years. The sub-montane rivers have been continually changing
their courses, causing the land to be covered with a deep boulder
deposit absolutely unfit for cultivation. If grazing were entirely
excluded the old beds would very quickly become covered over with
a dense crop of shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo) and Khair (Acacia
Catechu) which would form a very efficient natural training and
obstruction work against the force of the floods. Unfortunately
a large portion of these forests are open to grazing and the young
seedlings are browsed down every year, the beds have widened,
and the force of the floods has increased ; for these various
reasons the vegetation on the neighbouring hills is of a very
poor description and, owing to much of the soil having been
carried off, the water flows away with great rapidity, thereby

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page 6).

Photo, by Courthope.

Gangotri the source of the Sacred Ganges.

The disforested Mnsso'>rie hills.
Note tin: consequent choking of stream beds and cultivation with boulders and gravel.

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To fa or pfiETC 7)

A stream bed in the Siwalik Hills closed to grazing.
Note the more defined river bed and nntural forest growth.

Photo, by Troup.

HiUfdde erosion in Appalachian mountains.

The timber was removed and the erosion followed cultivation of soil.
Finally the field itself Wii< abandoned. (By courte.-y oi' American Forestry).

( 7 )

increasing the volume of the torrents and leaving the beds dry a
few hours after a storm. Irrigation works have been destroyed
by these sudden floods and they are a source of anxiety to the
engineer. A similar state of affairs can be found on almost every
hill tributary of the Jumna. The slopes close to Mussooree, for,
instance, were completely covered with dense oak forests and, even
within the memory of residents now living, they have been denuded
of their forest crop by the private owners and by the muafidars of
Tehri State. The resulting effect of disforestment has been so
rapid that the same muafidars actually submitted a petition asking
that their forests might be managed by the Forest department but
this petition was refused on political grounds.

The accumulated effect of this flooding and scouring has
resulted in the bed of the Jumna at Etawah being lowered 60 feet
in the last five hundred years with a corresponding sinking of the
spring level. The cold weather level of the river in the Etawah
and Jalaun districts is often 180 to 200 feet below the general level
of the immediately surrounding country, and the well water levels
are sometimes as low as 200 feet. Tbe banks of the Jumna in the
Agra, Etawah, and Jalaun districts are now so completely drained
that they have become almost destitute of vegetation except for a
desert flora, and even this is disappearing. This dry belt is
increasing at the rate of 250 acres every year in the Etawah dis-
trict alone. The absence of protective vegetation on the banks
and the flow of water from the high plateau to the rivers has caused
a complicated net-work of ravines. These ravines often start
suddenly at the edge of cultivation with a drop of some 80 feet,
or they may be less severe; they take up a meandering course,
joining up with other systems, eventually falling into the river.
The actual area of similar lands in the province is some millions
of acres. The land at present is almost valueless to the owners
as it yields only grazing of the very poorest description.

Cultivation beyond this desert belt is precarious even in years
of normal rainfall, and drinking water often becomes so rare as
to necessitate the migration of whole villages, and throughout the
expanse of the ravines there is no water to be found except in the
main rivers. A study of the soil will show that it is very fertile,
but it is too out up and arid for cultivation. The monsoon rains
only sink to the depth of a few inches and, below this, the soil is
quite dry till the spring level is struck. It would appear that
the present tree-growth is of very great age and has continued to
reproduce itself by coppice shoots. Natural reproduction invari-
ably dies down as soon as the rains cease.

( 8 )

In the districts known as the Bundelkhand portion of the prov-
ince the same depressing state of affairs exists on a very large
scale. Attempts have been made by Government for some years
to dam up the ravines but it is impossible to keep pace with the
damage and there is no doubt that within a few generations large
tracts will go out of cultivation altogether. The work of protect-
ing and reclaiming eroded land in these districts is in the hands
of the Irrigation department.

There are two ways of dealing with serious erosion : (1) the
artificial way of the engineer ; (2) the more natural way of the
forester. Mr. Moreland, c s.i., O.I.E., I.G.S., in his notes on the
agricultural conditions and problems of the United Provinces
describes both these methods. " To minimize the extensions (of
erosion) the essential is to reduce to the lowest possible amount
the run-off from the land lying above the ravines and draining
above them. This result is obtained by the field embankments
of Bundelkhand, and their continued construction is most desirable
on these grounds alone. In the rest of the provinces the land just
above the ravine is, as a rule, unirrigable, and in accordance with
the custom of the country is sown with a kharij rather than with
a rabi crop. Naturally when the rainfall is heavy (and here is
the danger of the artificial method) either the field boundaries
break or the cultivators cut them to save their crops and most
of the flood passes direct into the ravines, a large proportion of
the extension is thus directly traceable to the effects of sudden
heavy rainfall.

"It is highly probable thab if the border fields were sufficiently
embanked to retain the moisture and left uncropped during the
rains they would be used for rabi crops even without irrigation ;
but it is at least doubtful if the rabi yield so obtained would be
greater than the Uliarif that would be sacrificed and very doubtful
if it would pay the cost of embanking. Experiments on this point
are however desirable.

"An alternative method of reducing runoff is to. use the land
above the ravines as a fuel and fodder reserve and there is reason-
able prospect that this will pay the landholder, provided he is
within easy reach of a market for babul bark, and provided he can
wait for a cash return until the period when the first crop of babul
matures."

The drying-up of the country is a most serious matter which
may be temporarily relieved by the expenditure of lakhs of rupees
on irrigation, but if the erosion of the country continues at the
present rate, irrigation projects will be hampered and eventually
become impossible. The Etawah district was once covered with

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page 8).

WBK . A

Photo, by Sen Gupta.

Trees destroyed by gravel brought down from the hills.
Note the man in the pit who is standing on original soil level.

j

l

( 9 )

sal (Shorea robusta) forests and many villages are named after the
tree— Sakhi Sakrauli, Sakhua, Sakhopur — and it is recorded that
the Emperor Babar hunted in these forests. The sal tree requires
a moist climate, but the conditions have so changed that there is
scarcely a single tree between the Himalayan Tarai and the
Satpuras. The -drop in the Jumna level is established by the
prevalence of old sugar mills in the Etawah trans-Jumna area
where the water level is now far too low to admit of irrigation, and
also in the fort at Shergadh near Auraiya where the curb of the
large well in use in 1550 is now 60 feet above mean flood level.

The whole aspect of the ravine country is most depressing ;
during the hot weather the temperature rises to well over 125° F.
in the shade, of which there is practically none, and there is a
remarkable absence of life in these tracts during these months.

The Etawah district has been specially described for reasons
which will be understood later on in this record, but identical con-
ditions prevail in such districts as Jhansi, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Agra,
and Banda as can be seen from the short accounts abstracted
from the settlement reports and gazetteers, which have been added
as appendix I of this book.

v

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page 10).

The goat is responsible for the greatest damage to forests.

( 11 )

Chapter III.

THE PAST AND PRESENT POLICY OF GOVERNMENT
REGARDING AFFORESTATION.

Up to the present, the conditions leading up to the necessity Dr- Brandis's
for afforestation have been described and it is now proposed to
deal with the actual progress made in this direction.

The question of utilizing the waste lands in the Agra, Etawah and
adjoining districts and establishment of fuel and fodder reserves
was the subject of a report in 1879 by Dr. D. Brandis, then
Inspector-General of Forest to the Government of India. In
the report attention was drawn to the large tracts of ravine
country lying on both sides of the Jumna river and the extent
of wastes to be found in several districts of the Doab. The
measures recommended in this report for the encouragement of
forest growth on these lands were (1) the exclusion of fire ; (2)
restriction of grazing ; (3) the prohibition of all wood-cutting ; ^4)
filling up of blank areas by planting and sowing. The report
recommended the acquisition of suitably situated and sufficiently
large blocks of waste land which should not be too far from the
markets of the produce.

On this report instructions were issued to District Officers to
ascertain and report, after consultation with the Conservators of
Forests, whether suitable blocks of waste land could be obtained
for the purposes indicated. The tracts of country recommended
for afforestation were in due course inspected by a Forest officer
who was unable to recommend the scheme on financial grounds.
The practice, even now iu force, of meeting capital expenditure on
forest development from current revenue was no doubt largely
responsible for the failure to expand and progress was- also ham-
[ ered by an insufficient staff.

The urgent necessity of increasing the area of fodder and fuel
reserves in order to mitigate the severity of famines was again
brought to the notice of the Government of India, who, in
March, 1883, issued a resolution instituting further enquiry as to
how far such provision was essential. The result of these
enquiries, however, did not uphold the assumption that the area
of grazing grounds and wooded tracts had recently decreased to any
large extent or that there was a growing scarcity of fodder or fuel
and it was again recorded that the further extension of existing
areas would be a matter of great expense and the results uncertain.
It was decided to postpone operations on a large scale until the

( 12 )

Fisher forests-

Kalpi babul
plantation.

results of oertain experiments on a small scale, whioh had already
been started, were ascertained.

In spite of every discouragement, Mr. J. H. Fisher, i.o.s , in
1884, determined to start on his own and for this purpose he called
together the zamindars who owned a large tract of ravine land, some
eight square miles in extent, situated to the west of the town of
Etawah ; and these proprietors agreed to hand over their land for
the creation of a fodder and fuel reserve and for the protection of
the ground from erosion and further deterioration. The owners
of the land were to provide the necessary funds and in return the
profits were to be divided pro rata according to the money furnished
and the land held in each case. The management of this reserve
was entrusted to the Collector, who placed the area under working
in the same year. Grazing was prohibited in the area, the soil
broken with the country plough, and seeds of babul, neem and
shisham sown ; and in order to dam up the rain water and locally
raise the spring level which was extremely low, bandhs were
thrown across the ravines in suitable places. Besides these
sowings, planting of various species was undertaken.

Although this forest remained under the management of the
Collector till 1902, very little is known of the actual results except
that a fairly good crop of babul was established, sufficiently dense
and valuable to encourage a business firm to take and work the
forest for the bark on. a lease for 60 years at a purchase price of
approximately Bs. 2 per acre and an annual rental of Ee 1 per
acre.

The scheme worked well for a time, and it was felt that if it
proved a success it might be copied by other landowners in the
hundred square miles of similar country in the district and that
there would consequently be no need for Government interference.

Beyond the Etawah scheme nothing'much was done except the
preservation of some existing forest tracts for protective reasons
until December, 1901, when, at the instance of the Military depart-
ment, an enquiry was held into the means by which the supply of
babul bark for the tanneries at Cawnpore could be most effectually
increased and the possibility of establishing babul reserves within
easy reach of the factories. Mr. Hobart Hampden, Deputy Conser-
vator of Forests, was deputed to this enquiry, with the result that
a small experimental plantation (850 acres) was started in the
ravines adjacent to the railway line at Kalpi, district Jalaun, and a
further small plot of level cultivated land known as Piprayan (162
acres), situated four and a quarter miles south-east of Ata railway
station, was acquired. Mr. Hobart Hampden's whole scheme, which
covered an area of 10,800 acres, was not accepted until the experiment

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page IS}.

» * J

Typical ravine scenery in the Etawah district ;
there are over 100,000 acres of this type of land in the district.

Phocos. by 0. E. 0. Cox, I. F. S.

The commencement of a ravine showing typical erosion.

proved successful. Actual sowing operations were started in 1904-5
over nearly the whole area, sowing being made in strips ploughed
with country ploughs, on re-filled pits and on ridges. A beginning
on a small scale w#s also made with ravine control by constructing
small dams across the ravines. Time and again the whole area
was sown with babul and many times the results looked hopeful,
especially the sowings on ploughed land, but success seemed always
to be marred either by severe winters, drought, rats, or disease and
after eleven years successive sowings the area was by no means
fully stocked. Other species of trees were also tried experimentally
with various results. Although the success of these plantations
from a financial point of view was not encouraging it was most
interesting and valuable as an object lesson, for it clearly demon-
strated that not only could ravine lands be successfully controlled
and erosion arrested, but they could also be formed into very
valuable fodder reserves and there was no doubt that, with correct
soil-cultivation and choice of species, this class of ground could also
eventually yield a valuable forest crop.

In addition to the experiment at Kalpi, a survey of existing
private forests in the Hamirpur district was carried on in 1910 in
order to ascertain the existence of any valuable forests of babul in
that district and what measures were advisable for the preserva-
tion and extension of babul cultivation in the ravines The work
was entrusted to Mr. Whitehead, Deputy Conservator of Forests,
who drew up a report recommending the acquisition of certain
blocks of babul forests in the north of the district. The afforesta-
tion of the ravine tracts as a profitable undertaking was however
not recommended but the attention of Government was again drawn
to the seriousness of the soil erosion in this district.

Action was taken on ohe recommendation and 4,448 acres of
open babul forest situated near Kunehta and Bandhur Bazurg in the
Maudaha tahsil were acquired in 1813 at a cost approximately of
Rs. 10 per acre.

Early in 1912 the necessity for a definite policy regarding the
creation of new forests, especially those required to meet local
agricultural requirements, was again laid before the Local Govern-
ment by the Conservator of Forests Eastern circle, United
Provinces (appendix II) with the result that a systematic survey
of the available areas was ordered, combined with a series of
experiments in afforestation in the various localities.

A general idea was also adumbrated as to the lines on which
the Government proposed to extend this work and the financial
assistance which they were prepared to afford to private enterprise
(appendix III), v

Hamirpur
babul planta-
tions.

Government
resolution no.
348 of 26th Au-
gust, 1912.

Afforestation
division.

Experimental
plantations star-
ted.

Mr. Courthope's
report on the
Etawah district
waste land.

Etawah Forest
Conference.

Extension of
experimental
plantations-

Mr. E. A. Courthope, Deputy Conservator of Forests, on
return from leave at the close of 1912, assumed charge of the
newly-created Afforestation division as indicated in the Local
Government resolution.

An inspection was made of waste laud along the left bank of the
Dhasan river, the right hank of the Betwa river and round Garofcha,
the ravines round Kalpi in the Jalaun district and stretches of
waste land and old fallow which abound in the Hamirpur district.
In this connection it is worth recording that there is an area of
418,747 acres of land classed as barren in the Jhansi district,
exclusive of village sites, etc., and a further area of 639,038 acres
of old and abandoned fallow.

For experimental purposes the newly acquired babul plantations
in the Hamirpur district and the Kalpi Plantations belonging to_
the Ordnance department were transferred to the management
of the Afforestation officer. Later in the year, the lease of the
plantations (2,832 acres) at Etawah, already referred to, was assigned
by Messrs. Cooper Allen to Government for the remaining 39
years for the sum of Es. 2.5CO and a small plot of adjacent land (80,
acres) was bought outright from the same firm for Es. 696.

Mr. Courthope's survey of existing waste lands was being con-
tinued and he was so much impressed with the conditions existing
in Etawah that in 1913 he submitted a detailed report of that
district in which he advocated the acquisition of 100,000 acres of
ravine land along the Chambal and Jumna rivers for afforestation
(appendix IW The scheme being on such a large scale -and
affecting a great number of people a special committee consisting
of officials and non-officials was formed to examine the proposals
and submit recommendations.

The committee met at Etawah on the 21st and 22nd July, 1913,
and it was decided that it was inadvisable compulsorily to acquire
the land, if control could be obtained by other means. It was
recommended that operations should be started if the area obtained
was large enough to secure economy of management (appendix V).

• Meanwhile silvicultural experiments were being carried out in
the areas under management and these latter were extended -by
the acquisition of blocks of open babul forest at Panwari (718 acres)
and Bijrari (621 acres) in the Kulpahar tahsil and at Dhangawau
(228 acres) in the Maudaha tahsil of the Hamirpur district at a total
cost of Es. 13,461.

It should however be noted that the acquisition of these lands
for improving the supply of tan bark to Cawnpore was contem-
plated before the formation of the Afforestation division.

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page H).

Head of a ravine being reclaimed, Bandh in foreground. Result of one year's work.

Photo, by 0. E. 0. Cos. I. F. S.

Head of a ravine being reclaimed. Result of two years' work.

An area of 130 acres (known &s the Allenbagh), situated near
Nawabganj, Cawnpore, was also acquired in the same year at a cost
of Us. 2,670 as an experimental ground for afforestation. This
scheme was generously assisted by Mr. H. D. Allen, who constructed
a dam across the main ravine at a cost of Rs. 9,000. An account of
these silvicultural experiments will be given later on.

In September, 1914, the Local Government ordered a regular
survey of the country, especially in the Jhansi and Agra districts,
for (1) ravine reclamation and (2) for the establishment of fuel and
fodder reserves in favourable localities. For this purpose Mr.
Fremantle, late Principal of the Agricultural College, Cawnpore,
was instructed to make the survey in close co-operation -with Mr.
Courthope, the Afforestation officer. Those orders were included
in resolution no. 971, dated 21st December, 1914, which also out-
lined the general policy of the Afforestation division (appendices
VJ and VII).

It was hoped that successful Government plantations, estab-
lished in a variety of places in the ravines, would induce many
landowners to follow the same example, and it was stated that
the duties of the Afforestation officer should be- mainly advisory
and that direct action by Government was not desirable. A survey
was accordingly made of the ravine lands in Bundelkhand, Agra,
and Muttra districts and a report submitted. The main features
of this report were —

(1) It was indicated that for the reclamation of ravine tracts,

a certain amount of tree-growth was essential.

(2) That the reclamation of ravines by afforestation (fuel and

fodder reserves) was likely to prove remunerative in the
more accessible areas, but by growing timber in the more
distant areas, they also could be made to pay their way.

(3) The reclamation of ravines in remote areas should be con-

sidered only as protective works.

(4) Both officers were strongly of the opinion that at the pre-

sent juncture landowners could not be relied upon to
do anything at their own initiative or at their own
expense towards reclaiming and afforesting their lands.

(5) It was suggested that the only method by which reclama-

tion could be satisfactorily dealt with was for Govern-
ment to lease or acquire the land.

(6) It was doubted whether the terms (which will be dealt

with later) of management proposed for the Etawah
ravines would appeal to landowners generally. It was
also doubted whether this work, requiring great super-
vision and technical knowledge, could be done by private

Resolution no.
971 of 21st De-
cember, 1914

Messrs. Court-
hope and Fre-
mantle's report
on the ravines
of Agra, Muttra
and Bundel-
khand.

Special branch
of agricultural
department.

Agreements
with Etawah
landowners for
the management
of their waste
lands.

enterprise through taqavi loans, and Government con-
trol, in some form or other, was considered essential.

(7) The suitability of ravine reclamation for famine labour was

also explained.

(8) The necessity for a specially trained staff before any ex-

tension could be made was insisted on and it was suggest-
ed that the necessary staff should be trained locally, the
superior staff being deputed to Roorkee and Saharanpur
to study engineering and gardening respectively.

(9) A number of blocks in Jhansi, Hamirpur and Jalaun were

described in which it was thought operations could be
started, special consideration being given to —
(i) proximity to areas already under reclamation ;
(ii) the necessity of increasing the existing blocks to econo-
mic size ;

(iii) the suitability of the blocks for famine relief works ;
(iv) the accessibility of the blocks ; and
(v) the sentiment of the landholders concerned.
The scattered blocks of ravines in the Muttra district were con-
sidered unsuitable and the Agra district ravines were the subject
of a special report (appendices VIII and IX).

The whole of the agency to be employed in reclamation work
was discussed by Government in their orders on this report, and
it was suggested that it would eventually come under the direction
of a special branch of the Agricultural department with assistance
from the Forest department ; letter no. 259-L. of the 6th August,

1915, to the Director of Land Records and Agriculture, United Prov-
inces (appendix XI). Mr. Fremantle was consequently posted to
the Afforestatkn division as an agricultural expert in December,

1916, and proposals were submitted showing how the work should be
divided up between the two branches. These proposals indicated
how essential forestry was for the permanent reclamation of the
ravines and how difficult it was to split the work up ; Mr. Fre-
mantle shortly afterwards resigned and the work remained under
the Forest department.

Concurrent with these declarations of policy a big step
forward in afforestation was made in the' Etawah district as a
result of the Etawah Conference. Certain big landowners, not-
ably the Rajas of Bhareh and Partabnair, approached Govern-
ment under section 38 (Indian Forest Act no. VII of 1878)
for the management of certain ravine areas, aggregating about
30,000 acres, as fuel and fodder .reserves. The terms under which
this was undertaken were drawn up (appendix XI) and the Etawah
Afforestation division was formed with effect from the 1st April,

Bfi

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'•i*' i * 'm<

i ^

E

1915. For convenience of management the Fisher Forest (2,912
acres) at Btawah was transferred to this division, and 22,004
acres of privately-owned land were finally accepted by the depart-
ment as suitable. The terms of the agreements were the subject
of special meetings at Naini Tal on the 4th October, 1915, and at
Lucknow on the 14th March, 1919, and at both meetings it was
urged that they should be so framed as to give the landowners an
early return and so offer a further inducement to others to offer
their lands for management. At the latter meeting, at which the
Lieutenant-Governor presided, the existing agreement was criticized
as being unnecessarily severe and requiring revision and it was
agreed that there was ample scope for both the Forest and Agricul-
tural departments in these provinces but that they should work
in separate areas. It was suggested that the Forest department
should work principally in the Agra and Etawah districts, while
the Agricultural department should interest themselves in the
ravines of Bundelkhand. The provision of breeding grounds
should not be lost sight of.

The terms of the existing agreement are, at the time of writing,
under revision allowing the owners a minimum rent of 8 annas per
acre on the reclaimed land until the plantations mature and pay
a higher return. The proposition is justified on the grounds of
insurance against famines, saving of valuable country from erosion,
improvement of agricultural amenities, and reclamation of waste and
worthless land, as well as making it a popular measure with the
owners.

The existing experimental blocks were extended (1916) by the
addition of 29 acres situated in the Ganges Khola of the
Meerut district (appendix XII) and the further extension (125
acres) of the Allenbagh Experimental plantations at Cawnpore
(1917) through the generosity of the late Mr. G. B. Allen, who
provided Bs. 20,000 to meet the cost of acquisition. Owing to the
depletion of staff during the Great War the Afforestation officer was
placed in charge of the Etawah division in addition to his main
duties and further extensions, for similar reasons, became impos-
sible. The scattered nature of the experimental blocks and their
small size was opposed to economic management and the work of
covering such a wide stretch of country (five districts) being too

The Kalpi and Piprayan plantations belonging to the Ordnance department were taken
over by tbe United Provinces Government in 1915 on the following terms : —

(a) That the cultivation of the babul under the supervision of the Forest department

would be encouraged to the fullest extent possible : and

(6) That the Harness and Saddlery Factory, Cawnpore, should have the first claim on
all bark from such cultivation at the market rate prevailing at the time of (supply.
(Vide letter no. 4304/(0-5) of 26th September, 1914, from the Secretary to Govern-
ment, Army department, to the Chief Secretary to Government, United Provinces.)

3

Afforestation
conferences.

Meerut and
Cawnpore experi-
mental plots.

( 18 )

great a strain to impose on a single officer, it was decided to
transfer the babul forests in the Hamirpur district to the newly
formed Banda division and to merge the Etawah division once again
into the Afforestation division. This took effect from the 1st July,
1918 (G. 0. no. 251/XIV— 32, dated the 26bh March, 1918).
Improvement In 1919 ttie Improvement Trust at Cawnpore intimated their

trusts. intention of acquiring a stretch of land adjoining the Allenbagh

plantation which they desired to be afforested at their expense
through the Forest department.

Similar action has been taken by the Lucknow Improvement
Trust.

It has been proposed, for the future to extend work, firstly
In those localities near towns or railways where good profits
are assured, secondly in those more distant areas where financial
expectations are fair as, for instance, the Etawah district ravines
along the Charubal and Jumna rivers, and thirdly, except as works
of ravine-reclamation or insurance against fodder famines, in those
more remote and inaccessible areas from which direct financial
returns are hardly to be expected.

Since going to press orders have been received from Government regarding the future
policy to be observed in the extension of afforestation open lions. These otdeis have been added
aa the last two appandioes to thip book.

8

&

( 19 )
Chapter IV.

THE METHOD OF AFFORESTATION.

The soil of the ravine areas may be classed as a sunbaked loam, Soil
usually sandy, but differing in consistency from place to place. tion-
There is usually a thin upper layer of Jcankar, in nodular form, left
behind by the mechanical action of water and, owing to the con-
tinuous tread of cattle and the baking of the sun, the top few feet
are excedingly hard and impervious to water which runs off readily
to the main rivers. The areas are almost treeless ; the following
species are found in scrubby form, and there is a notable absence
of regeneration except by coppice snoots : —

(1) Gapparis aphylla, (2) Carissa Carandas, (3) Carissa
spinarum, (4) Adhatoda Vasica, (5) Balanites Roxbar-
ghii, (6) Zizyphns jujuba, (7) Prosophis spicigera, (8)
Acacia, leucophloea, (9) Acasia arabica.

The grass crop consists almost entirely of the worthless species,
Aristida adscensionis. The first object of management in a work of
this description is the re-establishment of conditions sufficiently
favourable for vdgetafcion. The ordinary system of planting in
pits and sowing in hoed-lines, although eminently suitable in
other places, is bound to fail in the ravines. It is necessary to
repair the damage of centuries by the efficient working of the
soil and the conservation of the maximum amount of moisture.
The actual soil is, it is believed, fertile enough for most trees
found in. similar latitudes after the requirements of moisture
and aeration have been satisfied. The most satisfactory means so
far discovered of effecting this improvement is the breaking-up of
the compact surface soil, either by deep ploughing or hand digging,
thus aiding .the gaseous exchange between soil and air and allowing
the penetration of moisture into the subsoil. It is also necessary
to preserve the continuous gaseous interchange and to prevent fur-
ther consolidation. Soil-cultivation extended over several years
is impracticable in a forest estate owing to the low final returns
and could only be carried on for two years at the most even if only
valuable species were raised. It is however known that if once
a forest plantation can be established, the actual trees themselves
by means of their roots, litter and shade will keep the soil in
condition. It is found that Kansome's S. B. plough, obtainable
from Messrs. Octavious Steel & Co-, Calcutta, is about the
most effective instrument for this work, it is strong, light, and
works the soil to a depth of eight inches ; other ploughs, although
useful for certain work, are not suitable for the rough initial work
of breaking-up the top soil. In many portions of the ravines the

( 20 )

. •

terrain is far too steep to employ ploughs and here the work has
to be done by hand and in aome places the sides of the cliffs are
too precipitous to be worked at all. Ploughing should commence
in October and, if possible, be completed before the hot weather ;
usually only one ploughing is resorted to. To serve the purpose
of seed beds and to hold up the rain-water in pools alongside the
future seedlings, contour ridges are constructed of broken earth
measuring roughly two feet wide and one foot high and connected at
intervals with cross ridges to localize damage from water breakage
Furthermore, dams are constructed at suitable intervals from the
heads of the ravines downwards, to hold up all surface water
flowing from the upper levels : in this way a very large amount of
rain-water is conserved during the critical stage of germination and
sinks into the ground instead of running to waste. It is found
by experience that as soon as grass and tree-growth is established
all run-off practically ceases. The fixing of sites for the dams
requires considerable experience, the cheapest sites are usually the
worst in practice, everything depends on the position of the waste
water escape which should be a natural one if possible. Below
is given a diagram of a dam or bandh with certain specifications :

(1) The bed of the ravine to be cleared of kankar and bajri

(2) The escape drain to be dug out first and the earth to be
thrown on to the bandh, surplus earth required to complete
the bandh to be removed from the high land on either side of the
ravine.

(3) The earth in the bandh to be completely broken up with
wooden hammers and consolidated

(4) The depth of the escape should be so arranged as to allow
water to overflow at two-thirds the height of the bandh.

(6) The escape should be at least 10 feet wide at the bottom,
with an inner slope of 1 : 1.

(6) The depth of water behind any bandh should be so regu-
lated as to prevent it reaching the toe of the proceeding one.

(7) The height of the bandh should be one-half times the depth
of water, if the depth of the water is four feet, the full height of
the bandh will be 4' x l£' = 6'.

(8) The minimum top width is five feet.

(9) The bottom width to be equal to three times the height of
the bandh plus eight times the depth of water in the bandh.
Suppose the height of banih to be 6' and the depth of the water
is 4', then the bottom width 6' x 3 plus 4' x 8 = 60'.

(10) The inner slopes of the bandh should be 3 : 1.

(11) After finding the top, bottom width, and inner slope of
bandh, the outer slope will be ascertained by itself.

a>

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AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page 21)-

Ransomes S. B. plough which is the most efficient implement for ravine work.

Mild ravine land ploughed and sown with shisham 4 years old.

(12) The line of the filtration shuuld not be less than eight times
the depth of water in ordinary soils and four times the
depth of water in very good soils.

Another system of soil-preparation that has given very good
results is the ridge-and-ditch method. Ditches are dug contourwise,
usually two wide and one deep, and the earth from the ditches heap-
ed up in a ridge on the downward side to form a seed bed : the founda-
tion of the ridge must be well dug up before starting the making
of the ridge The ditches should be bandhed at intervals to
prevent side flow- The advantage of this system is that a large
quantity of water from the unworked ground is collected in the
ditches alongside the plants. The ditches require great care in
alignment, as otherwise they may drain off the water instead of
conserving it.

Under this system grass comes in very slowly on the unworked
ground between the ditches, but the tree-growth is undoubtedly
more rapid than under other systems.

So far the systems of soil-cultivation in the ravines have been
dealt with ; a certain amount of experience of afforestation on
entirely different soils has, however, been gained. The Hamirpur
babul areas offered quite a different problem ;. here the soil was
of the water-logged black cotton variety with no defined drainage
direction : sowings en ground level were invariably swamped and
the only system which succeeded at all was to sow on ridges above
the water level. In places this succeeded, but generally the tall
grass-growth, foods, and the hardness of the soil on drying destroy-
ed the work A drainage scheme was eventually started and
attempts were made ai- ploughing the very hard ground ; this
resulted in a little more 3uccess, but further experiments were
suspended by the transfer of the areas to the Banda division.

Ravine-reclamation has been found by practical experience to
be eminently suitable for famine labour. Practically every class
of labour is catered for, the work can be closed down at any time
without leaving it incomplete and owing to its shifting nature it is
far healthier than the usual run of famine works. In the Etawah
district famine (1918-19) ravine-reclamation formed the backbone
of relief and gave employment to 1,253,706 units. A full account
of these operations is given in appendices XIV and XV.

Of all the indigenous trees found on the area, babul seemed the Choice of species,
most attractive by reason of the demand for its bark at the Cuwn-
pore tanneries and wood for fuel and small agricultural require-
ments. In the absence of any knowledge as to what species would
grow in the ravines, it was natural that babul was selected in the
first instance. Experiments, however, were carried on eimultane-

Famine labour
for afforestatior.

( 22 )

ously with a variety of other species, both by planting and direct
sowings, a list of these is given below :—

(1) Acacia arabica by sowing in situ and planting in the

cotyledon condition.

(2) Dalbergia sissoo by sowing and planting.

(3) Dalbergia latifolia ditto.

(4) Gmelina arborea ditto.

(5) Melia Azedarach ditto.

(6) Bombax malabaricum by sowing.

(7) Tamarix indica ditto-

(8) Pongamia glabra ditto.

(9) Albizzia moluccarjaloy planting.

(10) Albizzia procera by sowing.

(11) Bassia latifolia ditto.

(12) Eucalyptus bicolor, Eucalyptus citriodora, E. Botryoides,

E. collosea, E. cerebrae, E. focundae, E. globulus, E.
jugalis, E. leucoxylon, E. melanoxylon, E. mycrophylla,
E. melliodora, E. occidentalis, E- paniculata, E. robusta,
E. rudis, and E- tereticornis by planting.

(13) Eugenia jambolana.

(14) Grevilla robusta.

(15) Inga dulcis by sowing and planting.

(16) Salix babylonica by planting.

(17) 8. tetrasperma.

(18) Holoptelia integrifolia by planting and sowing.

(19) Adina cordifolia by sowing.

(20) Trewia nudifiora.

(21) Lager sir cemia* parviflora by planting.
/ (22) Morus indica by sowing.

(23) Acacia catechu.

(24) HardwicJcia binata.

(25) Piptadenia oudensis by planting.

(26) Bishoffia javanica.

(27) Tectona grandis by sowing and planting.

(28) Casuarina equisetifolia by planting.

(29) Schleichera trijuga by sowing.

(30) Diospyros melanoxylon.

(31) Bauhinia malabarica.

(32) Shorea robusta. «

(33) Terminalia tomenfosa.

(34) Terminalia belerica.

(35) Terminalia chebula.

(36) Bvchanania latifolia.

(37) Hymenodictyon excel sum.

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AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page 23).

Ravine land before planting.

The same land 5 years later.

( 23 )

(38) Mallotus phillippinensis.

(39) Cassia auriculata by sowing.

(40) Cassia fistula by planting.

(41) Ficus glomerata ditto.

(42) Cordia myxa by sowing.

(43) Dendrocalamus strictus by sowing and planting.

Of these species Acacia arabica has been found to be the best
species for sowing on the higher levels and slopes and Dalbergia
sissoo for sowing and planting in the lower moister levels. If
this species is planted, the stems should be out down to V and 4"
above and below ground respectively. Of the other species
Tectona grandis (teak) is perhaps the most satisfactory ; the
germination of this tree is however difficult and it is recommended
that the seed should be scorched in a fire before sowing, but
even this does not cause all the seed to germinate in the first year.
The soil of the sowing areas should be very carefully prepared,
kept entirely free from weed-growth and the top soil loosened at
frequent intervals. It is recommended that teak should be sown
broadcast in selected flat areas only, where the cultural operations
can be easily done.

Gmelina arborea has been very successful in most areas where
it has been sown.. The wood is good and its uses the same as the
English beech. It is best raised by direct sowings in lines on
ridges, the upper levels being the best as the tree suffers from
frost.

Albizzia procera and Hardwickia binata has been fairly success-
ful in the moist and low-lying localities, but so far these species
have been tired on a very limited scale.

Bamboos (Dendrocalamus strictus), transplanted after one year
in the nursery, have given moderately good results.

Holoptelia intergrifolia, a tree of importance in turnery, has
been tried on a small scale with very fair success on the upper
levels of the ravines.

Of the other species the following may be mentioned as being
suited to ravine soils but, being of little economic importance, they
need only a passing reference, Pongamia glabra, Inga dulcis, and
Cordia myxa.

The following species although suited to the ravines are invari-
ably damaged by porcupines and hares : neem (Melia indica) and
semal (Bombax malabaricum).

The importance of keeping the soil round the plants entirely
clear of weeds and in a loose condition cannot be overestimated.
For the succeeful establishment of a plantation in the ravines
tending operations have to be ceaselessly carried out during the

( 24 )

first monsoon months, July to October, if this is not done, the

results invariably end in failure.

Cassia auriculati — Tarwad, a shrub which came into promin-
ence during the war as a tanning material, can be raised very easily
on ploughed land of the ra,vine type. It seems to require very
little attention and stands quite severe drought too. In the Etawah
district several hundred acres have been sown between the lines of
trees as a catch crop. It suSers however from frost and it is doubt-
ful whether its cultivation will be profitable.

a

H

o

<x>
H

( 26 )
Chapter V.

FINANCIAL

It has been stated that a fair comparison can be drawn between
the reclamation of ravines and the reclamation of the sand dunes in
the neighbourhood of Bordeaux— Les Landes — in France. It is
almost inconceivable that the French Government of about 100
years ago can have hoped to establish valuable coniferous forests
on those vast stretches of apparently pure silver sand, but the
Government did realize that it was possible and necessary to check
the encroachment of the sand on the inland cultivation. Accord-
ingly the French forest department began to hold up the shifting
sand by planting tufts of coarse grass and when these were buried
the forest officers planted more- It is easy to imagine the despair
of those officers at the apparent hopelessness of their task, but
they persevered and in the end their patient efforts overcame the
forces of Nature. The shifting sand was fixed and they began to
sow seed. On what was once a rolling waste of sand now flourish
dense pine forests, in which the peasants find ample work for them-
selves and pasture for their cattle, and behind the shelter of which
they cultivate their fields in security.

The work still goes on, more and more sand is reclaimed, and it is
noteworthy that fiere, as in other different localities, the French
forest department is content to go on preparing the ground for
future afforestation for 20 or 30 years before planting any trees and
without looking too closely into the direct financial possibilities.

So far the Government has not viewed ravine reclamation by
afforestation in the same light and every scheme has to be sup-
ported by prospects of remuneration. The cost of ravine reclama-
tion is expensive and in order to render it directly profitable
the areas must be well situated for the sale of the produce.
It is doubted whether the establishment of fuel and fodder reserves
in the ravines would be a profitable undertaking except in very
favourable localities near towns, unless a certain amount of big
timber was produced increasing in amount according to the dis-
tance. Fortunately it has been found that shisham, a tree for
which there is almost unlimited demand, grows excellently and
without difficulty. It must also be remembered that the whole of
the area in which the ravines occur is a danger zone in famine
years, depending for the preservation of the cattle on the carriage
from outside districts of hay over long leads by rail and rough
roads. These famines occur on the average about once in every
five years. The ravines after treatment yield excellent hay and
even in dry years the crop has been known to yield 10 maunds per

4

( 26 )

acre, besides good grazing. The direct saving to Government from
home-grown hay would amount to no less than Ke. 1-8 per
maund, and should be taken into account in the financial expecta-
tions.

During the last famine (1918-19) there was considerable delay
in importing fodder owing to transport difficulties ; such delays,
with their attendant dangers, would be avoided in the case of local
supplies. In the Etawah district as a result of these delays and the
general scarcity of fodder 40,000 cattle died, while nearly 200,000
animals disappeared from the Agra district. It has time and
again been suggested that hay should be out and stored in normal
yeara, when the demand is small, to meet famine emergencies.
This proposition has, so far, not appealed to G-overnjnenfc owing to
the fear of loss from deterioration in the stack. There is no doubt
that considerable quantities of hay have been lost in the past by
careless stacking and for this reason it is suggested that permanent
barns should be built to protect the hay from the weather.

All indirect benefits such as the saving of valuable land from
erosion should also be balanced against the cost.

The chief sources of revenue will be (1) grass, (2) timber, C3)
fuel, (4) grazing, (5) minor forest produce.

Definite figures of cost are available ; in three years 2,007 acres of
plantations have been established at a capitalized (4 per cent.) inclu-
sive cost of Rs. 1,27,645. or about Es. 64 yer acre. This figure ia
very much inflated by addition of the full depreciation on buildings,
fences, and surveys common to the whole division.

Mr. Smythies, Deputy Conservator of Forests, who was in
charge of the Afforestation division for a short period during the
writer's absence on leave, has drawn up an interesting memorandum
showing, as far as can be anticipated, the financial prospects. His
figures although conservative, show that by introducing timber
trees, either as standards over coppice or in special portions of each
block, it is possible to pay off not only all the capital expenditure
(accumulatf d at 4 per cent.) after 40 years, but also to yield a very
substantial surplus. These figures appear as appendix XIII, but
it should be remembered that the data on which any forecast can
be based are at present almost entirely hypothetical.

It is not to be supposed that the whole capital can be repaid at
the first or even any subsequent felling of the forest crop. The
heavy initial expenditure is incurred on establishing a forest which,
with proper care and management, will last for ever, reproducing
itself naturally without further outlay. It should therefore be
sufficient if the interest be repaid and the capital left on the ground.
Existing plantations situated close to towns, such as Etawab, Kalpi,

--'&

( 27 )

and Cawnpore Have, almost from the beginning, paid off the annual
interest charges on capital through the sale of grass and other
minor forest produce. In other more remote localities the interest
charges (4 per cent.) may not be met until the tree-crop matures
and possibly not till after the first or second rotations. There are
also areas so remote and difficult of approach where financial
results are problematical and these should be treated quite apart
from any consideration of direct profit. The use of the rivers for
transport will no doubt be a very important factor and experiments
should be made to ascertain if this form of export is practicable.

For the benefit of those who may be considering the establish-
ment of forests on lands similar to those already described, the
following schedule of rates, usually paid in the Btawah and Jalaun
districts, is given. Near big towns the rates are about 20 per cent,
more : —

Cost of creation and upkeep of ravine plantations.

The following general rates are sanctioned in the Afforestation
division : —

I. — Soil-preparation —

(1) Ploughing on flat or undulating ground, Es. 3 to Bs. 4 per

acre.

(2) JMaking field ridges on ploughed land, Bs. 6 per acre.

(3) Making ridges with ditches on unploughed land, steep

slopes, etc., including little cliff-breaking, and breaking
down bumps, pinnacles, etc., Bs. 20 to Bs. 24 per acre.

(4) Bandh construction, Bs. 5 per acre or per 1,000 c. ft.

II. — Sowing (including collection of seed), Be. 1 to Bs. 2 per
acre.

III. — Tending and weeding in first rains, each weeding
Be. 1-10-6 per acre, or with three weedings, Bs. 5 per acre.

Filling up gaps with shisham cuttings and other transplants :
planting grass roots, etc., annas 10 to Be. 1-5 per acre.

IV. — Subsequent tending and miscellaneous-
Tending (two to four years old), annas 8 per acre.
Fencing with thorns, annas 6 to annas 9 per acre.
Cattle guards and forest guards, annas 8 per acre per annum.

The general cost of creation and upkeep of plantation exclud-
ing—

(1) Acquiring the land and preliminary demarcation.

(2) Wire fencing.

( 28 )

(3)- Over head and supervising charges, may be put roughly as
follows :—

(a) On flat
.amis without
bandhs per
acre.

(6) Moderate-
ly ravined
lands with
bandhs per
acre.

Remarks.

Rs. a. p.

Rs. a. p.

Soil-preparation

10 0 0

25 0 0

\

Sowing, tending, and pro-
tection for first year ...

800

800

Subsequent tending and
filling-up failures

Miscellaneous recurring
expenditure

080
per annum.

100

080
per annum.

1 0 0

s Based on actuals for
the year 1919-20.

per annum.

per annum.

Total non-recurring

18 0 0

33 0 0

Plua recurring

1 8 0

180

per annum.

per annum.

/ _

!

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNiTED PROVINCES.

(To face page 29).

Ife

Photo, by Troup.

Afforestation in the Himalayas. A promising 15 year old plantation.

( 29 )

Chapter VI.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

List of publications^and notes dealing with afforestation.
INDIAN GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS.

1863. Selection from Records of the Bombay Government
no. LXXVI, Observations on the Influence on Forests.

1876. Notes on the Demarcation of Hill and Mountain Ranges
in the Punjab. (Baden Powell.)

1876. Brief Notes on the Formation of Plantations on the
Canal Banks of the North- Western Provinces.

1878. Influence exercised by Trees on Climate and Productive-
ness of India. — By Surgeon-General E. Balfour.

1897. Improvement of Indian Agriculture, by Dr. J. A. Voeloker.

1906. Note on the water supply as affected by forests. (Forest
Bulletin no. 9.)

1909. Forest Reservation in Burma in the interests of an
endangered water supply. (Forest pamphlet no. 6.)

1909. Report on the " Colmate di Monte " of Italy— By F.
Clayton, Public Works Department, United Provinces.

1909. Report on the Utilization of Silt in .Italy— By C. H.
Hutton, United Provinces (Government Press).

1912. Report on the Forests of Bhutan bordering the boundary
of Eastern Bengal and Assam.

1913. Recommendations of the committee on the prevention
of landslips at Dharamsala.

1916. Note on the enquiry by the Government of India into
the relation between Forests, Atmosphere and Soil Moisture in
India. (Forest Bulletin no. 33.)

1918. Darjeeling Hillsides and Rivers Conservation Bill.

1920. A Note on Afforestation— By E. A. Smythies (Forest
Record).

INDIAN FORESTERS.

1877. Volume III, pages 66 & 164, Erosion by rivers.
1877. „ III, „ 357 Mr. Buck on moisture

from the Himalayas.

1879. „ V, „ 3 The chohs of Hoshiar-

pur.

1880. „ VI, „ 95 Fire-protection and

floods in the Siwaliks.

1881. „ VII, „ 53 Effects of forest de-

nudation on the Wes-
tern Ghats.

( 30 ) ,

1882. Volume IX, page 69 The New Law for the

restoratioM and protec-
tion of mountain lands
in France.

1885. „ XI, - „ 543 Effects of cutting forests

on the water supply of
rivers.

1886. ,, XII, „ 418 Fire-protection and floods

in the Siwaliks.

1888. „ XIV, „ 304 Forests and water supply.

1889. „ XV, „ 153 The Italian law of the

1st April, 1888, on re-

boisement.

1891. ,. XVII, „ 215 The ehohs of Hoshiarpur.
1896. „ XXII, „ 44 Reafforestation of the

Mahasu . Fagu ridge,

Punjab.
1899. „ XXV, „ 80 Forests and water supply.

1906. „ XXXII, „ 423 Ditto.

1907. „ XXXIII, „ 126 The preservation of Ka-

rachi harbour.

1908. ., XXXIV, „ 600 The cause and effect of

gradual disappearance
of forests on the earth's
surface.

1908. „ XXXV, „ I Forests and water supply.

1909. „ XXXV, „ 195 Hyderabad floods and

their moral.

AMERICA^ GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS.

1893. Forest Influences. Agricultural Department, Forestry
division Bulletin no. 7.

1901. Grazing in the forest reserves. Forestry Department
publication.

1902. Message from the President of the United States of
America transmitting a Report on the Forests, Rivers and Moun-
tains of the Southern Appalachian region.

1903. Relation of forests to stream flow. Agricultural Depart-
ment year book.

1903. The Diminished Flow of the Rock River in Wisconsin
and Illinois. Forestry Bulletin no. 44.

1908. The relation of the southern Appalachian mountains to
inland navigation. Forest Service Circular no. 143.

1910. Surface conditions and Stream-flow. Forest Circular
no, 176.

( 31 )

1911. Soil Erosion. Agricultural Bulletin no. 75.
1911. Grazing and floods in Utah no. 91.

1911. Avalanches and Forest Cover in the Northern Cascades.
Forestry circular.

1918. Range preservation and its relation to erosion and
control on Western Grazing lands. Agricultural Bulletin no. 675.

1919. Forests and Floods in China. American Forestry,
volume XXV.

1920. Forest Policy in France. The Control of Sand Dunes
and Mountain Torrents. American Forestry, volume XXVI.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS.

1853. Des Climats. Les Sol Boises et non Boise's. Bacquerel.

1876. Federal Swiss Law.

1877. Management of the water system in the department of
Aude, by M. Rousseau. Atlas mdt^rologiqoe de 1'Observatoire de
Paris.

1877. Forests and Moisture, by J. C. Brown, LL.D. (Oliver
& Boyd.)

1882. Extracts from Man and Nature, or the Earth as modified
by Human Action, by G. D. Marsh (Higginbotham).

1883. Results of Forest Meteorology, by D. H. Warth. (Pro-
ceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.)

1902. Forests considered in their relation to Rainfall and
Conservation of Moisture, by J. H. Maiden. Journal of the Royal
Society of N. S. W., volume XXXVI

1910. Restauration et Conservation des Terrains en Montagne-
Administration des Eaux et F6rets in 3 parts.

Sui rimboschimeti eseguiti in Francia. F. Piccioli. Institute
forestale de Vallambrpsa.

1912. Deforestation. The Bulletin of the International
Institute of Rome. Bureau of Economic and Social Intelligence,
volume XV, no. 1.

1916. Trees as water reserves. Tropical Agriculturist. South
Africa, volume XLVII, no. 4.

1918. A Note on Afforestation in the United Provinces by
E. Benskin (Thacker Spink & Co.).

AFFORESTATION IN THE UNITED PROVINCES.

(To face page 1-A).

A sal forest. Etawah district had extensive sal forests four hundred years ago*
Now there is not a single tree in the district.

APPENDIX I.

Notes from settlement reports and gazetteers regarding the extent of
erosion in the Agra and Bundelkhand districts, United Provinces.

Extract from the final settlement report on the revision of the
Jhansi district, including Lalitpur sub-division, ly A. W. PlM,
ESQ ., c.s., Settlement Officer.

MOST parts of the district in fact are' overdrained. In the
high-lying tracts the natural soil is stony and excessively poor.
In the more level plains is found the rich deposit which forms the
black soil characteristic of Bundelkhand, but in the villages border-
ing the ravines this is being scoured and broken up by the surface
drainage, and the area of good soil is gradually diminishing. The
remedy is the construction of bandhs or small fields embankment.
These the people are familiar with and appreciate and they should
be helped by liberal grants of taqavi.

The characteristic features of this latter tract are small
doabs of black soil lying between a series of ravine-edged nala
valleys. The most important of these are the Lakheri and
Chaich nadis with their tributaries running into the Dhasan
through the Mau and Garotha tahsils. Smaller nalas run into the
Bert or Pahuj through the Moth tahsil. In the latter the general
level is much less broken except on the strip bordering on either
bank of the Befcwa. The soil in the centre of these doabs, when
free from scouring, is good mar, but the deposit thins rapidly as
it approaches the ravines on either side of the mar, giving place to
inferior Jcabar and finally to the worthless patti bordering on the
broken ground along the nalas.

Eavines and the deterioration caused by them are a subject
of serious importance to the whole of the black soil area.
They reach their greatest development in the maze of broken
unculfcurable ground along the Dhasan and the left bank of
the Betwa, but their destructive influence is still more apparent
along the numerous tributary nalas which traverse the plains
of black soil. In Moth and Northern Jhansi their influence is
confined to the neighbourhood of the Betwa, but tahsils Mau and
Garotha are traversed by a series of large nalas following a
roughly parallel course to the north-east and falling into the
Dhasan. Commencing from the south, the principal are the Ur,
the Sukhnei flowing under the town of Mau, the Lakheru, which
after the junction of the large tributaries known as the Dhunderi
and Patrehi, passes the villages of Garotha and, lastly, the Chaich

5

( 2A )

which, traversing the north of Garotha tahsil, flows into the wild
broken country known as the " G-har " at the junction of the
Betwa and the Dhasan.

In the Lalitpur sub-division the Betwa has not thrown out
many ravines, but the other principal drainage lines the Shahzad,
Sanjnam and Jamni nadis are not only fringed by wide strips of
broken unoulturable land, but receive the drainage of a net work
of larger or smaller tributary nalas traversing the whole of the
black-soil area.

The .destructive influence of these nalas is by no means con-
fined to the land rendered unculturable by them. Their more
serious, though less obvious, effect, consists in the gradual thinning
of the upper stratum of good black soil which is not being replaced
in any way and wbich must lead to the gradual deterioration of the
district, though the process may be a slow one. The evil has
been many times pointed out as also has the only apparent remedy,
the construction of a series of small bandhs such as are found in
parts of the Banda district. There are a few good bandhs in
tahsil Moth and in Northern Jhansi, but elsewhere little has been
done, and the only systematic work of this kind undertaken by
Government has been at Raksa in the red-soil tract where such
bandhs are of comparatively little use.

G. 0. no. 1428/1-401-1907 ofSlst May, 1907.

An important feature is the extent of artificial tanks and lakes.
A separate Tanks division of the Irrigation department has recently
been formed, and the restoration of old and the construction
of new works should make good progress. The importance of the
damming-up of ravines to check their destructive influence and of
constructing field embankments, to which the Settlement Officer
refers, is recognized by Government.

Extracts from the Jalaun District Gazetteer of the United Provinces,
by D. L. DBAKE-BBOCKMAN, ESQ., c.s., 1909.

The natural divisions into which the country falls are few and
clearly marked. Along the outer edge is the ravine belt, fringed
here and there, where the contour of the land permits, by strips
of rich alluvial soil, but for the most part consisting of low hum-
inocks thickly strewn with kankar and clad with the thinnest scrub
or vegetation. The upland which succeeds is composed of light-
coloured hard soil, the most valuable properties of which are being
continually washed away by the downward flow of the rain-water.
Except in the north, the gradual fall in the surface to the level

( 3A )

plain of the centre can be clearly traced by the deepening in the
colour of the soil.

In considering the subject of irrigation in this district, however,
it must be remembered that retention of moisture in so much of
the soil renders a watering in a normal year unnecessary. Besides
this the practice of embanking uneven ground has had the effect
of protecting considerable areas from the worst effect of drought,
especially in the broken tracts along the rivers, where direct irriga-
tion is ordinarily impossible.

The principal river among these is the Non which, traversing
the centre of the pargana, strikes the north-east of pargana Orai.
The broken land round this river is on an average one-half to a
mile wide on either side, and is remarkable for its abrupt declivi-
ties and sterility; the soil has in most places been completely
eroded by the scour, leaving a rook-like surface of kankar exposed;
thsre are a few fields on the lower level, but these are thickly coated
with kaokar. Equally destructive is a tributary of the Melunga
which runs at right angles northwards through- the heart of the
pargana surrounded by a deep border of waste land. Smaller
streams draining into both are gradually widening the uncultur-
able areas. To the south there are two small streams, the Bayar
and Jondhar, which join the Jumna near Kalpi, starting in uneven
and undulating, but not actually unculturable, land ; they too are
flanked by ravines before reaching their destination.

The Betwa valley resembles the Jumna without its fertility.

The drainage of the central tract is supplied by two minor
streams, the Non and the Melunga, which flowing north-eastwards
unite some eight miles from the Jumna bank and join that river
an equal distance to the north of the town of Kalpi. Like the
large rivers, they have carved deep ravines which increase in extent
the nearer the Jumna is approached, and, as a consequence of their
actions, the Kalpi pargana is cut up by a tracery of ravines which
have scoured the greater portion of the soil.

Extracts from the District Gazetteer of the Hamirpur district,
United Provinces, by D. L. DRAKE-BROCKMA.N, ESQ., c.s., 1909.

The upper reaches of the Barma river are rocky and lie deep
below the level of the surrounding country, but the watersheds
terminate few miles from the stream and but little land suffers
from the erosive action of its tributaries. After it leaves pargana
Rath these begin to be more frequent and form extensive ravines
that invade the fertile plains of Muskara and Rath and hardly
compensate for the deterioration they cause by depositing occasional
patches of alluvial silts.

( 4A )

The Barma river practically divides the district into two equal
portions ; the western part is drained by the Parwaha aud is much
less broken than that to the east. Bast of the Barma the watershed
lies close to that river and there is generally a steeper gradi- nt which
is reflected in the more easterly trend of the streams. Though
they provide a ready means of escape for the rainfall, which is often
heavy in the tract, all these channels are destructive and tend to
spread. By denuding the surface soil in hilly tracts and by carry-
•ing off the organic matter and other soil-constituents in the level
plains, they are constantly and steadily impoverishing the soil,
except where the land is protected by embankments.

Extract from the Final Report on the Revision of the Settlement
of the Hamirpur district by W. RAW, ESQ., O.S., Settlement
Officer (page I).

The Hamirpur district falls roughly into two parts, the north-
ern portion is flat plain, consisting mainly of black soils except
where the land has suffered from the erosion by the numerous
streams by which it is traversed. Towards the south the surface
rises, the soils, as usual under such circumstances, becoming
lighter in character.

The northern portion of the pargana is described by the Settle-
ment Officer as consisting of a series of doabs. At a distance'
from the streams, the soil is a good mar; as the streams are
approached the soil deteriorates through poorer mar, kabar, and
parwa until it becomes worthless rankar in the ravines. Some
portions of this area have suffered severely from the scouring of
rivers and small streams. In the Jalalpur pargana, in which there
are unusually larger areas of broken land, only 40 per cent, of the
total is normally under cultivation. Most of the numerous rivers
by which this part is intersected are surrounded by belts of ravines
of varying extent, but within the ravines there are often patches
of alluvial soil of considerable value.

The area of ravines is very great and though much worthless
land has been, and may be, in the future converted into fertile
fields, there undoubtedly remains a large area, which if not abso-
lutely uuculturable, would certainly never repay the cost of cul-
tivation. The worst type of ravine, such as is found along the
Jumna and. in the trans-Ken portions of Pailani, it is probably
impossible to reclaim. All that can be done is to prevent their
extension by embankments at their heads. The less serious
ravines which are found along the smaller rivers, such as the
Bagain and its tributaries, are capable of much more extensive
improvement, aud industrious communities have, by embanking

( 5A )

and terracing, rendered fertile considerable tracts in the southern
part of Baduusa and other tahsils. This system of improvement
needs a considerable amount of labour and capital, and the only
castes that are ready to expend both are Kurmis and Lodhis,
though occasionally Thakurs have shown some energy in this
respect. The lack of population is a serious and standing barrier
to the rapid extension of improvements, and almost the whole
burden falls on the back of petty proprietors. If the experiments
in afforestation now being conducted on similar land near, Kalpi in
Jalaun are successful, and any species of tree is found to grow on
it, the afforestation of the ravine tracts may be of incalculable
value to the district in preventing further erosion, increasing the
supply of fuel, and improving the grazing grounds^for cattle.

Extract from the Agra District Gazetteer of the United Provinces
by H. B. NEVILL, ESQ., c.s. (page 13).

The area returned as barren waste in 1904 was 215,796 acres,
or 18'27 per cent, of the whole district. This, however, included
the area under water, amounting to 28,879 acres and also the
land occupied by sites, roads, and the like. The remainder consists
either of us ir plains, in which the soil is rendered sterile by the
saline efflorescences known as reh, or else of ravines and rocky
hills. The former cover 22,561 acres, nearly half of this being
in the Firozabad tahsil and the greater portion of the remainder in
Itimadpur, especially in the north-east ; while a small proportion
is to be found in each of the three western tahsils. The ravine
tract is naturally largest in Bah, which has a greater extent of
waste than any other tahsil, no less than 35'9 per cent, of its whole
area, and next come Fatehabad, Firozabad, and Itimadpur. Khair-
agarh has a great deal of barren land owing to the presence of the
rocky rangers to the south of the Utangan. The bulk of the land
thus classified as barren is undoubtedly unculturable and correctly
so termed. At the last settlement the amount was somewhat
larger, but the subsequent reduction is necessarily confined to the
area classed as usar, which apparently comprised some land that
was then classified as unfit for cultivation, but which has subse-
quently been brought under the plough. The difference is really
immaterial, for, as will be shown hereafter, there has been con-
comitantly with an extension of cultivation an increase in the old
fallow, a fact which bears testimony to the1 accuracy of the former
demarcation.

APPENDIX II.

Extract from letter no. 39-Cawp, dated the 6th January, 1912,
from P. H. CLUTTERBUCK, ESQ., Conservator oj For sts; East-
ern circle, to Chief Secretary to Government, United Provinces.

NEW FORESTS.

THE existing reserved forests aggregate about 4 per cent, of the
area of the province (I write from memory). The additional reserves
in Kumaun will raise it to 6 or perhaps 7 per cent. This is a very
small area and as the country develops, as industries increase and
the prosperity of the inhabitants improves, the demand for forest
produce, especially small timber, fuel, and grass will become
immense, In my opinion therefore it is extremely important that
every district of the province should be carefully examined in order
to ascertain whether there are any existing forest areas which
could be acquired by purchase, or leased, or given over for syste-
matic management to the department in return for net profits and
what waste areas are available for afforestation. I think that the
importance of having areas to produce small timber, fuel, and
fodder distributed o\ er the provinces of paramount importance.
Every year it will be more difficult to do this and so a beginning
should be made at once.

I would here invite attention to the final paragraph of this
Government's letter no. 527, dated the 29ch November, 1909, to
the Government of ludia, and I advocate that an officer be at once
put on to this work. When his proposals come up it will be time
for a decision to be made as to what future action is required. At
the present moment the Imperial service cadre in these provinces
is temporarily five above strength and so now is the time to devote
an officer to examine and report on each district in consultation
with the District Officer or better still, if District officers could be
asked first what likely areas there are (1) of existing forests and
(2) of waste areas for afforestation ; then the Afforestation officer
could report on details afterwards aud it would be known to which
parts he should direct his attention.

As to the finance of this matter, I think that the Govern-
ment of India should be asked to start loans on this account
in the same way as Joans are taken for irrigation work and that
interest only should be chargeable to the Forest department with
perhaps a small percentage towards a sinking fund for repayment.
This seems to be a simple arrangement and amply justified by the
prospective profits. It was in -fact suggested by Sir James Wilson,

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K. o.s.i., lately Secretary to the Government of India, Revenue
and Agriculture department, in a paper read by him before the
Royal Society of Arts.

I believe that it is essential for the future welfare and progress
of the people of these provinces that some foresight should be used
with regard to the safeguarding of well-distributed areas for pro-
duction of small timber, fuel, and fodder and possibly even for
grazing grounds. I think that in such cases no attempt should
be made to make profits from such areas, but they should be
managed so as to pay their way and the interest and contribution
to the sinking fund for the loan. The necessity of fostering agri-
culture and industries is great now but it will be many times
greater in the future when it may be too late to take the necessary
action. I am sure that a commencement should be made now.

APPENDIX III,

GOVERNMENT, UNITED PROVINCES.

No. 348.

[RESOLUTIONS.]
FOREST DEPARTMENT.
Dated Naini Tal, the %Qth August, 1912.

OBSERVATIONS.— The attention of the Lieutenant-G-overnor has
for some time been directed to the importance for the future
development of the province of a denned policy in the matter of
the preservation of the wooded areas now in existence, the reboise-
men of areas which have been denuded of their trees, and the
establishment throughout the province of well-distributed fuel and
fodder reserves.

2. The important bearing of afforestation on the economic
problems of the country is not a recent discovery. The first
impulse came from Sir Dietrich Brandis, who, in 1873, was already
advocating the establishment of the " agricultural forest " and had
initiated steps towards the realization of this policy in Ajmer-
Merwara. And at the close of his official career it was on his
advice that the Madras Government associated the Forest depart-
ment so closely with the development of agriculture. The impor-
tance of the question was recognized in the report of the Famine
Commissioners of 1880 and in the resolution of the Government
of India of March 1883 dealing with that report, which called
attention to the rapid diminution of grazing-lands and wooded
tracts in the United Provinces and to the damage resulting from
indiscriminate grazing. It was pointed out that thousands of
cattle had been saved by the protected grazing of Banda, and that
thousands had perished in Jhansi for lack of suoh protection.
Enquiries were suggested as to the practicability of the formation
of fodder and fuel reserves. It was ascertained that usar land
was available in abundance and ravine land in considerable quanti-
ties. An outcome of these investigations was the ravine experi-
ments in Etawah and Jhansi and the establishment of canal
plantations at Cawnpore, Agra, Roorkee, and other places in the
province. In Madras the fact that the State is the owner of waste
land and that, owing to the physical character of the country,
cultivated land and forest are brought into more constant and
intimate contact, rendered the policy of summoning forestry to
the aid of agriculture easier of realization.

3. But the value of afforestation as providing fuel and forest
reserves found its clearest and most forcible exposition in the
treatise °f Dr. Voelcker, the Agricultural Chemist deputed in
1890 by the Royal Agricultural Society to report on the possibilities
of improvement in Indian agriculture. The formation of fuel and
fodder reserves is advocated by Dr. Voeloker as by far the most
important of all his recommendations. In one passage he speaks
of this as the " one practical measure which calls for the most
urgent attention and from which the greatest benefits may be
expected to follow." His other recommendations and suggestions
he considered of secondary importance compared with this. He
pointed <>ut that the two great needs of the cultivator are water
and manure. His enquiries showed that the good cultivator will
never burn his manure when he can get wood. The export of both
crops and manure must tend to the eventual deterioration of the
land. The first result of famine is the depletion of the cattle and
the further diminution of the manure available. Manure is as
essential as water as a safeguard against famine. It ought to be
possible by the provision of fuel and fodder reserves to restore the
manure to the land and by a resultant increase in cattle food to
augment the number of cattle, setting free still further supplies of
manure — an endless chain of benefaction. Such a policy would
further tend to check the rising cost of cattle-power, a factor which
at present bids fair to profoundly modify the conditions of agricul-
tural development.

4 . These principles are in their generalized and abstract form in-
disputable ; it is in their application to practice that difficulties arise.
Obstacles to the prosecution of a policy of creating fuel and fodder
reserves present themselves in connection with acquisition of land
and the disinclination of the landholder or the tenant to realize the
benefit of postponing his immediate advantage to the interest of
his posterity. There is a danger that the constitution of forest
reserves may involve the harbouring and multiplication of wild
animals which ravage surrounding cultivation, and a further
obstacle has presented itself in the necessity for replacing the
grazing areas curtailed during the establishment of such afforested
areas. Such restriction is liable, unless alternative grazing areas
are made available, to react unfavourably on cattle-breeding. En-
quiries tended to show that while the cultivator will burn wood
in preference to manure so long as free wood is available, it is very
doubtful if he will do so when the use of wood means an appreciable
sacrifice in money. While admitting the existence of a host of
practical difficulties to be encountered in carrying into effect a
general scheme of reboisement, the Lieutenant-Governor remains

6

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unconvinced that these difficulties are insurmountable, or that they
should deter the Government from attacking the problem or from
making a survey of the possibilities of an advance along the lines
of least resistance. There are many areas of waste land in the
province where the establishment of forests cannot affect the
interests of high farming or cattle-breeding, and where the main
result of such establishment would be to transform tracts which
are barren and useless into productive and protective ones.

5. Apart from the direct benefits conferred by wooded areas
in the provision of fodder and fuel, their general effects on the
countryside cannot be ignored. Although data are not yet available
in India whence it can be demonstrated that forests increase the
total rainfall, it would appear probable from the investigations
undertaken in those countries where trie effects of forests have
long been observed that they do so operate. It is beyond question
that by the diffusion of cooled air they induce a more evenly-
distributed and extended precipitation and mitigate the severity of
the climate. Their influence on the water-supply of a tract
is equally important. The forests regulate the water in the soil
and the moisture in the air by retarding evaporation and by retain-
ing rain in the vegetation and subsoil to find its way without
erosion into the nearest stream. They accordingly improve the
irrigation of a tract by causing an equable flow in rivers and water
courses and by preventing floods which may devastate cultivation
and which rob the country of valuable soil.

6. There are undoubtedly considerable expanses of land now
yielding a bare sustenance to a few cattle which might be
transformed into valuable reserves ; and it would perhaps not stretch
the imagination unduly to conceive a future in which enlightened
local bodies should undertake the establishment of such plantations
and from them derive and diffuse much benefit. There are in
Europe towns and villages which not only draw from their commu-
nal forests a revenue sufficient to cover all rates and taxes, but
obtain a surplus for division among their inhabitants. It is not
impossible that afforestation may prove the most practicable method
of restoring fertility to an exhausted soil, and that the agricultural
future of the plains may lie in their approach to an ultimate ideal of
the rotation of forest and cultivation.

7. The plantations may often have a direct commercial value
distinct from the normal income accruing from the sale of wood
and fodder. The Fisher forest at Etawah is an instance in point,
and forms an excellent example of the successful and profitable
conversion of barren ravine land into a plantation, valuable alike
to its owners and to the town it adjoins. In 1884 Mr. Fisher,
then Collector of Etawah, arranged with nineteen zaurindars for

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the reclamation as a fuel and fodder reserve of a tract of nearly
3,000 acres close to the town ; of this tract six-sevenths consisted
of barren^ waste largely intersected by ravines. The proprietors
were to provide funds for enclosure, the management was to remain
in the hands of the Collector and the profits accruing from the
sale of grass and fuel were to be distributed pro rata among the
co-sharers. Grazing was to be excluded, trees, and in particular
the babul, to be sown and embankments to be thrown across the
ravines. The cost of fencing, plantation and sowing was about
Es. 1,100 and was paid by the zainindars. The Collector spent
Es. 675 in raising embankments. Up to the year 1892 the average
annual income from the plantation was Es. 650. By that year
all expenses had been paid off and the zamindars had received
Es. 275 in profits. The timber was then, tnough very young,
already worth more than Es. 1,000, and the lease for the cutting
of grass and collection of dry wood sold for Es. 900 yearly. It had
not then become possible to allow grazing. In 1902 the zamindars,
with the Collector's consent, leased the forest to Messrs. Cooper,
Allen and Co., for fifty years at a yearly rental of Es. 1,416
and a cash payment for fixtures of Es. 5,000. Under the terms
of the lease a third of the area was to remain open for grazing.
This instructive and successful experiment thus passed out of the
hands of the local authorities and landholders, who have no longer
a direct interest in its success. It has since been exploited by
Messrs. Copper, Allen and Co., for the extraction of babul bark
for tanning purposes. It still, however, provides grazing and
cheap fuel to the town of Etawah and is said to have mitigated the
severity of its climate.

8. With a similarly dual object, agricultural and economical,
the Lieutenaut-Goveruor has recently devoted Es. 70,000 to the
acquisition of babul-growing areas in the Hamirpur district.
These plantations are intended, on the one hand, to preserve and
make available to the tanning industry the supplies of babul bark
essential to its existence and incidentally to derive from that
industry an adequate income, and on the other hand to serve the
interests of the land itself by preventing denudation and erosion,
by arresting the cutting-back of ravines and by providing reserves
of fodder and fuel. There is so much good land for babul planta-
tions in the Hamirpur district outside the ravine area th^t it has
been determined to postpone extension of this process to the ravine
land of that district till funds are available and till the Kalpi
experiment has given more definite results.

9. The Kilpi enterprise also owes its inception to the anxiety
awakened in the tanning industry by the prospect of diminishing

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supplies and rising prices in the case of babul bark. In 1901,
at the instance of the Army department and in the interests of
the Government Harness and Saddlery Factory, -Mr. Hobart
Hampden, Deputy Conservator of Forests, was deputed to investi-
gate the problem of growing the babul for the sake of its bark.
His report, while accepting the conclusion reached by the pro-
vincial agricultural department as to the impracticability of babul-
growing in usar land, advocated experiments in ravine land and
outlined an extensive scheme. In 1904 it was decided by the
Army department to initiate an experiment near Kalpi under the
superintendence of the Forest department. Bight hundred and
seven acres of ravine land were taken up, ravines were dammed
and babul sown. A recent inspection has shown that the early
sowings have established themselves, the later sowings promise
well, there is a vigorous crop of young plants from one to eight
years old, and the whole area will in another year be fully stocked.
The plantation should be ready for felling by 1920 at the latest,
when about 10,000 trees should be yearly available. It is antici-
pated that the experiment may prove financially self-supporting,
but in this connection it must be recognized that the Kalpi under-
taking was a pure experiment and lacked the guidance of previous
results, and also that its object was the production of babul bark,
and not the afforestation of ravines, for which purpose there are
other species besides the babul whose propagation presents less
difficulty. The sowings had also to contend, in the frost of
1905 and the droughts of 1906 and 1907, with seasons abnormally
unpropitious.

The experiment has in any case been valuable in indications,
which will save future expense, aud the Lieutenant-Governor is
assured that it goes far towards proving that the afforestation
of ravines is quite practicable and in all probability remunerative.

10. A most interesting experiment has also been undertaken at
Thapal in the Saharanpur district by an enlightened landholder, Rai
Manohar Lai Bahadur. His estate of 771 acres is situated in the
Saharanpur district near the foot of the Siwalik hills, and only
about a mile from the reserved forests. It contains 103 acres
of cultivation and about an equal amount of waste land, the
remaining area being covered by poor miscellaneous forest. The soil
outside- the cultivated area is exceedingly poor, and would have been
of little value to the owner had he not adopted the wise plan of care-
fully preserving and fostering the existing growth and making plart-
ations where no such growth existed. Prior to 1892 no attention
was paid to the forest area. From 1892 to 1901 only very limited
protection was extended to it, aud no definite method of treatment

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had been decided on. In 1901 advice was obtained from the Forest
department, and the miscellaneous forest area has since then been
protected from browsing animals and has been worked under the
system of coppice with standards, and large blanks of waste land
have been planted with bamboos, shisham, eucalyptus and other
trees. Altogether between 1901 and 1907 an area of about 73 acres
was successfully brought under shisham. In 1908, at the request
of the owner, the Forest department drew up a working plan for the
estate, and this is of particular interest as being the first attempt
in these provinces to systematize the working of a private forest.
The working plan estimated that after eight or ten years the aver-
age annual receipts would amount to Rs. 5,650 and expenditure to
Rs. 3,250, or an average surplus of Us. 2,400, and this forecast seems
to be in a fair way to fulfilment. During the six years previous to
the introduction of the working plan the annual expenditure (in-
curred chiefly on planting work) had exceeded the revenue. This
shows that the proprietor fully realized from the first that, in order
eventually to realize 'the maximum interest on his waste land, he
must first create his forest capital. The resulting young forest is
now in a flourishing condition and is under the supervision of a
trained staff consisting of a deputy ranger and two guards. The
owner will now have the satisfaction of reaping substantial returns
from areas which would otherwise have remained unproductive
waste.

11. The Forest department in the initial stages of its develop-
ment was primarily a commercial department and concerned with the
production of large timber ; its interests were inevitably antagonistic
to agriculture in that intense management demanded the exclusion
of cattle-grazing. But since the time of Sir Dietrich Brandis it has
been recognized with increasing clearness that forestry has a
vocation no less important as the handmaid of agriculture, and that
she is called to come down from the hills. Big timber need not,
as Sir Dietrich Brandis urged in 1883, be the only or even the
main object of a forester's existence. Among the peasants' greatest
needs are firewood to replace manure, small timber for houses and
wood for implements as well as grazing or fodder for his cattle.
There is therefore a place for a branch of forestry in which these
commodities, regarded by the commercial forester as accessories,
become the main considerations of his craft.

The Tikri forest in Gonda affords an example of the successful
administration of such an area worked almost entirely for the
production of fuel, both as a revenue-earning undertaking and as
a valuable factor in the economy of a district. This forest now
constitutes the only extensive wooded tract in a large area of high

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cultivation ; it oame under management in 1879-80. In the twelve
years succeeding its reservation, the total expenditure on the forest
amounted to Rs. 26,750 and profits to Rs. 26,900— a ratio of over
100 per cent, expenditure. In the ten years from 1891 to 1901 the
gross income of the forest was Rs. 1,22,600, the gross expenditure
Rs. 68,000, and profits Rs. 54,600, or about 80 per cent, on the
expenditure. The average yearly profits were Rs. 4,360. Since
then profits have risen substantially, reaching in the year 1902 the
large figure of Rs. 17,260, while working expenses have averaged
about Rs. 4,000. The produce of the forest is almost entirely fuel
and grass, the former being bought in considerable quantities by
the railway. In 1902, at the time of settlement, the Government
received information that the ravages of wild animals and cattle
harboured in the Tikri forest had effected a material detrioration in
surrounding cultivation, and the local authorities were asked to
consider the desirability of disforestation. The settlement officer
urged that, while it was a fact that deterioration had occurred from
this cause and from the effects of the forest oh drinking water, the
value of the forest as a grazing reserve and fuel producer was so
great as to render its abandonment a step of doubtful wisdom. He
pointed out that wood for fuel, implements and house-building was
25 per cent, cheaper in Gonda than in the trans-Gogra districts,
and that this price could not be maintained if wood had to be
brought from submontane tracts ; he suggested that deterioration
could be largely arrested by the organized destruction of wild
animals, and urged that forests standing in a highly cultivated area
required different treatment in this respect to forest surrounded by
wild tracts. He admitted that some direct ad vantage to the revenue
would result from the forest being brought under cultivation, esti-
mating that in twenty-five years the revenue assessed would amount
to Rs. 10,620. Systematic action was taken to reduce the wild
cattle and other animals harboured, the deterioration in surrounding
cultivation complained of seems to have disappeared, and the idea
of disforestation has been abandoned. A further examination of the
financial aspect of the matter produced a forecast from the divi-
sional forest officer which would show that in twenty-five years the
revenue accruing from the forest will amount to over Rs. 20,000, a
sum about double that anticipated from assessment to land revenue.

An extension of agricultural forestry on these lines might go far
to remove the distrust of the department which has prevailed
among the cultivating population by the addition of a visible policy
of giving to the inevitable policy of taking away.

12. Such a development has, the Lieutenaut-Governor recog-
nizes, been hitherto impracticable, owing to the inadequacy of the

existing staff, an increase in which had to be justified by pointing to
an increase in revenue, and owing to their necessary concentration on
the settling and management of the extensive reserved forests of the
province. Sir John Hewett is, however, convinced that a stage
has now been reached in the economic development of the province
when systematic examination of the possibilities of afforestation
is imperative. The fuel and fodder reserves at present in existence
constitute an insignificant proportion of the provincial area. The
whole area of reserved forest is at present about 4 per cent, of the
total area ; the addition of the Kumaun " protected " forests will
raise the proportion to 6 or 7 per cent. Of this reserve much
is necessarily not available for fodder or fuel. It is, moreover,
largely concentrated in certain areas, and extensive tracts are
situated at such a distance from the forests that the latter cannot
serve as fuel or fodder reserves of them. With the agricultural
and industrial development of the province a rapidly expanding
demand for forest produce, and in particular for fuel , small timber
and grass, must be anticipated. For the future economic progress
of the people the Lieutenant-Governor believes it essential that
action should be undertaken to provide well-distributed areas for
the production of these commodities. Such action will prove
increasingly difficult to initiate as agriculture and industries
expand. Systematic action is at the present juncture even
more urgently, demanded to prevent the progressive reduction of
the restricted area remaining under forest — a process which with-
out State interference must operate with increasing rapidity. The
disappearance even of private forests threatens to jeopardize the
existence of the reserved forests since it tends to throw upon the
latter a burden in providing grazing which they cannot hope to
support. Moreover, the increasing pressure of population and
cultivation upon existing reserves bids fair at no distant date to
react with destructive effect on the cattle-supply of the province
and, through the cattle, directly on its general agricultural pros-
perity. It involves, moreover, a disastrous rise in the price of
timber such as is at 'the present moment apprehended in Europe,
an apprehension which has in England lent stimulus to a national
afforestation movement. In view of the demonstrable contraction
of fuel supplies in the plains of the province and with the expe-
rience of the Punjab before him, Sir John Hewett regards the
need for definite action as imperative.

13. Afforestation is, however, a branch of forestry which differs
widely from the management of existing forests, and it is a branch
in which the officers of the Forest department have as yet had
little experience. The Lieutenant-Governor therefore considers

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it essential that, before a definite scheme of afforestation is em-
barked on, a systematic survey of the available area should be
undertaken and that this survey should be combined with a series
of experiments on various classes of waste land with a view to
determining the best methods of dealing with different soils, the
species best adapted to various conditions and the cheapest and
most efficient methods of propagation. It will not always be
necessary to contemplate acquisition. It may prove possible
to arrange with owners or communities that they should allow
Government to afforest their land in return for profits or a portion
of profits.

The policy thus adumbrated may eventually necessitate the
creation of an afforestation branch of the department, but the
Lieutenant-Governor wishes it to be clearly understood that, even
with such a development, the rdle of the department is not to
manage the forests which local bodies or zamindars might establish,
but to advise the owners in the methods of management, and to
give them any assistance, which they might ask. For the purposes
of the present survey His Honour considers that the deputation of a
single imperial officer with a small staff will meet the situation. The
Lieutenant-Governor has decided to depute Mr. E. A. Courthope,
Deputy Conservator, to the work. Mr. Courthope has (under
the . advice of the Director of Indian Forest Studies and of
Sir William Schlich) undertaken a two-months' tour in Europe
with a view to studying examples of afforestation practice. Sir
John Hewett regards his appointment as the first step in an under-
taking which may prove of incalculable advantage to the province.

APPENDIX IV.

Report on the ravine land oj the Etawah district, with certain

proposals for the improvement of the pasture, by MB. E. A.

COUBTHOPE, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Afforestation

division, dated the 30th April, 1913, with letter of the Collector

of Etawah on the subject.

IN resolution no. 348, dated the 26th August, 1912, it is stated
that the attention of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor has been
directed to the importance of the future development of a defined
policy in the matter of the preservation of the existing forests of
the province, and of the • re-aSorestation of denuded areas, and
of the establishment of fuel and fodder reserves throughout the
province. The resolution admits the incontrovertibility of Dr.
Voelcker's arguments in favour of formation of fuel and fodder
reserves, and the truth of his statements that this is " the
one practical measure which calls for the most urgent attention
and from which the greatest benefits may be expected to
follow " ; but goes on to point out that there are certain inherent
difficulties which render it in this province a more difficult
matter than in Madras where the State owns all waste land, to
summon forestry to the aid of agriculture. On the other hand,
it is stated that Sir John Hewett was not convinced that these
difficulties were in any way insuperable, and the resolution concludes
by suggesting the possibility of establishing an agricultural branch
of forestry in the province.

As a result of this resolution I was deputed on my return from
leave early in December, 1912, to make a preliminary survey of
the waste land of the province, and in due course I shall submit
a report on my observations and conclusions. During the progress
of my tour I received instructions from the Conservator of Forests,
Eastern circle, to inspect and report on a block of 3,000 acres of
ravine land, the acquisition of which was contemplated in the
Etawah district, a district which I should in any case have visited
later on in the season.

In consultation with the Collector of the district, Mr. H R.
Nevill, I decided that it would be useless and most unwise to
acquire tnis block, as it was too small to demonstrate practically
and economically the advantages conferred on a district by the
proper management of such waste areas, while, in the Collector's
opinion, the acquisition of selected blocks from certain villages
would inevitably cause jealousy and bad feeling among the land-
holders. In this opinion the Conservator fully concurred

7

( ISA )

On the other hand, I was so impressed with the unique oppor-
tunity presented by the Etawah district, of carrying out the policy
outlined in the resolution, that I have obtained permission from
the Conservator of Forests, Eastern circle, to submit a special
report on the advisability of acquiring practically all the ravine
land of the Etawah district in place of the report originally called
for by him, and in anticipation of my annual report I may add that
the ravines of the Etawah district are mentioned in a note written
by Mr. ' W. H. Moreland, U.S.T., C.I.B., late Director of Agricul-
ture, as being suitable ground for afforestation purposes.

In paragraph 12 of the resolution it is stated that the " fuel and
fodder reserves at present in existence constitute an insignificant
proportion of the provincial area ... of this reserve much is
necessarily not available for fodder or fuel purposes. It is more-
over, largely concentrated in certain areas, and extensive tracts
are situated at such a distance from the forests that the latter
cannot serve as fuel or fodder reserves for them. With the agri-
cultural and industrial development of the province a rapidly
expanding demand for forest produce, and in particular for fuel,
small timber and grass must be anticipated . . . Moreover, the
increasing pressure of population and cultivation bids fair at no dis-
tant date to react with destructive effect on the cattle supply of the
province and through the cattle, directly on its general agricultural
prosperity . . . Sir John Hewett regards the needs for definite
action as imperative. *' I have quoted the above passages from the
resolution, because they seem to me to apply with particular force
to the Etawah district.

A reference to the gazetteer shows that the total area of the
district is 1, 082,4-13 acres. Of this area 368,674 acres are shown
as uncultivated waste land, 171,943 acres being usar and 130,147
acres ravine jungle.

The figures given in the gazetteer are taken from the survey of
1872. Since this date there has been a considerable reclamation
of usar, and to a less extent of the ravine belt along the edge of
the cultivation, but a comparison of the old and the new maps
shows that such gain is more than counterbalanced by the loss
of cultivation caused by the inland extension of the ravines, which
in some localities has been alarmingly rapid.

The northern half of the district consists either of usar inters-
persed with patches of cultivation or of cultivated land with very
numerous patches of usar.

The southern half of the district is mostly ravine land with
strips of unbroken cultivated land. This part of the district is
intersected by the Sengar. Jumna, and Chambal rivers, The Sengar

( 19A )

river is a small stream of little importance. On either side of it
there is a narrow strip of ravine land, the total area of which
amounts to about 10,000 acres.

Along each bank of the Jumna and Chambal rivers there is a
very narrow bit of low alluvium, in which the cultivation is of a
very high order. The upland, scoured by innumerable ravines, rises
sharply from these belts to a height which ranges from 15 to 150
feet above the river. These ravines extend inland for distance
which varies from a few furlongs to a few miles, leaving an ever-
narrowing strip of unbroken and cultivated land between the
Chambal and Jumna and again between the Jumna and Sengar
rivers.

As will be seen from the maps attached, the ravines of the
Jumna and Chambal rivers form a practically compact mass, the
extreme length of which is seventy mrles and the width of which
is about thirteen miles in the centre. The actual area of the ravines
in this tract is about 120,000 acres.

The population of this tract consists for the most part ef Tha-
kurs, a well-bred but impoverished race, heavily burdened with
debt, who depend for their livelihood on cattle-breeding and the
glii industry, and to some extent on foreign service. In their
villages even the supply of drinking water is inadequate, while irri-
gation for their fields is impossible. In years of drought they
derive nothing from their cultivation, and in places the very
absence of water for drinking forces them to migrate. Depending
as they do on their cattle the question of fodder is at all times of
vital importance to these people. It is impossible to state defi-
nitely how many cattle are now being grazed on the 120,000 aorea,
but the Collector estimates the figures at not less than 200,000.
Inspection of many parts of the ravine tract compelled me to
wonder where grass for such a number of animals could be found
on the ravines in their present condition. Close examination of
the apparently bare slopes and ravine banks reveals the fact that
there are plenty of grass roots in the ground and that the ravines
are therefore capable of producing, under proper management, an
excellent crop of fodder ; but this crop is so regularly grazed down
from year's end to year's end by an excessive number of cattle that
it gets no chance of developing itself or increasing in quantity.
The Collector informs me that the cattle are deteriorating, and
that the want of good fodder renders it impossible for the Thakurs
to breed bullocks fit for agricultural purposes or to expand the
ghi industry. Further, he states that a cycle of bad years results
in the disappearance of a great number of the animals. This is
not to be wondered at, in that nob only is. there barely sufficient

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grazing to keep the animals alive now, but there is no reserve of out
grass fodder whatsoever.

The whole of the ravine country is sparsely covered with a low
scrub, consisting mainly of karil. The tree-growth is very un-
even. In the parts most remote from villages there is often a fair
covering of miscellaneous trees, in a few places the growth was
noticed to be remarkably good but elsewhere nothing is to be seen
except scattered babul, cheonkar, rionja, and nim trees, and even
these are generally lopped. Along the bottoms of the ravines good
- sissoo is occasionally found. Eeproduction is almost non-existent,
trees getting but little opportunity to produce seed owing to the
ruthless lopping which is carried on by herdsmen, while such seed-
lings as spring up here and there are regularly year by year tramp-
led down and browsed over by buffaloes and goats. As has already
been mentioned, there is- plenty of grass on the ground if it were
allowed to grow. The quantity and quality vary from place to place
but it is most noticeable that there is more and better grass where
there is a light covering of trees than where the ravines are wholly
bare.

The ravines are the property of zamindars. No grazing fees
are levied from the tenants directly, but permission to graze is
utilized as lever for raising rents. Occasionally fees are levied
from owners of cattle sending their animals from " foreign" villages,
as, for instance, in the ravine south of Auraiya, where inhabited
sites are few and the demand for grazing rights by resident tenants
is not so heavy.

No attempt is made by the zamindars or by the graziers them-
selves to control or regulate the gazing or to preserve the fodder;
there is no restriction within the village boundaries on the number
of cattle which may graze in any area.

No attempt is made by most zamindars to promote tree-growth ;
villagers may lop trees as they please, and may fell them after
obtaining the formal consent of zamindars, which is rarely withheld.

There is little, if any, export of timber, firewood or charcoal,
even into the city of Etawah, which has in consequence to obtain
its supply at almost prohibitive rates from a great distance- ^t
present there is no great demand for firewood outside the city and
larger towns, as the people prefer using their cowdung as fuel to
picking up the very scarce fallen wood or going to considerable
distances to out dry trees.

The above depressing state of affairs may be briefly summa-
rized as follows : —

The Etawah district contains a relatively greater proportion of
waste land than any other in the plains of this province and yet

( 21A )

*_

possesses no fuel or fodder reserve. The district has a smaller
cultivated area than most plains districts, and development is
checked by the encroachment of the ravines.

A great part of the population depends for its livelihood on its
cattle and has not, under present conditions, sufficient fodder to
enable it to produce good cattle, much less to expand the glii indus-
try, of which the district is a centre. Yet the district contains at
least 120,000 acres of good ravine land capable of producing a large
crop of excellent cut fodder and of affording excellent pasture to the
present number of cattle or even to a large number of a superior
breed. In spite of its vast area of uncultivated land the district does
not produce a sufficient quantity of fuel or timber for the needs of the
inhabitants. The unirrigated part of the district suffers from a
serious lack of water and especially of tanks for watering cattle.

I have said that the statements made in paragraph 12 of the
resolution of the Local Government appear to be peculiarly applica-
ble to the Etawah district. The .same resolution has suggested
an agricultural branch of the Forest department as a remedy for
the present unsatisfactory state of affairs. It will be well there-
fore to discuss generally the ways in which such a branch of
forestry may be useful.

Obviously by sowing and planting trees it will be possible, in
the course of time, to supply the district with timber and fuel. Dr.
Voelcker considers that the supply of a sufficient quantity of fuel is
the most important agricultural problem to be solved. He shows
that by this means the cowdung, now used in enormous quantities
as fuel, will be set free for its proper use as manure ; that the treat-
ment of the fields, with manure will result in more cattle fodder,
which will result in an increase of cattle and consequently in an
increase of manure. But there are other ways, less obvious
perhaps, in which afforestation of bare grazing land is useful, I
nave not had an opportunity of discussing this matter with the
Director of Agriculture, but a conversation with the Deputy
Director confirmed my impressions as to the importance of shade for
the cattle. He told me that he thought that the apathy displayed
by the people of Bundelkhand towards the improvement of their
stock was in a large measure due to the fact that they had nowhere
to take their cattle during .the scorching months of April, May, and
June. He believes that if there were forests in which the cattle
could find fodder and shade, their condition would be much im-
proved. The same argument applies to the bare ravines of the
Etawah district.

Moreover, there can be no doubt at all that the existence of a
light tree-growth improves the growth and quality of the grass.

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•

Again, the afforestation of the ravines would undoubtedly check
erosion and retard or prevent altogether the inland extension of
the ravines. Further, the usual methods adopted for the afforesta-
tion of such places, namely, the erection of numerous small dams,
will result in the retention of water and the formation of water
tanks which are so urgently required for the cattle.

But although the afforestation of the ravines would be the
most obvious duty of an agricultural branch of the Forest depart-
ment, this would be by no means its only or even its most import-
ant duty, at any rate at the beginning. The first duty of an agri-
cultural forest officer in Etawah would be to improve the growth
of the grass itself, with a view to the supply of out-fodder and
the improvement of the pasture. How this can be done will be
shown in a later paragraph. The improvement of the fodder must
result in an improved breed of cattle. The Deputy Director has
described the supply of good fodder as being the root of the whole
question oi cattle-breeding. At present weak, under-fed cattle
breed with their like and produce even weaker calves, which are
starved and neglected and grow into undersized and useless
animals.

As I have summarized the present evil state of affairs in the
Etawah district, I will also briefly recapitulate the benefits which
an agricultural branch of forestry can confer on the population : —

(1) A plentiful supply of wood fuel releasing the cowdung for

the fields.

(2) As a result more cattle fodder from the fields.

(3) Consequently better cattle, more ghi, better cultivation,

greater profits from cattle-breeding, more general pros-
perity.

(4) Improved pasture and a plentiful supply of out-fodder,

bringing the same general increase of prosperity through
the cattle.

(5) Improved conditions of grazing resulting from the] supply

of shade : this will result in less mortality among the
cattle.

(6) Increased water-supply from the formation of numerous

small tanks.

(7) Cheap supply of building timber.

(8) The employment of a large number of villagers as foresb

guards, patrols, etc., and a general inorease in the

demand for casual labour.

It needs no argument to prove that such achievements must
conduce greatly .to the increase in the general prosperity of the
district.

( 23A )

It now only remains to make definite recommendations for
the consideration of the Local Government. The Collector has as-
sured me that there is not the slightest hope of securing any im-
provement in the existing state of affairs by private agency. It may
be mentioned here that the management by private agency of the
Fisher forest, which is said to have been in a most flourishing
condition, has resulted disastrously. The zamindars of the district
will not incur any expenditure or forego any present advantages
for the sake of future improvement. The undertaking is beyond
the scope of the District Board or the Court of Wards, but is
essentially one to be handled by the Forest department. It is
imperative to make the zamindars and cultivators understand that
the scheme is intimately connected with the improvement of
agriculture and amelioration of a highly precarious tract, and every
effort should be made to secure their co-operation in the execution
of the project ; but I am convinced that success can only be achieved
by the acquisition by Government of the whole of the ravine tract
of the district with, perhaps, the exception of the narrow strip of
ravines along the Sengar river, which are situated at some distance
from the main mass and are of somewhat different character. In
my opinion it would be unwise to take up anything less than the
whole tract. In a matter of this magnitude, which embodies a
general scheme of policy, it is most desirable that there should
be uniformity by treatment. Moreover, it is only by treating the
whole tract at one time that it will be possible to demonstrate
thoroughly and at the same time economically the benefits that will
result from the scheme.

The initial cost of acquisition would not be great- The intrin-
sic value of ravine land cannot be more than Ke. 1 per acre
plus the value of the very sparse tree-growth. At an outside figure
the value of the best ravine land would not exceed Rs. 5 per acre,
and since by far the greater portion of the tract is absolutely devoid
of tree-growth it will be perfectly safe to assume that the cost
will not exceed Rs. 2,50,000, while it is probable that after demar-
cation of the area it will prove to be even less.

I would strongly urge then the advisability of the acquisition
by Government of the whole of this ravine tract and the forma-
tion of a forest division, and, though, of course, it is not yet
possible to work out detailed plan of management, I think it may
be as well to roughly outline a scheme in case the Local Govern-
ment may agree to rny recommendation.

It has already been suggested that the first duty of the forest
officer in charge of the proposed division will be to improve the
growth of grass and in any plan for the working of the division,

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the question of grazing must be looked upon as of paramount
importance. I would recommend therefore that at the very start
the tract should be divided up into grazing blocks with a view to
giving each village or group of villages equal grazing facilities,
and that these blocks should be treated as units of management.

The one great objection to forest management in the eyes of
the villagers is the imposition of restriction on grazing. It must
be obvious, however, that without some restriction and control no
improvement can be effected. It must be our task to make such
restriction as light as is consistent with success. The whole area
has been grazed over from year's end to year's end for a very long
period, with the result that the grass has lost its vitality and
cannot thicken. The result of closure to grazing is most
evident in the ravines of the Kalpi reserve in the Jalaun district.
This area is surrounded by ravines quite as bare as those of
Etawah, but inside the fence there is a thick covering of grass,
which has been sold at 8 annas per acre. After it is cut, there is
grazing for a considerable herd of cattle, although, as a matter of
fact, up to the present time no grazing has been permitted. The
same result may be seen anywhere where grazing is regulated.

I would suggest therefore that one-fourth of each grazing block
should- be closed in rotation to grazing for a period of three or
more years, in order to allow the grass to recover its vitality and
to thicken. The duration of this period must depend on results,
but I believe that three years will be sufficient. In that case,
at the end of twelve years, there should be a material improve-
ment over the whole area. It must, of course, be admitted that
for this period the cattle will be confined to three-fourths of the
present area. Provided the first three years are good years (in a
bad year, of course, the closure, must be abandoned) I do not
think it will entail any serious hardship, and such as there may
be will be mitigated by the supply of cut-fodder which will be
available. After the first three years I contend that, although
the area open to grazing will still be less than at present, the
improved pasture on the quarter just thrown open will fully com-
pensate for the difference. At the end of nine years the grazing
on the improved three-fourths of the area should afford far more
pasture than the whole of the present area. At first, I contemplated
the charging of small grazing dues from the start with a view to
bringing in some slight return from the outlay incurred by the
Government. The Collector, however, was of opinion that the
villagers would resent having to pay dues for the same poor grazing
that they now get free. He suggested that grazing should be
allowed free on unimproved areas, and he believes that there will

( 25A )

be keen competition among the cattle-owners to graze their cattle,
on payment of dues in the improved areas as they are thrown
open. I think this is a very reasonable proposal. For the first
three years all grazing would be free. In the second period half of
the area would be open for free grazing and one-fourth would be
available for the restricted number of cattle belonging to owners
ready to pay the dues. After six years one-fourth of the area will
be open to free grazing, and only half will be open to grazing on the
payment of dues. After nine years there will be no free grazing at
all, but by that time the graziers will have realized the advantages
conferred upon them.

la view of the urgent need of cut-fodder in the district as a
reserve against bad years I would also recommend the additional
closure of a second quarter of each grazing block for four months
from July to October, during which season the remaining half of
the area should afford ample grazing for the cattle of each village.
The grass would be out in October and the area would again be
open to grazing in November. Not only will this measure ensure
a large supply of cut-fodder, but it will also improve the grass for
grazing purposes. The importance of this can hardly be exagge-
rated. In the last fodder famine thousands of tons of grass were
cut in March and April ; much of this proved useless except as litter,
because it was cut at the wrong time of year. Even in good years
there is always a demand for cut-fodder in the hot season, so that
it is not necessary to wait until famine has established itself to lay
in a stock of cut-fodder.

So far I have discussed only the measures necessary for the
improvement of the grass on the ravines, which, I repeat, is the
most important objective. Tbe restrictions which I have proposed
are not, I think, such as to cause much discontent, while I am
convinced that they will result in very material improvement to
the pasture. It must not be forgotten, however, that we have other
objectives, such as the supply of fuel and timber for the district.
Afforestation on a large scale would necessitate the closure of a
larger area than is advisable at present, in view of the poor charac-
ter of the grazing. If t he grass were as thick and abundant now,
as it would be in due course if properly preserved, I should have no
hesitation in recommending the establishment of large regular
plantations; for I have absolutely no doubt at all as to the capa-
city of the ravines for growing forests or as to the feasibility of
their establishment. But things being as they are, I would not
recommend afforesiation ou a large scale for the first twelve years.
On the other hand, I think a beginning should be made.

The mere protection of tree-growth in the closed quarter of each

8

( 26A )

grazing block is likely to effect an enormous improvement, by
allowing young seedlings at present browsed down by goats year
after year to assert themselves, and by allowing lopped trees to
resume their development. This natural improvement, moreover,
will indicate the most favourable lines of special development in
the future. But rather more than this is necessary. I would
reoommeud that in each grazing unit general improvements should
be undertaken in the closed quarter. Dams should be thrown up
and seed sown ; seed will be sown broadcast in favourable places ;
soil will be wounded round trees, and so on. Much of the work, no
doubt, will be destroyed when the area is thrown open, but some will
escape, and this alone will be worth the small expense incurred.
At the same time, however, some regular plantation work would
be necessary. This would be mostly on the experimental lines,
so as to ascertain the species most suitable for the locality, and
the best and the most economical methods of establishing planta-
tions of these species. I would recommend the closure of quite
small areas for this purpose. These would, of course, be kept closed
to grazing until such time as the trees are immune from damage
by cattle. This period would vary with different species, but it
would be safest to assume, to begin with, that these small areas
would remain closed for the first twelve years. As, however, I do
not anticipate that the whole area so closed could amount to
more than 8,000 acres in this period, the fact of the closure need
not be considered as inflicting any hardship on the graziers.

It is recognized that the closure of a proportion of the area to
grazing may lead to the increase of destructive animals, such as
pigs. It would be necessary to take steps from the very start to
keep these down or even to exterminate them from the forest.

I do not propose to attempt in this report any financial forecast.
The undertaking should not at the outset have as its objective
the realization of a substantial revenue. The grazing alone would
yield a satisfactory return is more than probable ; but the estab-
lishment of the first agricultural forest division would necessarily
be in some measure experimental. I would only say that I am
convinced that not only will Government be conferring an immense
favour upon the population of the district, but that eventually it
will not be a loser by its beneficial policy.

No. 1976, dated Etawah, the 7th May, 1913.
From— H. K. NEVILL, ESQ., Collector of Etawah,
To— B. A. COUBTHOPE, ESQ., Deputy Conservator of Forests,
' Afforestation division, Eastern circle, United Provinces.

SIB,— I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your

( 2?A )

no. 39, dated the 30th April, 1913, enclosing the draft of your
report to the Conservator of Forests on the strbject of the possible
afforestation of the ravines in this district.

The question is mainly one of general agricultural and finan-
cial policy on which I am not competent to offer any opinion.
Were the Government to decide on the acquisition of all waste
land in the ravine tract and the subsequent exploitation of that
tract as a grazing ground, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion
that the venture would be not only beneficial to the people, but
also profitable to the State. The scheme involves a wholesale
application of the Land Acquisition Act and a consequently large
initial outlay. While I believe that the measure would be not
unpopular even at the outset and that the interest on the capital
expended would be highly satisfactory with the scheme in full
working order, it would be idle and presumptuous for me to make
any specific recommendation as to the direction of the forest
policy to be followed by the Local Government.

As to the various points dealt with in the report, I would offer
tbe following remarks : —

1. The actual area of ravine land along the course of the
Jumna, Chambal, and Kuari rivers in this district cannot be stated
with any approximation to accuracy without a detailed investiga-
tion of the records in each village. In the event of acquisition it
would be imperative to demarcate not only the unoulturable ravine
area, but also the unreserved area immediately adjoining the sites
of such villages as are situated in the ravines. In such cases it
would be obviously impossible to preserve the grazing up to the
walls of the houses, and it would be necessary to leave untouched a
definite curtilage of considerable area, demarcated, if possible, by
natural features. Even with deductions on the most generous
scale, the area left could not be less than 100,000 acres, and would
in all probability be more extensive.

2. I have not the slightest doubt that the whole of this area
would, under a system of protection, yield a good growth of grass.
The quality of the grazing would doubtless vary greatly. In the
beginning the lower levels would improve far more rapidly than
the dry and overdrained summits of the ravines where trees and
scrub are generally non-existent and the grass has no shade at any
hour of the day. That trees of useful species will grow everywhere
needs no demonstration, and in my opinion it may be taken as an
axiom that once tree-growth has been established a heavy crop of
grass will be obtained. In the more remote portions of the tract
the vegetation in the shape of both grass and trees is most remark,
able, and I see no reason why the whole of the area should not

( 28A )

i

become at least the equal of the best portions of the present time.
It should be borne in mind, however, that development would be
uneven, and this unevenness would affect whole grazing blocks of
the type suggested. The proposed scheme of conservation conse-
quently would require individual treatment in the matter of
temporary closure.

3. It would be necessary to insist firmly on the principle of
free grazing in unimproved areas. I willingly concede that the
graziers would pay without demur light fees for the privilege of
pasturing their cattle in the improved sections ; but even though
the land should be recognized as having been fairly purchased by
the State, the villagers would feel aggrieved at having to pay for
the same quality of grazing as they had hitherto obtained free
from time immemorial. That they would gladly pay the light
fees suggested for good grazing appears certain. Jn the reserve
known as the Fisher forest, where the grazing is of the poorest
description, herdsmen consider it worth while to pay at the
enormous rates of Es. 2 per cow and Es. 4 per buffalo. So far as
my information goes, these rates are far higher than any charged by
the Forest department in any of the richest ranges of forest, worked
admittedly as a commercial undertaking. It might be urged that
if graziers will pay these rates in a reserve which affords the
poorest sort of grazing to an unduly large number of cattle, they
would pay as much for better and more abundant, because properly
controlled, grazing. But, as your report so clearly points out, the
primary object of reservation and afforestation is the immediate
benefit of agriculture, and as consequently there is no object in
making these forests more than self-supporting, it would be
unnecessary to demand grazing fees higher than an average of six
annas per head. This would yield, at the rate of oue animal per
acre, over Es. 35,000 per annum on account of grazing alone,
irrespective of the large income which in time would accrue from
dried fodder, timber, fuel, and charcoal.

4. Personally I would lay more stress than has been laid in
the report on the resultant improvement of the stamp of cattle.
This is a matter of the highest importance. The supply of cattle
is short, and will probably become shorter before many years pass.
It is obvious that a district like Etawah, with its immense areas
of potentially fins grazing, ou«ht not to be compelled to go far
afield and pay an unduly high price for its agricultural stock.
Better grazing must result in improved stock, that ia to say, better
bullocks for the plough and better cows for the ghi trade. I have
no great belief in the system of excluding indifferent animals from
controlled grazing grounds. To attempt to do so is to put a

( 29A

premium on petty fraud, and is, moreover, in my opinion, unneces-
sary, inasmuch as the graziers will gradually find it unprofitable to
pay for the upkeep of inferior beasts when they can support better
animals at the same cost. I hold very strongly that no improve-
ment is to be expected except as the result of direct encouragement
by the State. I do not for a moment believe that private land-
owners can or will improve their grazing grounds. That they
should do so goes without saying, but to expect that they will ever
have the enterprise and far-sightedness to do more than tinker with
such a project is to my mind the vain hope of an unwarranted
optimism. If the grazing be not improved, it is idle to hope for
an improvement of stock ; and similarly I hold that, in the interests
of agriculture, the State alone can improve the general quality of
the stock after the grazing grounds have been brought under
systematic control. In conjunction with, or perhaps subsequent
to, the conservation of the grazing areas, it would be a most bene-
ficial measure to start large cattle farms in which not only the
bulls, but also the cows should be owned by the Sta,te. With
scientific management and supervision it would be possible to
employ sound selection, and the result would be of incalculable
value. It is unnecessary to dilate on the prospects of such an
enterprise, but I hold that, if it be thought advisable to regulate
grazing, some scheme of cattle farming should, without question
be embodied in the general project.

6. Incidental to this is the thorny question of an improved
milk-supply, a problem of prime importance, in urban areas. The
appalling rate of infant mortality even in a healthy city like
Etawah is, wrongly, or rightly, attributed in large measure to the
extreme difficulty of obtaining pure cow's milk. That this should
be the case in the centre of a tract which is pre-eminently fitted
for grazing is a fact as remarkable as it is apparent. The main-
tenance of a large and hygienic dairy does not fall within the scope
of legitimate municipal enterprise, but the problem would be
solved to a large extent by the establishment of a cattle farm of
sufficient size. I believe that d6p6ts for the sale of milk would
prove a profitable venture, but only in connection with a cattle
farm established primarily for tbe production of young stock. A
mere dairy might fail, to judge by the results of private enterprise,
but there would be no fear of such failure in a farm where the milk
would be regarded almost as a by-product.

6. I am entirely in agreement with your views on the subject
of dry fodder and fuel and charcoal. All of these ought to be
abundant in this district, but all are scarce and dear. I do not pro-
pose to discuss the details of suggested management, as these lie

( 30A )

wholly beyond my province. Should the scheme be accepted by
the authorities, I believe that its execution would be wholly bene-
ficial. I should like to add that I am opposed to any sporadic
experiments. As I have already stated, I consider that no experi-
ments are required and that demonstration should be the widest
possible scale to be effective. To acquire small areas would result
in much heart-burning. Were all owners treated alike, I believe
that the measure would rapidly attain general popularity. The
area is undeveloped and unexploited. The owners are in moat
cases too poor and too ignorant to be capable of improving their
grazing grounds. The acquisition of their unoulturable lands by
the State would not only lead rapidly to a great amelioration of
their economic condition but at the very outset would yield them
a fund of ready cash which would enable them ia many cases to
redeem the numerous mortgages and would preserve their ancestral
cultivation to a most valuable class of hardy agriculturists.

7. The two copies of the draft and the maps are returned
herewith.

APPENDIX V.

Report of the proceedings of a conference held at Etawah on the
subject of the desirability of the afforestation oj the ravin* lands
in the Etawah district and their development as a fodder and
juel reserve.

1. The question of the possible utilization of the large area
of ravine land in the Etawah district has been considered on
several occasions. Apart from the very promising experiment in
the area known as the Fisher forest in the immediate vicinity
of the town, the attention of the Government was drawn by
Afr. W. H. Moreland, C.I.E., when Director of Land Records and
Agriculture, to the great potential value of the extensive ravine
tract which extends throughout the southern portion of the district
more especially with the object of preserving and improving this
tract as a breeding-ground for agricultural stock. Special reference
to Etawah was made in his report on the improvement of Indian
Agriculture by Dr. Voelcker who in 1890 laid down that the prime
necessity was the creation of qxtensive fuel and fodder reserves
wherever such reserves might be possible. The subject was
revived in the resolution no- 348 of the Government, United
Provinces (Foreet department), dated the 20th August, 1912,
wherein stress was laid on the urgent necessity of subjecting to
careful examination such tracts as offered promise of improvement
under a regular system of afforestation. To this end Mr. E. A.
Courthope, Deputy Conservator of Forests, was deputed to
conduct a survey of the most promising areas Tbis officer, in
company with the Collector, visited a considerable portion of the
ravine area in the Etawah district during the cold weather of
1912-13. His opinion as to the highly-promising nature of the
country was embodied in a report to the Conservator of Forests,
Eastern circle, wherein he advocated the acquisition by Govern-
ment of the entire ravine area along the course of the Jumna and
to the south of that river to the extent for some 100,000 acres.

2. In view of this report and the recommendations made by
the Conservator, Eastern circle, the I ocal Government directed
that the scheme should be considered carefully by a committee
selected for the purpose, with instructions to examine the various
points raised, and to submit to Government such recommendations
as might be appr ved after consultation. Facilities were afforded
to the members of the committee for visiting the experimental
plantation at Kalpi, and several members availed themselves of the

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opportunity. While at Etawah visits were paid to Udi and to
Lakhna, so that those members who were unacquainted with the
tract might be enabled to examine representative blocks of ravine
country presenting markedly different oharacteristics.

3. The following formed the Committee : —

The Hon'ble Mr. D. 0. Baillie, o.s.1., i.o.s., Senior Member,

Board of Be venue.
The Hon'ble Mr. F. W. Brownrigg, Commissioner, Allahabad

division.

Mr. P. H. Clutterbuck, Conservator of Forests, Eastern circle.
.„ H. K. Gracey, i.o.s., Collector of Farrukhabad.
„ E. A. Phelps, i.o.s , Collector of Jalaun.
,, H. E. Nevill, I.G.S., Collector of Etawah.
„ E. S. Liddiard, i.c.s., Settlement Officer of Etawah.
, W. C. Cooper, Executive Engineer, Etawah division,

Lower Ganges Canal.

„ C. W. Wilson, Superintendent, Civil Veterinary depart-
ment.

., B. C. Burt, Deputy Director of Agriculture.
„ E. A. Courbhope, Deputy Conservator of Forests.
Captain G. W. Mellor, I.A., Assistant Director of Grass

Farms, VII division.

The Hon'ble Raja Kushal Pal Singh of Kotla.
Raja Partab Singh of Malhajini-
Rao Raghubar Singh Bahadur of Bidhupura.
Kunwar Kanmohau Singh of Bangra, district Jalaun.

4. The Committee sat at Etawah on the 21st and 22nd
of July, 1913, the Hon'ble Mr. Baillie being Chairman and
Mr. Nevill, Secretary. All the members were present throughout
the proceedings.

5. The first question for discussion was the need for action,
that is to say, whether in the opinion of the Committee the exist-
ing system of management in the matter of grazing and the pro-
vision of fuel stood in need of amendment. On this point the
Committee were unanimous. It has been clearly shown that giaz-
ing and felling of wood for fuel are conducted on no system what-
ever, with the result that the ravines in ordinary years yield the
absolute minimum and in times of famine the produce is practi-
cally nothing. It was acknowledged that in years of drought the
population and the number of cattle decrease, markedly and im-
mediately, to the extent of at least 30 per cent., while the remainder
of the cattle find subsistence for the time being by moving into
other areas. Not only is tbe standing crop of grass wholly inade-
quate to the requirements of the people in times of stress, but the

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absence of any reserve of fodder in the shape of cut and stacked
grass renders it impossible for the people of this precarious tract to
maintain the cattle on which they so largely depend.

6. There is evidence that, though cultivation has on the- whole
remained steady in the ravine tract from settlement to settlement,
there has been a material and important extension of erosion at the
top of the ravines. The extent to which arable land has suffered
varies widely in different localities, but there is ample proof of very
serious loss in the changed position of the old Mughal road,
traces of the former alignment being visible in the middle of
the Auraiya ravines, and elsewhere in the altered condition of
the cultivated area noticeable on a comparison of the maps of
the past and present settlement. Loss has been balanced by
possibly a small increase in cultivation on the river banks below
the ravines and by an extension of tillage, due to pressure of
population, in the less favourable parts of the uplands which border
on the ravines. It was recognised that the land lost was generally
of the best quality obtainable in the tract, whereas the land newly
reclaimed was on the margin of cultivation and more than ordinarily
precarious and unproductive.

7. An examination of the figures available show for the tract
as a whole no very material changes in the population. The
returns of 1872 were rejected by the Committee as being probably
unreliable ; but a comparison of the statistics obtained at the
census of 1891 and at the two following enumerations reveal a
gain in certain parts, such as Patti Kamet, but a noteworthy de-
crease in the areas beyond the Chambal. The cattle census shows
a general decrease in the number of animals, but possibly this is
due to temporary causes. The latest figures are those of 1909, and
the enumeration was made after a succession of dry years. The
Committee consider that the returns of 1904 showed a normal
strength of cattle, as there is no reason to believe that the ravine
tract ever yielded more pasture or was materially more prosperous
than at the present time.

8. The returns exhibit a marked increase in the exports of ghi
from the various railway stations of the district. It is not clear,
however, to what extent thislncrease has been derived from the tract
now in question, inasmuch as the collecting trade has undergone
an extenAve development and the area served by Auraiya and
other distributing centres is indeterminate. Large quantities of ghi
are imported from G-walior and Jalaun to stations in the Etawah
district ; but there is no reason to believe that the produce of ghi in
the Etawah ravine country has diminished. On the contrary, it has
probably increased owing to the rise in the number of buffaloes

6

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which have been substituted for cows in consequence of the higher
price of qhi. The buffaloes, however, depend to a very small extent
on the grazing obtainable in the ravines and are almost entirely
stall-fed.

9. The members of the committee expressed their agreement
with the resolutions nos. 3 7, 10 and 11 of the Agricultural Con-
ference held at Luckaow on 9th/llth August, 1909.

10. The resolution arrived at was that it is most desirable
that any measures considered practicable be undertaken to increase
the productiveness of the ravine tract for grazing purposes and the
production of fuel.

11. The committee further resolved that it is impossible to rely
on private enterprise to effect improvement, that the landholders
are not in a position to make it possible for them to carry out
any measures of importance, and that it is obviously necessary
that any measures to 'be adopted should be undertaken, at any
rate by way of demonstration, through the agency of the Forest
department.

12. The scheme outlined by the Forest officers was explained
in detail to the committee, figures being given for Sandaus, one of
the areas now in question, to show the working of the proposals
throughout the suggested cycle of twelve years. It was recognised
that no hard and fast rule could be adopted for the entire tract,
as development could not take place evenly throughout an area
exhibiting marked variations of soil and physical conditions, and
that consequently any scheme of rotation must be sufficiently
elastic to admit of modifications in particular areas depending on
the extent of land available for development and the incidence of
the locality.

13. The Committee consider that treatment on the lines
indicated is likely to effect a material improvement in the produc-
tiveness of the ravines. The experience afforded by the treatment
of rav ine land at Agra and Kalpi and by the closing of certain
tractscn the Rainpura jagir warrants the belief that it is possible
to senure a good growth of fodder grass in many places which at
present are wholly bare. It was resolved that the block system
with losure of fractional portions in rotation is the only system by
which success can be expected ; and while it is noted that difficul-
ties are likely to arise in connection with the arrangement of blocks
so as to provide accessible pasturage for the cattle of every village
at all periods of the rotation, it is held by the Committee that these
difficulties are not in anyVay insuperable.

14. The Committee accept the general principle that one-
fourth of each block should be closed to grazing at one time, but are

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of the opinion that while in certain localities the number of cattle
might render it necessary either to reduce, the proportion closed or
to lengthen the period of closure, there are parts of the tract in
which a larger fraction might immediately be closed so as to secure
more rapid improvement without inflicting any injury on the
inhabitants.

15. An additional measure recommended by the Committee is
that, in order to check erosion now in progress and to prevent any
future extension of ravines in threatened localities, an area of width
varying, according to the character of the soil, the slope of the
ravines, and the catchment area concerned be excluded from culti-
vation and planted with trees.

16. The Committee are of the opinion that the demand for
grazing all oattle now on the grouad can be met throughout the
initial period of management and that thereafter the area can
safely bear an enormously increased incidence. Apart from the
standing crop of grass available, there would be supplementary
provision of the greatest possible value in the shape of cut grass.
This would be available in large quantities at an early stage of the
management and would prove of special, use in the case of buffaloes
and plough oattle which are in most cases stall-fed.

17. It is recognised that provision for grazing goats is absolutely
necessary, as these animals constitute no small a proportion of the
wealth of the tract. It is agreed that while the exclusion of goats
for six years from the areas first closed would be advisable in order
to secure the establishment of young tree-growth, it is essential to
provide against any uadue restriction of grazing. It might be
necessary to avoid this by lengthening the period of rotation, bat at
the same time special provision for goats might possibly be afforded
by sowing quick-growing fodder shrubs in those localities where
grazing for these animals is in greatest demand,

18. The Committee had an opportunity of enquiring into local
opinion on the subject of management. A number of small
landholders from Patti Kamet and selected thakurs from other
parts of the tract were present before the Committee, and it cannot
be denied that the former, so far as they represented local opinion
were almost entirely hostile to any action whatsoever being taken
by Government as regards regulation of the use of the ravines. Of
the rest Thakur Basant Singh, manager of the important Bhareh
estate, alone expressed an opinion, and he agreed to any measures
of improvement that might be approved by the Government The
Committee consider that the opposition should not be ignored,
but that it should be rather regarded as a reason for working the
proposals in a considerate and conciliatory manner than H.H a

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ground for allowing this unreasoning antagonism to block the
scheme in its entirety. As already remarked, the Committee
hold that no system of management by the proprietors would
be in any way practicable. They have neither the necessary unity
in puttidari villages nor the requisite control over their tenants in
zamindari estates to secure the desired results. The changes in
management could never therefore be introduced save by the agency
of Government.

19. The Committee recommend that operations be started
in the zamindari areas of the tract under consideration, together
with such blocks in pattidan villages as are necessary to afford
a reasonable degree of compactness. It is held essential that the
area taken under control should be large enough to secure economy
of management and should not be less than 30,000 acres in
extent. Such a tract could be obtained in the Chakarnagar,
Sahson, and Bhareh taluqas, including the villages of the Benares
estate, as well as blocks in the Auraiya kharka belonging to His
Highness the Maharaja of Benares, the Raja of Bhareh, the Baja
of Jagammanpur, and others. It might further prove feasible to
take up other zamindari land nearer to Etawah, especially along
the Jumna to the west of the town.

20. As to the methods of acquiring management the Commit-
tee believe that in the zamindari areas arrangements might be
made under section 38 of the Forest Act and that a similar course
would be feasible in the pa ttidari villages with the Land Acquisition
Act in the background. 'Ihe Committee, however, deprecate the
application of the Land Acquisition Act on any extensive scale when
introducing management of ravine areas in the Etawah district.
It is suggested that the opposition would to a large extent dis-
appear if it were understood that the record of proprietary rights
would remain unchanged, and that the real solution of the diffioul-
tfes connected with the introduction of a system of management
which they believe to be of the highest value lies in the amend-
ment of section 35 of the Forest Act by the addition of a sixth
purpose, to wit, "for the formation of fuel and fodder reserves."

21. The Committee would point out that this proposal should
be regarded merely as an initial step towards a much wider exten-
sion of the system. The suggested amendment of the law is, in their
opinion, justifiable both in the interests of the individual landholders
concerned.

22. The Committee would also suggest that enquiry be made
at the earliest date as to the possibility of any measure by which
the Forest department should take over the lease or the management
of the reserve known as the Fisher forest. The desirability of

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this course would be enhanced by the acquisition of control over
the area extending westwards along the Jumna, to which reference
has been made above. It is felt that the Fisher forest, having
been separated entirely for a long period from any village, would
prove of the greatest value as an experimental ground for further
measure of development in the controlled area and for studying
closely the effects of conservation.

23. The Committee generally accept the proposals of the
Forest department in regard to the system of working, subject to
the approval of the revenue officers in question concerning the
allocation of grazing blocks and the fees to be levied for grazing
and fodder. They desire in addition to suggest that efforts should
be made to utilise waste water from the canals in the kharka tract
along the' north bank of the Jumna, not only in the Fisher forest
but also in such places as may offer adequate opportunities.

24. Lastly, the Committee refrain at this stage from attempt-
ing any financial forecast. Details must be obtained from the
Forest department after a close examination of the area recom-
mended for treatment has been conducted. The Committee desire
to add that they consider this initial demonstration to be of so
great general value as to warrant the Government undertaking
itself part of the cost and so making the conditions on which
grazing and grass-cutting would be allowed as lenient as possible.
In any case the proper working of the system can, in the opinion of
the Committee, be secured only if it be placed under the charge
of an officer- of the Imperial Forest staff.

(Sd.) D. C. BAILLIE, G.S.I.,

Chairman.

APPENDIX VI.

Copy of letter no. 175- L. of 30th September, 1914, from the
Chief Secretary to Government, United Provinces, to the Director of
Land Records and Agriculture, United Provinces.

THE Lieutenant-G-overnor has recently been considering the
subject of ravine reclamation on a large scale throughout the
United Provinces. The ravine areas' of the province are well-
marked. They are not found on the great wandering rivers like
the G-anges, G-ogra or the Rapti, but they abound on the streams
with more defined channels and bight banks, like the Jumna, Sote,
Chambal, and others in every part of the province. In some places
the ravines are spreading much more rapidly than in others, but in
all cases they result in considerable loss to the immediate neigh-
bourhood. Where they are spreading they cause actual loss of
cultivable land, and whether stationary or spreading they result
in a rapid rush of water from the up-land which causes impoverish-
ment of soil, loss of moisture, and a lowering of the water-level.
The subject has be^n noticed by a series of offioers,in the districts of
the present Jbansi division especially, as shown in a note, dated the
17th October, 1913, prepared by the Commissioner of Jhansi, a copy
of which will be sent to you subsequently.

2. In view of the above considerations His Honour has decided
to arrange for a regular survey of the field for ravine reclamation.
The field for such a survey is so large that it would, in His Honour's
opinion, be better for the present to neglect such ravines as are
stationary and to concentrate attention upon those areas where
erosion is most wasteful. Experience has already been gained in
the Etawah district of the method in which ravines may be treated
by means of a series of embankments. In Etawah indeed the
process has been designed largely with a view to the encourage-
ment of grazing and afforestation, but the same system is equally
applicable to the process cf smoothing down and finally filling up
of the hollows of ravine ground. The desirability and practicability
'of embanking the up-lands where the slope commences to steepen
and thus preventing the impoverishment of the up-lands by the
washing away of good surface soil into the ravines is a matter
which has not received and should rec 3ive adequate consideration
so as to prevent further erosion. From a general application of
schemes similar to those now in hand in the Etawah district to
areas in other parts of the province considerable benefits should
result.

( 39A )

The return from such a scheme will take three forms —

(1) the indirect saving which arises from the scouring and

final disappearance of such excellent soil ;

(2) the ultimate revenue from forest trees — babul, shisham,

and no doubt others — which will grow on the embanked
terraces; and

(3) the almost immediate value of grass and grazing which

the embanking will produce. Beside these, it is possi-
ble that the work will raise the waterlevel in the neigh-
bourhood, which is usually very low, and help the culti-
vator in this way as well.

3. With a view to carrying out the scheme detailed above the
Lieutenant-G-overnor has decided to appoint Mr. A. W. Fremantle,
at present principal of the Cawnpore Agricultural College, to study
the operations now being carried on at Kalpi and in the Etawah
district. Mr. Freraantle will work iu direct association with
Mr. Courthope as the representative and under the directions of
the Director of Agriculture, and after having obtained preliminary
ideas as to the methods of preventing erosion he will visit the
other ravine areas ascertainable from gazetteers and district officers
and will see how far they afford a field for the lesser but imme-
diately important object of famine works and the ultimately more
important object of putting a stop to general erosion. At the end
of next cold weather Messrs. Fremantle and Courthope would
submit a joint report on these two points. .It will be impossible
to cover the whole province, and the Jhansi and Agra divisions
should, it is suggested, receive attention first ; then, the country
cut by the Gomti river and its tributaries in Oudh.

4. Messrs. Fremantle and Courthope should consult the
district officers and the Public Works departments as freely as may
be necessary and it would be left to the Public Works department
to make detailed projects of the works recommended by them.

5. Mr. Fremantle should therefore be instructed as follows.
He should go to Btawah as soon as he is relieved of his duties at
the Agricultural College, and he should there, in consultation with
Mr. Courthope, study the methods of ravine reclamation now in
progress. He should also, during this period, study the literature
of the subject and correspond with Collectors with a view to making
plans for a cold weather tour. During the first week or two of this
tour Mr. Courthope should accompany Mr. Fremantle in order that
both officers may come to a common decision as to the exact lines
on which the survey is to be carried out. This portion of the tour
will include a visit to Kalpi. During the remainder of the cold
weather Mr. Fremantle will tour alone keeping in correspondence

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with Mr. Courthope and more especially with the Collectors of the
districts in which he is touring, will note on the opportunities for
ravine reclamation generally in the areas he visits and incidentally
will note special localities where projects for useful famine works
in the way of reclamation of ravine land might immediately be
prepared. Mr. Premantle should keep in mind that though the
ultimate object of his survey is ravine reclamation on a large scale
an important immediate object is the provision of a series of useful
famine works. In some parts the local landholders may be prepared
themselves to undertake works of ravine reclamation by means of
takavi loans in ordinary times or as ''aided works" in times of
famine. Enquiries should be made on these two points, as oppor-
tunity occurs, to ascertain what landholders think on the subject.

6. At the end of his tour, as already stated, Mr. Fremantle
should, in conjunction with Mr. Courthope, submit a report for
the tract visited on the possibilities of an extended campaign of
ravine reclamation and prevention of erosion and the scope offered
in this direction for useful famine works.

APPENDIX VII.

No. 97] OP 1914.
RESOLUTION.

FOREST DEPARTMENT.
Dated Allahabad, theSIst December, 1914.

READ—

(1) Note, dated the 17th October, 1918, by H. C. Ferard, Esq., O.I.B., I.C.B., Commissioner,

Jhansi division.

(2) Report on the utilization of silt in Italy by Mr. C. H. Hutton.
(8j Report on the colmate di monte of Italy by Mr. F. Clayton.

OBSERVATIONS. — The Lieutenant-Governor has recently had
under consideration proposals to minimize the evils resulting from
excessive erosion in the Bundelkhand division, in the districts of
Muttra, Agra and Etawah, and in other parts of the province
where ravine land exist. There can be no doubb that in these
areas excessive erosion is taking place on a large scale and with
very deleterious effects. With regard to the Jhansi district, for
example, Mr. A. W. Pirn", i.c.s-, in his settlement report
remarked : — " Most parts of the district are overdrained. In the
high-lying tracts the natural soil is stony and excessively poor.
In the more level plains is found the rich deposit which forms the
characteristic black soil of Bundelkhand, but in the villages
bordering on the ravines this is being scored and broken up by
the surface drainage and the area of good soil is gradually •
diminishing . . . The destructive influence of these nullahs
is by no means confined to the land rendered unculturable by
them. There more serious though less obvious effect consists in
the gradual thinning of the upper stratum of good, black soil which
is not being replaced in any way and which must lead to the
gradual deterioration of the district though the process must be a
slow one." And similar references abound throughout the report.
The streams of Hamirpur, says the gazetteer of that district,
" though they provide a ready means of escape for the rainfall
which is often heavy in the tract, are destructive and tend to
spread. By denuding the surface soil in hilly tracts and by
carrying off the organic matter and other soil constituents in the
level plains they are constantly and steadily impoverishing the soil
except where the land i:i protected by embankments." With
regard to Jalaun Mr. Hailey, i.O.s., makes the following remarks
in his settlement report : — "As is invariably the case with high

10

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land the upland which succeeds the ravines is poor in quality . . .
It has a light-coloured hard soil, the most valuable properties
of which are washed away by the downward flow of the rain water.
Except in the north the gradual fall in the surface to the level
plain of the centre can be clearly traced by the deepening in the
colour of the soil." Similar remarks, which are reiterated with
emphatic frequency in settlement reports and gazetteers, might
be applied with equal force to Banda, Etawah and other districts
of the province.

2. The deleterious effects of continuous erosion have long
been recognized and from time to time schemes have been put
forward and measures have been taken for their palliation or
prevention. The earliest and so far the most effective form of
action is that taken by the cultivators themselves in making small
embankments across their fields at the heads of the ravines. Mr.
Alan Cadell, writing of the district of Bauda, said:— "To the
south of the old pargana of Sihonda and throughout the uneven
portions of Badausa, embankments have been constructed with a
persistent industry which was in the highest degree creditable to
the inhabitants. Until one sees the never-ending succession of
embankments which have created fairly fertile fields in the midst
of broken ravine country it is difficult to realize that such barren
looking tracts are capable of improvement which has been effected.
What a few years ago were sandy ravines or stony watercourses
became after a time fairly fertile fields." Similar action has been
carried out by the cultivators of other Bundelkhand districts, but
unfortunately through apathy or want of capital much work of a
remunerative nature remains to be done, and there are also many
areas which would be too expensive to reclaim. The remarks
made in this connection by Dr. Voelcker in his book TJie Improve-
ment of Indian Agriculture are so apposite as to bear quotation in
full :—

" ^Reclamation of ravine land may take place in two different
ways — either by covering it with trees, shrubs and grass or by
making the land itself fit to bear crops . . . It is not often
that land cut up by ravines can be levelled and the whole area be
thus turned into a culturable space, but much can be done to
localize the effects of the floods that wash down and sweep before
them the fine subsoil. In many cases these floods can be prevented
from spreading their destructive influence further and from
impairing the lands that lie beyond them. The work of actually
levelling ravines is too great and too expensive a one to contem-
plate, save in exceptional circumstances. Here and there an
individual proprietor, having a large holding and also capital, may

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do it, and Government may also initiate it as a means of protection
or as ' famine work,' but it cannot be looked upon as remunerative.
Much, however, may be done by throwing embankments across the
nullahs or channels made by ravine streams, and thus holding up
the water and preventing the continual washing away of the sur-
face soil."

3. It has been seen that action in the sense indicated by
Dr. Voelcker has for many years past been taken by the cultivators
of Bundelkhand in respect of their small holdings. Occasional
instances have also occurred where the energy and enterprise of
more wealthy individuals have led to the inception of reclamation
works on a larger scale. Thus many years ago Captain Chapman,
the owner of an estate on the banks .of the Ganges through which
ran a moderately high cliff— the further bank of the river — made a
successful attempt to regulate the drainage which was cutting up
his fields at the edge of the cliff. By a system of small dams across
the ravines, supplemented by terracing, the further erosion of the
upland was checked and the letting value of the fields was greatly
increased. Again, an assistant of the United Provinces Agricultural
department, who had watched certain experiments in ravine recla-
mation made by Sir Edward Buck — then Director of the depart-
ment— rented some waste ravine land in the neighbourhood of
Cawnpore. and by the erection of bundhs and terraces succeeded in
quintupling the value of the estates- Guided by these examples
it was not unnatural that the Local Government should turn its
attention to the possibility of making similar experiments with the
object of inducing landholders and others to extend this form of
improvement to their own lands. As early as 1887, on the advice
of Mr. Ward, Commissioner of the Jhansi division, the Local
Government decided to make an allotment for the experimental
reclamation of waste land in that division by the construction of
bundhs across the ravines to hold back the drainage water. Similar
experiments are still being continued by the Agricultural depart-
ment of this province. But all these experiments have been some-
what intermittent in their nature and have been made without any
reference to a defined policy of reclamation.

4. For an instance of organized effort to solve the problems of
erosion it is necessary to go to Italy and to study wh^t has been
accomplished in that country under the name of bonificazione. In
Italy the work of bonificazione has taken two main forms. Firstly
and mainly for the improvement of hygienio conditions and the fer-
tility of the soil in lowlying areas, and secondly for the prevention
of erosion and the filling up of ravines already formed in hilly tracts.
The first of these two branches of activity has been undertaken in

( 44A ;

Italy on a very large scale aud with beneficial results of consider-
able magnitude, but it need not be touched upon here. The second
form of bonificazione, however, is of great interest in connection
with agricultural improvement in the hilly or undulating tracts of
this province. The system of reclaiming rugged land by means of
embankments and silt deposits is technically known as colniate di
montti or building up of the hill, and has been adopted in Italy
with much success for many years. This system consists essential-
ly in the digging of drains along the contour lines of the hills, so
that both surface water and the silt borne by such water are caught
in the drains. These drains are cleared out once a year and the
silt deposit in them is thrown out on the down-hill side and
ploughed in ; the ploughing being done in such a way as gradually
to work the soil down to the lower portion of the strip and thus to
make the strip more level. In the course of years of such treat-
ment these strips become level terraces. With regard to the
ravines which scour the surface of the Italian hills it is usual to
make across the ravines a series of small banks, beginning from the
top and working gradually downwards. When rain falls pools of
water form rapidly behind' the uppermost embankments which
serve a comparatively large catchment area. As each pool fills the
water escapes and is retained by the embankment next below until
perhaps all the embankments have pools behind them. By such
means the ravines gradually become silted up, providing fertile
terraces on which trees, grass or crops may be sown and generally
hold up the water-level of the neighbourhood. Parts of the hill
which were formerly precipitous and unculturable come under the
plough and bear crops, and thus both the area and the quality of
the soil is increased.

5. The work thus carried out in Italy was brought to the
attention of the Government of India by Sir Colin Scott Moncrieff
and Sir Edward Buck, at one time Director of Land Eecords and
Agriculture in this province. As a result of the interest aroused
by a report on this subject by Sir Edward Buck the Government
of India suggested that the question of bonificazione in the United
Provinces should be considered and that one or two officers of the
Public Works department might be deputed to Italy for a short
period to study the methods utilized in that country. Accordingly
Messrs. Hutton and Clayton of the Irrigation branch of the Public
Works department of this province \vere deputed to visit Italy in
the year 1907-8-

6. The history of Government activity in this matter is there-
fore a short one and little work has. as yet been done. Works of
considerable importance however have been carried out in

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Bundelkhand, where, as already stated, the construction of field em-
bankments has for many years been utilized by the cultivators for the
improvement of their fields. In 1905 a tank division of the Irriga-
tion branch was formed for the special purpose of projecting and
carrying out works of this nature. This division was abolished on
the constitution of the Jhansi division of the Betwa canal and of
the Ken and Dhasan canal divisions which provided a staff sufficient
for all schemes within their respective areas ; but the work has
been carried out with energy and has comprised the preparation of
projects and the surpervision of the building up of numerous field
embankments or bundhis which in their beneficial effect in prevent-
ing surface erosion resemble the colmate di monte of Italy.

7. Such operations on a large scale are of course very expen-
sive, and it is therefore probable that unless the landholders can be
induced to undertake for themselves the reclamation of at least
some of ravines which now carry away the most fertile portion of
their soil no very great advance can be made except during times
of famine, when the Local Government has in any event to provide
work for the relief of distress. Works of this nature have actually
been carried out under the supervision of the Forest department in
the Etawah district during the recent famine and are reported to
be admirably suited for famine works. The objects of the opera-
tion in the ravine tracts in the Etawah district are as follows : —

(1) To prevent the further erosion of the ravines, that is, the

scouring out of the bed and the banks of the ravines.

(2) To check, and finally altogether stop, the further exten-
sion inland of the ravines.

(3) To prevent the good soil being washed off the upland

fields and carried away down the ravines to the rivers.

(4) To retain the rainfall which at present runs straight off
the land into the rivers, and thus to retain moisture in
the soil and raise the water-level.

(5) To improve the pasture and tree growth on the ravines
and thus to establish fuel and fodder reserves.

The experiments which have been made for this purpose in the
Etawah district are as yet in an undeveloped state, but the results
which have been attained, more particularly as to the growth of
grass on treated areas, are highly satisfactory and promise good
results on the upland areas to which such treatment may be
applied elsewhere.

8. In this Government's resolution no. 348, dated the 26th
August, 1912, stress was laid upon the importance of developing
the waste lands of the province, but no allusion was made to the
special desirability of reclaiming ravine land as such. Sir James

( 46A )

Mesfcon considers, however, that, quite apart from the formation of
fuel and fodder reserves, attention should be paid to the reclama-
tion of such lands, as their existence involves not only a loss to the
possible present assets of the province but also implies a progres-
sive deterioration in the future of its existing assets. Moreover,
work in ravine lands constitutes a most useful and almost
inexhaustible opportunity for the employment of labour in times of
scarcity. His Honour has therefore decided to investigate the
possibilities for the reclamation of ravine lands in the United
Provinces with a view not only to the provision of suitable famine
works but also to the prevention of the extension of such ravines,
the improvement of the upland soil, the raising of the water-level
and the provision of fuel and fodder supplies. For this purpose
he has deputed Mr. Fremantle, late Principal of the Agricultural
College, Cawnpore, to make a survey of the ravine lands of the
province in close oo-operation with Mr. Courthope, the afforesta-
tion officer. The instructions issued to Mr. Fremantle were as
follows :— He was to go to Etawah and there, in consultation
with Mr. Courthope, study the methods of ravine reclamation now
in progress. He was also, during this period, to study the litera-
ture of the subject and correspond with Collectors with a view to
making plans for a cold weather tour. During the first week or
two of this tour Mr. Courthope was to accompany Mr. Fremantle
in order that both officers might come to a common decision as to
the exact lines on which the survey was to be carried out. During
the remainder of the cold weather Mr. Fremantle was to tour alone,
keeping in correspondence with Mr. Courthope and the Collectors
of the districts in which he was touring, noting on the opportu-
nities for ravine reclamation generally and incidentally recording
the special localities where projects for useful famine works in the-
way of reclamation of ravine land might be prepared. Mr.
Fremantle was to keep in mind that though the ultimate object
of his survey was ravine reclamation on a large scale an important
immediate object was the provision of a series of useful famine
works. In some parts the local landholders might be prepared to
undertake works of ravine reclamation by means of taqavi loans in
ordinary times and enquiries were to be made in this regard.

9. The Lieutenant-Governor desires that the work of ravine
reclamation alluded to above shall be closely associated with the
work of afforestation described in this Government's resolution
no. 348, dated the 26th August, 1912, and he therefore takes this
opportunity of expressing his wishes as to the course which should
be followed in pursuing the policy of afforestation promulgated by
Sir John Hewett, In paragraph 18 of the resolution referred to

( 47A )

above ife was pointed out that afforestation was a branch of a
soienoe of which officers in the Forest department had little
experience ; and it was definitely stated that, even though the
operations might extend so far as to necessitate the creation of a
afforestation branch of the department, it was not the intention of
Government that the department should, as a general rule, manage
the forests which local bodies or zamindars might establish but
rather that it should advise the owners in the methods of manage-
ment when asked to do so. It has been suggested that at the
present juncture it is useless to expect private owners themselves
to do anything towards developing their waste land and therefore
unless Government undertakes direct action for the purpose of
afforestation no advance will be made. With the example of the
Fisher forest before him, however, Sir James Meston cannot
accept this statement of the position, and he hopes that persuasive
treatment and the object lessons provided by successful Government
plantations will induce many other individuals or local bodies to
follow the example of the Btawah zamindars In sanctioning the
formation of the Etawah forest division, the main object of which
is to manage under agreement the waste lands of the local land-
holders, His Honour had no intention of departing from this
general principle. The action taken in Etawah was taken for
special reasons, partly in order to provide exemplary plantations
on a large scale, partly in order to check the devastating erosion
which is continuous in the Jumna-Chambal tracts of the district
and partly to develop the industry of grazing which is specially
suited for this backward tract of country. As regards the general
policy of the afforestation division however His Honour adheres
to the principle that direct action is not desirable. It must not be
overlooked that the question of afforestation is largely one of
economic conditions. From the first it was clear that with ample
staff and money, trees could be grown almost anywhere except
perhaps on bare rock. Ihe object of the afforestation officers must
be not to confirm what is already known but to ascertain whether,
in existing economic conditions or in the near future it is possible
to establish fuel and fodder reserves which will cover their cost
either directly or indirectly. The policy of Government at first
must be to maintain experimental plots so as to obtain the requisite
sylvicultural or other experience, to undertake a few reserves in
suitable situations as examples to the people, and finally to search out
those areas where the sentiment of the landholders, the existence
of a demand for grass or fodder and other conditions are favourable
to the formation of reserves. In those areas attention should be
given to enlisting the sympathies of the people and to inducing

them to call in the aid of the department. It is the intention of
Government, in fact, to proceed along the line of least resistance ;
to persuade and to help where help is asked for. It is
not intended to acquire wholesale and to obtain legal powers to
compel unwilling landowners. Such a policy might possibly be
successful from a financial point of view, but it would involve the
Government in an enterprise far beyond anything which could be
attempted with its present resources and would entirely fail to
ensure the object aimed at.

APPENDIX VIII.

Eeport on the reclamation of the ravine lands in Bundelkhand
and Muttra districts.

The investigation, of which the following is a report, was made
under instructions contained in G. 0. no. 175-L/XIV, addressed to
the Director of Land Records and Agriculture, United Provinces.
At the end of October Mr. Fremantle joined Mr. Courthope at
Kalpi and studied the results obtained from the construction of
numerous small bundhs by Mr. Hobart Haropden, and a few larger
bundlis recently constructed, and the effect of nine years' protection
from grazing. From Kalpi Mr. Fremantle and Mr. Courthope
went to Etawah where they were joined by Mr. Clutterbuck, Con-
servator of Forests, Eastern circle : in this district they examined
the work done in the Fisher Forest by the forest department and
that done by famine labour at Chakernagar and Sahson. From
Etawah the above three officers proceeded to the Hamirpur district,
where they inspected the results of the experimental sowings in
the land acquired for the establishment of babul plantations, as
well as the bundlis constructed ia the Bandhar Bazurg block, from
the failure of which some useful experience has been gained. At
the beginning of December Mr. Fremantle and Mr. Courthope
separated, having agreed that Mr. Fremantle should make a sys-
tematic survey of the ravine country on the banks of the Barma,
Betwa and Dhasan rivers in the Hamirpur, Jhansi and Jalaun
districts, and that Mr. Courthope, who had received separate instruc-
tions to report on the Bhadawar estate in the Agra district, and
who had also to carry on his duties as Officer-in-charge of the
Afforestation division, should examine the possibilities of ravine
reclamation in the Agra and Muttra districts.

2. Mr. Fremantle and Mr. Courthope began their investigations
under the impression, conveyed in G. 0. no. 173-L/XIV, that
Government intended them to enquire into the possibility of the
extension of operations for the reclamation of ravines on precisely
the same lines as those already suggested and approved by the
Government in the Etawah district, that is, that they were, in the
first place, to examine into the suitability of different blocks of
ravines for reclamation by bundhs and afforestation, and, in the
second place to ascertain whether zamindars are willing to carry
out the work at their own expense with the help and advice of the
afforestation officer or to band over their land for management,

11

( 50A )

as has been done by the zamindars of the Etawah district. Mr.
Fremantle and Mr, Gourthope also understood that they were to
enquire to what extent the local landholders themselves would be
willing to construct field embankments on the more gently sloping
uplands with a view to prevent the wastage of good soil and the
prevention of further erosion. These impressions were confirmed
by the report of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor's speech to
the Durbaris of the Jhansi division on 22nd December, 1914, in
which he states that he hopes the landholders will be partners with
Government in a scheme for reclaiming ravine lands on a large
scale, and that, if they will give the land and forego to some extent
their grazing rights for a period, Government will provide the
initial cost: in his speech he indicates that the object of the scheme
is, firstly, to reclaim the existing ravines, secondly, to prevent
their extension and, thirdly, to establish on the land thus reclaimed
valuable fuel and fodder reserves.

3. The writers were somewhat confused, therefore, by the
appearance in the Gazette of resolution no. 971, dated 21st Decem-
ber, 1914, for, while up to paragraph Sit confirmed these impressions
as to Government's intentions, in paragraph 9 it is stated that,
"with the example of the Fisher forest before him Sir .James
Meston is not satisfied that landholders cannot be induced to
follow the example of the Etawah Zamindars" and to afforest
their own land, and it is indicated that the action now being taken
in Etawah was taken for special reasons and is not to be regarded
as a suitable way of dealing with other areas. This resolution
therefore practically states that Government is not willing to under-
take the departmental management of ravine areas, but is only
willing to help the landholders with advice, and definitely states
that direct action is "not desirable." It is further stated that the
policy of the Government must be to maintain experimental plots
and to undertake a few reserves in suitable situations as examples
to the people and finally to search out those areas where the con-
ditions are favourable to the formation of reserves. But the reso-
lution concludes with a statement that, while it is not intended to
acquire land wholesale or to obtain legal powers to compel un-
willing landholders, it is the intention of the Government to proceed
along the lines of least resistance and to persuade and to help where
help is asked for, which is exactly what Government is doing in
the Etawah district.

4. Being unable to reconcile these apparently contradictory
policies, Mr. Courthope consulted Mr. Ferard, Commissioner of the
Allahabad division, with whom he was touring at the time, and
Mr. Ferard thought it necessary to refer the question to the Chief

( 6U )

Secretary, asking whether it was to be assumed that Mr. Fremantle
and Mr. Courthope should first endeavour to induce landholders
to reclaim and afforest ravine lands at their own expense and that,
if they expressed their unwillingness or inability to do so, they
should suggest to them that they should make over such areas to
be dealt with departmentally. The reply received on llth February,
1915, may be summarized as follows: Government does not contem-
plate taking over and managing further areas till the Etawah
. scheme has justified itself, but is willing to advise and help land-
holders without undertaking financial responsibility: in other words
the Chief Secretary's reply repeats the gist of paragraph 9 of reso-
lution 971, but does not reconcile it with the Lieutenant-Governor's
appeal to the landholders of the Jhansi district to hand over their
lands for reclamation purposes, or with G. 0. no. 175-L/XIV. The
writers of this report therefore think that the ultimate policy of
Government is as yet undefined and think it is possible that
Government is awaiting the receipt of this report before coming
to a final decision, and they therefore thought it wiser at this
late stage of their investigation that they should pursue their
enquiries on the lines agreed upon in November, 1914, that is (1)
to examine into the possibilities of schemes for the reclamation of
ravine lands in different localities, (2) to enquire as to the willing-
ness of landholders to undertake such schemes in co-operation with
each either at their own expense or by taqavi loans or to hand over
such areas to Government for management, (3) to ascertain to
what extent the landholders would be willing to make field embank-
ments on the gently sloping uplands with the help of taqavi loans,
and (4) to ascertain how far reclamation of ravines is suitable for
famine works and to suggest localities in which projects for such
works might be drawn up.

5. In carrying out this investigation the following localities
bave been visited and examined by Mr. Fremantle : —

(a) Both banks of the Banna river with its tributaries from
10 miles south of the Bath-Muskara road to the junc-
tion of the Betwa and Barma rivers in the Hamirpur
district ;

(6) Both banks of the Dhasan river and its tributaries from
Rora- to its junction with the Betwa in the Hamirpur
and Jhansi distric s ;

(c) Both banks of the Betwa from Paricha to Hamirpur town

in the Jhansi, Jalaun and Hamirpur districts ;
(d) a block of ravines on the Jumna near Kalpi ;
and by Mr. Courthope the ravines of the Jumna and Chambal rivers

( 62A )

in the Agra district and certain waste lands on the bank of the
Jumna river in the Muttra district.

6. The possibilities of the schemes of reclamation. — It is now
generally admitted that all ravines can be reclaimed and that the
further extension of ravines can be prevented ; further it is admitted
that fuel and fodder reserves, or even gardens, can be established
on the reclaimed land provided enough money is expended. In
G. 0. no. 175-L/XIV, dated 30th September, 1914, it is stated
that the returns from such schemes will take three forms— (1) the
ultimate revenue from forest trees, (2) the immediate value of grass
and grazing which will result from the reclamation, and (3) the
indirect saving which will arise from the prevention of scouring and
ultimate disappearance of much excellent soil, In the opinion of
the writers to these returns must be added (1) the very large saving
which Government will effect in times of scarcity and famine by
having a stock of fodder in the impoverished districts instead of
having to import it from great distances, (2 ) the indirect returns
due to the saving of cattle manure for the fields as insisted upon by
Dr. Voelcker, and (3) the indirect increase of revenue to Govern-
ment which must follow upon the increased prosperity of the
inhabitants of the locality.

7. Dealing first with the commercial possibilities of the scheme
generally, that is to say, with the sources of direct revenue as com-
pared with the expenditure, the chief factors necessary for success
are a sufficiently large area and accessibility. To reclaim even a
small area a permanent establishment of trained employees must
be maintained, but this same establishment can supervise a very
large area. There are not at present sufficient data to enable the
writers to state definitely what the cost of reclamation will be, but
they believe that they are not being over sanguine in estimating the
cost at about Rs. 25 per acre, excluding the cost of establishment.
The additional cost per acre for establishment depends entirely on
the amount of ground annually reclaimed : it has been estimated
that the annual cost of the full establishment for reclaiming and
managing 25,000 acres in the newly formed Etawah division will be
about Rs. 25,000, though there is reason to hope that it may be
rather less. Assuming that only 1,000 acres per annum were
reclaimed, the cost for establishment would be Es. 25 per acre and
the whole cost Es. 50 per acre, and the writers think that this
figure may safely be taken as a maximum, provided the schemes are
on a sufficiently large scale. It is to be noted that this figure

ncludes'the cost of reclaiming the ravines and establishing and
maintaining plantations thereon.

( 53A )

8. It is obvious that the direct returns from the sale of the
produce of any plantation must vary with the distance of that plan-
tation from' the chief markets and from the railways and roads by
which those markets are reached. The main sources of revenue
from plantations established on ravines will be (1) timber, (2) fire-
wood and charcoal, (3) babul bark, (4) hay, (5) grazing dues, (6)
minor produce, such as mahua fruit. It is also hoped that it may
be possible to grow bamboos, for which there would be a great
demand. As far as is known at present, the only large timber tree
which would be grown on the ravine tracts is shisham, for which
there is an almost unlimited sale, but there can be little doubt that
other timber trees will be found suitable. Many species of trees
which will produce small round timber can be grown. Timber,
both large and small, would probably find a market even in planta-
ions situated at considerable distance from the main lines of
communication. Fuel, however, will only be exported from planta-
tions situated quite close to railway lines, except in the case of
Jbabul plan batioas from which purchasers will buy wood together
with the bark if situated within about 15 miles of a railway line.
In ordinary years the demand for hay is strictly limited and it can
only be exported to the markets in large cities from areas close to a
railway line. In times of scarcity, however, the demand for hay is
very great, and it can be sold at Re. 1 to Es. 2 per maund in the
district, while in the cities even higher prices can be obtained. The
yield of hay in the Kalpi plantation in a dry year was 10 maunds
per acre, and there is no reason to suppose that it would be less in
other ravines. Assuming that only half of the reclaimed area were
closed to grazing during the rains, it may safely be assumed that
the profits from the sale of grass would be Es. 4 or Es. 5 per acre
over the whole of the reclaimed area, and, assuming that such years
of scarcity occur once in every five years, the annual revenue from
the sale of grass would be about Ee. 1 per acre, even if no grass
wexe cut and stacked in good years for sale in time of scarcity. The
demand for grazing varies in different districts. In those tracts in
which the cultivation is intense the demand is great owing to the
fact that the area available for grazing is limited. In such tracts
as those along the Dhasan river, however, there is so much waste
land as compared with the area under cultivation that it is probable
that in ordinary years the cattle-owners would prefer to graze their
cattle free ou inferior pasture to paying fees for the privilege of
grazing on the improved areas. Grazing dues therefore must be
looked upon as an asset of the more accessible forests only.
Calculating that the crop of trees in the plantations established on re-
claimed ravines in accessible areas would be worth Es. 100 per acre

( 54A )

after 20 years, the annual revenue to be derived from the plantations

may be calculated roughly as follows : —

Rs. a. p.

From the sale of timber, firewood and bark ... 5 0 0 per acre
From the sale of hay ... ... ... 100 „ ,,

From grazing dues ... ... ... 0 8 0 „ ,,

Total 680

In inaccessible areas, that is areas situated at a distance from
the railways and unprovided with good roads, the revenue may
possibly not exceed Re. 1-8-0 or Rs. 2 per acre per annum.

On the other hand, taking the estimate for the Etawah division
as a guide, the expenditure is likely to work out at about Rs, 2 per
acre per annum.

9. The writers, therefore, are of opinion that the financial
prospects of fuel and fodder reserves established on reclaimed land
within 15 miles of a railway are decidedly good, but that, on the
other hand, the reclamation of ravines in more remote localities is
not likely under existing conditions to prove a siiccess looked at
from a purely financial point of view, without taking into consider-
ation any indirect return, credit for which could not be shown in the
balance-sheet. At the same time it must not be overlooked that in
the more remote localities forest officers would naturatty sow mainly
timber trees which it would pay to export from greater distances,
that, in these days of progress, remote localities may be rendered
accessible by means of tramways and other means of mechanical
transport, and that factories for the manufacture of such products
as tannin extract or wood spirit or matches might be established,
thus rendering the reclamation of these remote areas also a profit-
able investment.

10. In the last few paragraphs the possibilities of ravine
reclamation have been examined from a strictly financial point of
view. There still remain to be considered those indirect returns
suggested by Gr. 0. no. 165-L/XIV and those additional indirect
returns suggested in this report. G. 0. no. 175-L/XIV refers to
the saving which will be effected by the prevention of the loss of
much excellent soil. The process of erosion is apparently so gradual
that it is probable that it is not generally realized how enormous
this loss really is. Some years ago some figures appeared showing
the enormous amount of soil which was scoured out by an American
river. The writers cannot produce accurate figures to show the
extent of the damage done by the rivers of these provinces, but
in his report for the Bhadawar estate in the Agra district Mr.
Courthope calculated that the annual loss of cultivated land in

( 55A )

the Etawah district was about 250 acres and in the Bah tahsil
of the Agra district about 160 acres. In the Jhansi district
Mr. Fremantle found one village of 925 acres, in which during
the last 24 years the cultivated area has decreased from 464 to 335
acres, and the revenue from Rs. 800 to Rs. 585. In another
village of 1,500 acres, the cultivated area has decreased in the
last 40 years from 911 to 560 acres, while in the last 24 years the
decrease has been from 743 to 560 acres, the revenue decreasing
in the same period from Rs. 1,410 to Rs. 905. It is probable
that this decrease in the cultivated area is due either directly or
indirectly to the encroachment of the ravines. It is to be noted
that the figures given for the area now under cultivation are based
on the average for the last three years, and that the revenue
mentioned is that given in the latest five years' settlement.

It is quite certain that the annual loss of land throughout the
provinces is very large indeed. This loss of land constitutes a
direct loss of revenue to Government, and consequently, in consi-
dering the financial possibilities of any scheme which will arrest
and finally stop this regular loss of revenue, the annual revenue
of the land, which would otherwise be lost, should be shown on the
credit side of the balance-sheet. It is to be noted that this form
of indirect returns affects Government and landholders alike.

11. The savings effected in the time of scarcity owing to
there being a growing crop and possibly a stacked reserve of fodder
in the districts instead of this fodder having to be brought
from great distances would be very large. The famine report
for 1913-14 has not yet been published, but it is believed that
Government incurred an expenditure of about Re. 1 to Re. 1-4-0
per maund of hay exported to impoverished districts, while only
six annas of this was recovered from the consumers, so that
the nett loss was about annas 12 per inaund. The grass
imported from the submontane districts was coarse and inferior
while the grass whioh can be grown on reclaimed ravines is
excellent. Not only would Government effect the saving of
12 annas per maund of the grass which hitherto has had to be
brought from the submontane districts, but the superior grass
would be eagerly bought by the owners of cattle .at about Re. 1
per maund, to the advantage of the landholders concerned.

12. The next consideration is the saving of cattle. This also
affects both Government and the landholders. The mortality of
cattle leads to decrease in cultivation and consequently to a
decrease in revenue. It is well-known that, in spite of the
importation of fodder by Government a very large number of
cattle are lost during each famine, as a reference to the District

( 56A )

Gazetteers will show. The figures for the last cattle census have
not yet been published, but there is every reason to believe that
this will show a further decrease in spite of the fact that the
previous census was also taken after a year of scarcity. The
amindars in the various districts visited in Bundelkhand give
the loss of plough cattle, due to the scarcity of fodder, as one
reason for the decrease of area now under cultivation.

18. Looked upon in this way the reclamation of ravines may
be considered both by Government and by landholders as a kind
of insurance against loss in times of scarcity and as a land-protec-
tive measure, and, as such, the writers have no hesitation what-
soever in strongly recommending it even in the most remote
localities. The localities dealt with in this report are divided, as
shown below, into two classes — (A) those in which the work of
reclamation is likely to prove actually remunerative and (B) those
in which it is to be considered as a protective work only : —

(A)— The ravines of the Dhasan river from Rora to Gurha
and a small piece near the junction of the Dhasan and
Betwa rivers.

All the Betwa river ravines below the Paricha dam,
except a small area on the left hand east of Mohana
ferry, and the ravines on the right bank from Chandaut
to Parsani.-

Most of the Jumna and Chambal ravines in the Bah
tahsil of the Agra district.

(B)— The ravines of the Burma river.

The ravines of the Dhasan river from Gurha almost to
the junction of the Dhasan and Betwa rivers. The
ravines on the left bank of the Betwa river east of
Mohana and on the right bank from Chandaut to
Parsani.

The more remote ravines of the Jumna and Chambal
r'vers in the Agra district.

• NOTE. — The ravines of the Jumna river in the Muttra district are not
included in the above classification as they are of quite a
different character and are not suitable for reclamation in the
same way as the others referred to.

14. Opinion of landholders. —It must be admitted that the
proposal to reclaim and afforest ravine tracts is not received
enthusiastically by landholders generally, although there are indeed,
a few enlightened exceptions who realize that these tracts are at
present absolutely useless and that, if reclaimed, they are capable
of affording good pasture to the cattle as well as bringing in

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revenue to their estates. The main reasons given by the land-
holders for their objection to the proposal are as follows : —

(1) Want of ready mm\ey. — It is a well-known fact that the

landholders of these precarious tracts are not in a
sound financial position, even the larger zamindars,
such as the Raja of Gfursarai, being involved in debt,
and it would seem obvious, therefore that any scheme
which does not bring in an immediate return is
impracticable But no such objection can be urged
against such a scheme as that which has been proposed
for the zamindars in the Etawah district in which
Government has agreed to assume the entire financial
responsibility.

(2) Disbelief in the financial success of the scheme. — There

is nothing to show the landholders that the scheme
is likely to be a success, as financial forecasts convey
nothing to them and no such scheme has hitherto
been attempted on a large scale. It is only when
they can actually see the improvement effected on
some ravines in their own neighbourhood that they
will begin to believe in the possibilities of the scheme.
This objection also may be met with the reply that,
even if proved a financial failure, a scheme such as is
proposed for the Etawah division would not involve
the zamindats in any loss.

(8) Want of labour. — In many of these tracts labour is .
undoubtedly scarce and it is perhaps, only natural
that the landholders should object to any scheme
which is likely to take the labourers from the fields,
more especially as it is a fact that the work of affores-
tation does require more labour just at the time when
agricultural operations also require it, that is at the
beginning of and immediately after the rains. On
the other hand, it should be remembered that reclama-
tion will provide work for labourers throughout the
year, and is likely therefore to check the emigration
of villagers to the cities and to the canal irrigated
tracts.

(4) The fear of decrease of cultivation. — This would at first
appear to be a somewhat anomalous objection to raise
against a scheme which aims at the prevention of loss
of cultivated area. In these tracts, more especially
in Bundelkhand, a portion of the land is cultivated
by tenants who live in neighbouring villages, where
13

( 58A )

there is little land available for grazing, and the land-
holders fear that these tenants would abandon their
holdings if grazing facilities and other amenities were
in any way restricted or curtailed. It should be quite
possible however to manage the land in such a way
that the restrictions should be so light as to impose
no hardship, while it is quite certain that the quality
of the grazing will be improved.

(5) Friction with tenants. — The zamindars are afraid that

for the same reasons the scheme would result in resi-
dent tenants becoming disconteuded and that it would
undermine their influence. The remedy for this would
also lie in tactful management.

(6) Fear 01 oppression by subordinate officials. — This objec-

tion is based on the assumption that the management
would necessarily be departmental. Even if this were
so, it must be remembered that there would always be
a responsible officer within easy reach, and that affores-
tation charges can never be of the unwieldy size of
ordinary forest divisions

(7) Distrust of Government intentions. — The landholders in

"Bundelkhand are convinced that Government wishes
to take from them their proprietary rights in the land,
and the Collector of Muttra told Mr. Courthope that
similar rumours had been spread in that district. Such
rumours always do arise whenever a Government
officer examines the suitability of zamindars1 land for
any purpose. In any scheme of co-operation between
Government and the landholders, such as that
inaugurated in the Btawah district, the objection is fully
met by a definite clause in the deed of agreement, but
it must be understood that this last objection consti-
tutes the chief reason for' the hostility of the land-
holders to the proposal, though it is mainly based on
sentimental grounds. This is specially the case among
the Thakur community

Other objections of a petty nature have been raised, such as
the closing of roads, but none which cannot be met by
mutual agreement.

15. Agency of reclamation. — There are several methods by
which effect could be given to the general proposal to reclaim and
afforest ravine tracts and the writers will now discuss the merits and
demerits of each method which at first sight seems feasible.

16. Reclamation by landholders at their own expense. — Either

( 69A )

singly or in co-operation with each other. From the point of view
of Government this would be the most satisfactory arrangement.
That is to say, if landholders could be found in one district or even
two adjoining districts, whose ravine tracts aggregated about 30,000
to 50,000 acres, and if this area is made up of large blocks of ravines
of from 8,000 to 10,000 acres each, and if these landholders can
find between them a sum of from 00,000 to 1,00,000 rupees annually,
and can afford to wait 10 to 20 years before getting a return on
their money, then a separate division could be formed and the
whole expenditure would be borne by the zamiwlars themselves.
This is an ideal arrangement which it is at present useless to
contemplate. In the Agra district there is the case of the Bhadawar
estate, at present under the management of the Court of Wards,
which could afford to spend about Rs. 15,000 -per annum on
reclamatien. Adjoining this estate there is a small estate of per-
haps 3,000 acres of ravines, the owner of which has tentatively
suggested that he might be able to afford Rs. 1,000 annually, if he
were satisfied that the money would be well invested. At some
distance from these two estates there is another landholder who has
expressed his willingness to have a small area afforested as an
experiment. These three estates together are not enough to form a
division, though it may be possible to form them into a sub-division
of the proposed Etawah division. The other landholders of the Bah
tahsil, in which there is a large enough tract of ravines to form a
division, are not in a position to find the necessary money even if
they were willing to co-operate in the scheme. In Bundelkhand
Mr. Fremantle finds that the larger landholders are not in a financial
position to enable them to contemplate the possibility of reclaiming
their ravines at their own expense and that, although certain smaller
landholders are willing to spend a small amount each year on
reclamation, the estates of these small zamindars are so scattered
as to preclude the possibility of co-operation.

17. In resolution no. 971 it is stated that, with the example
of the Fisher forest before him, His Honour the Lieutenant-
Governor is not satisfied that landholders will not afforest their
ravine tracts at their own expense. In the writer's opinion the
example of the Fisher forest is not a fair one. The area is a very
small one, and in itself is not enough to form a division or even a
sub-division, and it would be quite impossible for any officer to
supervise properly works of afforestation being carried out in a
number of such blocks situated a great distance from each other
even if the landholders had sufficient technical knowledge to enable
them to carry out the works recommended. From the short history
of the Fisher forest given in resolution no. 348, dated the 26th

( 60A )

August, 1912, it would appear that the landholders spent only a
comparatively small sum of money in afforestation or reclamation
and it must be assumed that the greater part of the forest growth
was either present on the ground before the area was reserved or
sprung up naturally as a result of preservation. Such natural
growth is practically useless from a commercial point of view. To
reclaim and afforest the Fisher forest, as it is now proposed
to do, will cost about Es. 6,000 annually. In the same resolution
it has been shown that the zamindars after a very few years of
management were able to lease the forests to Messrs. Cooper, Allen
and Company at Ee. I per acre per annum. Messrs. Cooper, Allen
and Company having extracted all the babul trees which they could
find on the ground, during the first ten years of their lease, were
only too anxious to be released from their contract, as they found
that it was impossible for them to manage such a small area
economically, and it is quite certain that the firm would not again
enter into such an undertaking.

18. The result of Mr. Fremantle's and Mr. Courthope's en-
quiries from the zamindars and the Collectors in the Jhansi,Hamir-
pur, Jalaun, Agra and Muttra districts is exactly the same as
that reported in 1913 by Mr. Courthope, namely, that there is no
hope of zamindars doing anything towards reclaiming and afforest-
ing their lands of their own free will, at their own initiative and at
their own expense at the present juncture. All Collectors agree in
stating that if anything is to be done, Government must first show
the way by establishing profitable plantations— profitable, that is,
from either a financial or protective point of view — in each district.

Reclamation by Government, who might either acquire or lease
the land and manage it through the agency of one of its depart-
ments, either as a protective measure in the interests of the general
community or as a profitable investment. As recognized in reso-
lution no. 348, dated the 26th August, 1912, a time has been
reached in the economic development of these provinces when
something must be done to utilize the vast area of waste land
from which neither Government nor the zamindars derive any
revenue. If Government is satisfied that, for this reason, and
with the object of preventing the further waste of good cultivated
land and consequent decrease in revenue, it is essential that the
ravines should be reclaimed, and, if it can be done in no other
way, Government can only have recourse to one or other of these
measures. There is no doubt that, looked at from a strictly com-
mercial point of view, acquisition of the land would be the most
profitable course for Government to adopt, find, where it is possible

( 6lA )

to obtain large tracts of such waste land without unduly injuring
the interests and sentimental susceptibilities of the landholders,
it is the course to be recommended before all others. On the
other hand, by taking the lease of such land Government could
obtain absolute control of larger areas without incurring the large
initial expenditure necessary for acquisition and without depriving
landholders of their proprietary rights to which they attach so
much importance.

19. Reclamation by co-operation between Government and
the landholders as is being done in the Etawah district and as His
Honour the Lieutenant- Governor has suggested to the durbaris
of the Jhansi division. Under this method Government recog-
nizing the inability of the majority of landholders to find the
necessary funds for the works of reclamation, would be prepared
to incur all the necessary expenditure and to reimburse itself from
the first profits obtained from the reclaimed area, while after the
capital expenditure incurred had been paid off, all further profits
would be paid over to the landholders themselves. At first sight
this may appear to be a sooiewhat one-sided arrangement, in that
Government takes all the risk of the scheme proving a financial
failure, while, if it is a success, the landholder receives all the
profits. But it must be remembered that, whether the scheme is
a financial success or not, Government reaps the indirect advan-
tages already referred to. Under this method of management the
landholders voluntarily put their lands under the control of a
Government department.

20. The writers are agreed that the scheme outlined by His
Honour the Lieutenant-Governor at Jhansi is that which present
the greatest advantages to the zamindars, but, in view of their
enquiries in the districts, it would not appear that any considerable
number of landholders at present realize these advantages suffi-
ciently to induce them to make application under section 38 of the
Forest Act, and they think it will be difficult to form divisions of
manageable size from the lands of those willing to do so.

21. A scheme has been proposed for the reclamation of ravine
tracts in the Etawah and Agra districts which combines the four
methods outlined above for, under the management of the Etawah
division, it is proposed to include (a) a small piece of land bought
outright by Government, (b) the remainder of the Fisher forest
which is held by Government under a lease, (c) the ravine tracts
of landholders who have applied to Government for help under
section 38 of the Forest Act, in which Government is to incur all
the expenditure, and (d) the Bhadawar Estate in the Agra district,
in which the estate proposes to find the money.

( 62A )

The writers are convinced that similar schemes might be pre-
pared in the Jhansi, Hamirpur, and Jalaun districts, in each of
which Government at present owns small areas, which cannot be
managed economically in themselves.

22. Reclamation by means of taqavi loans. — During the course
of his tour Mr. Fremantle met a considerable number of land-
holders who, although they were not prepared to give up control
over any part of their ravine tracts, expressed their readiness to take
steps to check the erosion of the cultivation by reclaiming and
afforesting an adjoining strip of ravines by means of taqavi
advances. Both Mr. Fremantle and Mr. Courthope are agreed
that, while zamindars could construct field embankments by means
of taqavi loans and should be encouraged to do so, and might also
construct ravine bandhs as aided works in times of famine, it
would be impossible for landholders to carry out the full work of
reclamation, which includes afforestation, on taqavi loans, partly
because they have not the requisite knowledge, and partly because
it is unlikely that they would personally devote the time and care
necessary for the supervision of afforestation work. As the present
afforestation staff is not large enough to supervise a number of
small works scattered about the districts, the writers do not advise
that taqavi loans should be given for such work as a general
principle until the staff is very much increased, but they think
that a few such loans might be given as an experimental measure,
in localities situated close to works now being undertaken depart-
mentally on a larger scale, on condition that the work is carried
out by the zamindars on lines laid down by afforestation officers.

• 23- In this connection Mr. Fremantle suggests an entirely
new scheme. Hitherto the idea has been that operations in each
estate, whether carried out by Government or by the landholders
themselves, should be spread over a period of about 20 years, «so
that not only should the expenditure be distributed over a number
of years, but that when the whole tract has been worked over, the
receipts should constitute a regular income. Mr. Fremantle
suggests that the Afforestation department should also work more
on the lines of a firm of contractors, that is, they should reclaim
and afforest a given block of ravines for a landholder as a single
operation, and that, after the completion of the work, that is,
perhaps, after two years, the responsibility of the department
should cease. The expenditure incurred by Government would not
be repaid by the landholder, unless he desired to do so, but- he
would pay a fixed annual rate per acre of land reclaimed, sufficient
to cover the interest on the expenditure involved, including the
cost of the establishment employed, which would probably amount

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to Ee. 1 or Be. 1-8-0. This procedure would be somewhat similar to
the system under which inundation bandhs are made in Bundel-
khand by the Irrigation department and an annual rate charged per
acre of land affected. While Mr. Courthope is ready to admit that
such a scheme 'has decided advantages, such as that Government
incurs no risk of a financial failure and receives from the start a fair
return on its money, he is of the opinion that few landholders
would be likely to pay an annual rent or tax on their own land for
the sake of protecting their cultivation on behalf, mainly, of their
heirs. On the other hand, Mr. Fremantle thinks that some of
those landholders who have expressed their readiness to take
taqavi, on which they will have to pay 6 per cent interest, and
which they would ultimately have to repay, and carry out the work
of reclamation themselves would certainly be willing to let a
department do the work without in any way assuming control of
the land when the work has been done, if they only have to pay
what corresponds to interest on the loan and were not compelled
to repay the capital except at their own desire. Mr. Courthope
thinks that, even if landholders were found, reclamation work done
in this way would prove a failure because landholders would not
take the trouble to maintain the bandhs, and that they would allow
their tenants to ruin the plantations, as soon as they were estab-
lished, by ruthless lopping and unrestricted grazing, and that even
if the landholders were bound down to certain lines of management
— a procedure of which Mr. Fremantle disapproves on the grounds
that if the landholder is paying an annual rental for the reclama-
tion he is entitled to treat his land as he pleases— it would require
too large a staff to ensure the terms of the agreement being
carried out.

Here, again, Mr. Freinantle does not agree, as he claims that a
zamindar, who is paying for the successful reclamation of his land,
is sufficiently alive to his own interests to maintain the improve-
ment effected.

24. Mr. Fremantle considers this scheme applicable mainly to
narrow strips of ravines running up from the main blocks of
ravines into stretches of cultivation which perhaps it might not be
possible to include in larger schemes, and also for the purpose of
forming a narrow belt of afforested land across the heads of the
ravines to protect the uplands from further erosion. Mr. Court-
hope admits Mr. Fremantle's contention that, if successful, this
scheme would result in a larger area of cultivated land being pro-
tected at a smaller cost and more quickly than by reclaiming and
afforesting compact blocks of ravines, but thinks that a special
officer with a separate staff would have to be employed to supervise

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such work. Mr. Fremantle is very strongly of opinion that an
experiment on these lines should be undertaken.

25. Reclamation by famine works. — The writers think that
there can be no doubt that the construction of a series of small
bandhs in the ravines is a work which is eminently suitable for
famine labour. In the first place it is a work which cannot be
swamped and which can be adipted to suit either large or small
numbers. In the second place it is a work which can be closed
down immediately without leaving the work in an uncompleted
condition and in the third place it is a work on which even the
younger children can earn their daily allowance. In the Etawah
district some work was actually carried out successfully in the
recent famine, and it is believed that some officers of the Public
Works department are now convinced that the work is suitable.
In their opinion it is better adapted to Civil Works than to large
Public Works and this is probably the case, but the writers think
that it will be found that there are no insuperable objections to the
work being done on a large scale also. They admit the difficulty
of preparing detailed projects in advance, but fail to see the
necessity for this. As far as they understand famine procedure,
it is only essential that Government should be satisfied in advance
that works have been provided sufficient to give labour to as many
persons as are likely to seek employment, and that an estimate of
the amount of money required should be prepared. From an
experiment made by Mr. Courthope with an officer of the Public
Works department — and other similar experiments could be carried
out — it was ascertained that the average amount of earthwork
per acre would be about 1,680 cubic feet, which is sufficient to
keep about 80 persons, including quite young children, employed
for one day. Assuming a famine work to continue for 150 days,
a work extending over ravines aggregating 4,000 acres would be
necessary for 2,000 persons.

But the writers also claim that famine labour can also be
employed on other operations necessary for reclamation such as
the breaking-down of ridges between ravines, and preparing ridges
and pits for sowing and planting. Moreover, they claim that in
areas already under the process of reclamation a very large amount
of labour can be employed at ordinary rates in years of scarcity,
thus in many oases probably avoiding the necessity of opening
relief works.

*6- The writers wish to lay special stress on one point,
however, namely, the absolute necessity of Government assuming
control, in some form or other, of all large blocks of ravines
reclaimed by famine labour for which Government has paid or, ia

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other words, that no such work should be inaugurated in any land
which does not belong to Government or in which Government
has not obtained control by agreement with the landholders. .For
this reason they strongly recommend that, in anticipation of sub-
sequent famines, Government should, as soon as possible, select
certain areas in which to carry out works of relief, and that it
should either acquire such areas, or lease them, or arrive at some
agreement with the landholders concerned.

27. Establishment necessary for reclamation. — Whether Gov-
ernment undertakes the departmental management of ravine tracts
for the purposes of reclamation, as suggested by His Honour the
Lieutenant-Governor in his speech at Jhaiisi, or whether the
zamindars can be induced to undertake the work at their own
expense, it is obvious that there must be a supply of trained sub-
ordinates to supervise the work on behalf of either Government or
the landholders. It is equally obvious that it would be impossible
suddenly to train a large number of such men on the declaration of
famine. The writers think therefore that a few remarks under this
head will not be out of place in this report-

28 In the first place Mr. Courthope is strongly of opinion that
all subordinates should be specially recruited and trained for this
work of reclamation and afforestation and that, when this has been
done, no more subordinates should be recruited from the Forest
department. The excellent forest training given to provincial officers
and subordinates at Dehra Dun College and the Bamnagar training
class is to a large extent wasted on men whose work is to afforest
waste land, and, although the services of officers recruited for the
Forest department are entirely at the disposal of Government for
any branch of forest work, ii cannot be denied that provincial officers
and subordinates would never be really contented to spend the
rest of their service in afforesting bare ravines, while if officers
after being trained in afforestation work are to be transferred back
to ordinary forest divisions, the work of reclamation must suffer.
There are three classes of men who will be required. In the first
place in each block of about 2,000 acres in which work is being
' carried out there must be a. man corresponding to a " forester,"
who will be directly responsible for carrying out the necessary
operations correctly. From three to five of such small charges
would be grouped under men of higher educational qualifications
who would supervise all works, and two or three of these larger
charges would be grouped under the control of an officer, corre-
sponding in rank to an Extra-Assistant Conservator of Forests, who
would work as a sub-divisional officer to the Afforestation officer
and who would be provided with a small office establishment.

13

( 66A )

As regards the training of these officers the writers are of opinion
that, while the lower-paid subordinates corresponding to foresters
need only be taught the practical work by attaching them to
existing works and making the officers in charge of these works
responsible for their training, as is now actually being done, a class
should be started for upper subordinates to teach them such sub-
jects as accounts and surveying, as well as the rudiments of horti-
culture and arboriculture. The officers of the provincial service
might be trained by short periods of deputation to the Roorkee
surveying and engineering classes to and the Saharanpur gardeners
class and also by attaching them for a short time to the offices
of District Engineers, the remaining part of their training being
purely practical.

29. At the present time, excluding the newly-formed Etawah
division, the establishment at the disposal of the Afforestation
officer consists of two Extra-Assistant Conservators of Forests and
a few men of the forester class who are being trained. One of the
provincial officers is in charge of the Hamirpur sub-division and
has under his control less than 7,000 acres, while the other, in
charge of the Orai sub-division, has only 1,500 acres in the Jalaun
and Cawnpore districts. It is self-evident that both of these
officers with the assistance of trained subordinates can control a
very much larger area and therefore blocks for future reclama-
tion should, if possible, be selected within reasonable distance of
the blocks already under their control, so that, when it becomes
necessary to start famine work or if the landholders of these
blocks can be induced to undertake the work or to co-operate
with Government, these officers will be able to supervise the work
in the land reclaimed by these means. But, in a subsequent
paragraph, the writers have given their reason for considering it
most important that certain forest reserves along the Dhasan river
should be transferred from the Jhansi division to the Afforestation
division and think that another provincial officer will be required
to control these as well as any reclamation work undertaken in
the Mau and Garotha tahsils by means of famine labour or by co-
operation with the zamindars. With a view to filling this post and
to the relief of the present officers who may wish from time to time
to proceed on leave, and to ensuring against emergencies and
possible extension in other districts, the writers strongly recommend
that at least two and preferably three such officers should be
immediately recruited and trained. As regards the men of the
upper subordinate class, eight could now ba employed in the Eta-
wah and Afforestation divisions, although some of the charges would
be small The writers think that right men should be trained at once

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and that, for the next few years, four should be trained annually.
The writers recommend an incremental scale of pay rather than
grade pay for each class of officer.

30. Having discussed the general possibilities of schemes for
the reclamation of ravines, and the opinion of landholders on the
subject, the various ways of carrying out such schemes and the
establishment which would be necessary, it only remains for the
writers to make definite recommendations (1) as to what blocks of
ravines appear most suitable for reclamation, whenever Govern-
ment is prepared to extend operations, and (2) as to what steps
should be taken by government in the immediate future.

31. In an appendix the writers have given a description of the
blocks in each district, in which they think that operations should
first be started. In selecting these blocks they have taken into
consideration the following main points : —

(1) The proximity of areas already undergoing reclamation.

(2) The necessity of increasing existing blocks up to areas of

economic size.

(3) The suitability of the blocks for famine relief works.

(4) Accessibility of the blocks.

(5) The sentiments of the landholders concerned.

Further information as to these blocks, as well as of their ad-
joining and intervening blocks, which might subsequently be inclu-
ded in the general scheme of reclamation, will be found in Mr.
Fremantle's notes on the '265 villages which he visited, copies of
which have been filed in the offices of the Director of Land Records
and Agriculture and the Afforestation Officer, and maps of the dis-
tricts, with these village areas as far as possible roughly grouped
into blocks, have been filed in the Afforestation office. "

32. No blocks in the Agra district have been included, as Mr.
Courthope has already submitted a separate report for the Bhadawar
Estate and, as regards famine relief works, it is understood
that the officers of the Irrigation department are making a report.
As already indicated in paragraph 13, Mr. Courthope does not
consider the few scattered blocks of ravines found in the Muttra
district suitable for reclamation. There is a small area, about 80
acres near Baldeo, which it is believed the Collector of the district
wishes to have reclaimed as a demonstration area and on which
Mr. Courthope has written a note which the Collector has forward-
ed to the Commissioner. There is a large area of grass land in
the Muttra district situated most suitably for the establishment of
really valuable fuel and fodder reserves, but with such land this
report has no concern.

( 68A )

33. With regard to the steps to be taken by Government in
the immediate future the following are the writers' recommenda-
tions : —

(1) In their opinion the first and most important step is the

recruitment and training of a sufficient number of sub-
ordinate officers and they go so far as to say that, until
the staff has been thus strengthened, reclamation work
can be undertaken in no ravines other than those already
under the control of the Afforestation officers.

(2) The writers recommend that Government should instruct

District Officers to ascertain definitely the" willingness or
otherwise of the landholders in the blocks recommended
for reclamation in the appendix, (a) to reclaim and affor-
est their ravines at their own expense under the manage-
ment of Afforestation officers, (b) to hand over their land
for reclamation at the expense of Government on terms
similar to those proposed to the Btawab zamindars,
(c) to lease their land to Government, or (d) to sell their
land. If the zamindars are willing to adopt any of these
courses the writers recommend that definite arrangements
should be made so that when a Sufficient staff has been
trained the work of reclamation can begin without delay.
If there is any landholder with whom no settlement can
be effected, the writers think that, in view of the im-
portance of the objects to be attained, Government
should acquire the land.

(3) The writers would like to recommend the immediate

transfer of the forest reserves along the Dhaaan river to
the Afforestation division, because, situated as they are
at various points along, the river, they are particularly
well-adapted for demonstrating to the zamindars the
possibilities of raviue-reclamation, while in their present
state they constitute an excuse for zamindars for refrain-
ing from participation in any schemes on the ground that
Government is doing nothing to improve the land which
it already controls. But they are convinced that it is
not possible to manage these areas satisfactorily until the
establishment has been strengthened. They recommend
» therefore that these blocks should be transferred as
soon as a sufficient staff of upper subordinates has been
trained.

A. W. FREMANTLE.

E. A.^COURTHOPE.

( 69A )

APPENDIX.
Block I.— Garotha Block.

Situation. — The block selected is situated on the Lakheri
nala, a tributary of the Dhasan river in the Garotha
tahsil of the Jhansi district, within two miles of the
metalled G-arotha-Punch road, about 25 miles from
Punch station.

Area. — The block includes land belonging to eight villages as
follows : —

Tola ... 200 acres. Garotha Khas ... 500 acres.

Birona
Bangra
Gohana
Total area

400 „ Garotha Khurd ... 400

1,200 „ Garotha Rund ... 350

800 „ Balwantpura ... 1,000

4,850 „

Ownership.— Two Marwaris, residents of Jhansi and Garotha,
hold large shares in five villages, while the remaining
shares of these five villages and the whole of the other
three are held by many pattidars, chiefly Ahirs, Lodhis,
and Brahmans, only one eight-anna share in one village
being held by Thakurs.

Reasons for selection. — This block will provide work in times
of famine for the northern part of the 'Garotha tahsil.
It is believed that another block has been selected for
this purpose by the officers of the Irrigation department,
but Mr. Fremantle considers that, although this block
is more suitable from the point of view of famine work
only, the block which he has selected will prevent erosion
over a much larger area of cultivated ground. It is close
to an existing forest reserve. The writers think that it
would be advisable that in this tract reclamation work
should be begun in some area not belonging to members
of the Thakur community, whose prejudice against any
interference with their land is strong, and, in selecting
this block, special importance has been given to this
point.

NOTB. — The block being situated so far from the railway, reclamation of this area must
be considered as protective and not remunerative.

Block II. — Gursarai Block,

Situation. — The block selected is situated on the right bank
of the Betwa river in the Garotha tahsil of the Jhansi
district about eight miles east of Eraoh, and about 12 to
14 miles from the Ait and Punch stations.

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Area. — The block includes land belonging to seven villages as

follows : —

Qokul ... 500 acres. Kundri ... 1,200 acres.

Dunri ... 1,400 „ Maleta ... 1,800 „

Janjaria (deserted) 750 ,, Gothi ... 700 „
Shahpura ... 500 „

Total area ... ... 6,850 acres.

Ownership. — These villages are part of the Gursarai Jagir and
are held under the Jagirdar by a large number of
pattidars, chiefly Ahirs, Bvahmans and Thakurs, whose
rights in the ravine tracts are uncertain. The Jagirdar
expressed his willingness that Government should assume
management of some part of the land on some such
terms as those arranged with the Etawah landholders.

Reasons for selection. — This is the centre of a large tract of
ravines and waste land and would form a valuable
fodder reserve in times of famine, while it is not so far
from the railway as bo prevent it being managed as a
remunerative area. It is within manageable distance of
the existing forest reserves on the Dhasan river and is
suitable as a famine relief work for the western part of
the G-arotha tahsil.

*

Block III, Paricha Block.

Situation. — The block selected is situated on the left bank of
the Betwa river in the Moth tahsil of the Jhansi district
four miles from the Jhansi-Cawnpore metalled road,
seven miles from Moth station.

Area. — The block includes land from six villages as follows :—
Rarua (deserted) ... 800 acres. Saran ... 500 acres.

Paricha ... 1,200 „ Saina .. 100 „

Silari ... 600 „ Arora (deserted) ... 200 „

Total area, 3,400 aort s, of which 330 is already reserved forest controlled

by the District Officer.
Ownership. — The villages are owned by a considerable number

of pattidars, chiefly Ahirs.

Reasons fot selection. — No other large block of ravines suitable
for reclamation or for famine relief work can be found in
this part of the district.' As the incidence of grazing in
this part is less than elsewhere, less hardship would be
entailed in establishing a fuel and fodder reserve and in
carrying out operations necessary for preventing further
erosion. This block has also been selected by officers
of the Irrigation department as a suitable area for a
famine work.

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Reclamation in this area could be carried out as a remunerative
'scheme, and could be supervised by the officer in charge
of the Orai sub-division or the proposed Dhasan sub-
division.

Block IV.— Chirgaon Block.

Situation.— The block selected is situated in the Moth tahsil
of the Jhansi district on the left bank of the Betwa
river, four miles from Chirgaon station.

Area. — The block includes land from the following villages : —
Bharatpura ... 400 acres. Sikri .. 350 acres.

Dhamna ... ... 50 „ Aupara ... 1,000 ,,

Bijfa (deserted) ... 275 ,, Qhasgaon ... 50 „

Total area, 2,125 acres, of which 525 acres are reserved forest con-
trolled by the District Officer.

Ownership.—Iu two villages a Brahman resident in G-walior,
and in four villages two residents of Chirgaon have large
shares, the remainder being held by a small number of
pattidars, chiefly Ahirs and Lodhis.

Reasons for selection. — The block is suitable for a famine
relief work for the south of Moth tahsil, and being
situated close to the railway would form a valuable fuel
and fodder reserve and, as in the case of Paricha block,
oould be managed by the officer in charge of the Orai
sub-division or the proposed Dhasan sub-division.
Block V.— Khandaut Block.

Situation. — The block selected is situated in the sparsely in-
habited tract of country in the Jalalpur pargana of the
Rath tahsil of the Hamirpur district, on the right bank
of the Betwa river, about 12 miles from Kalpi railway
station.

Area. — The block includes lands from three villages as
follows :—

Acres.

Khandaut ... ... ... ... 3,500

Khadaura ... ... ... ... 300

Harsunri ... ... ... ... 500

Total area ... 4,300

Ownership. — Khandaut is owned by three Muhammadan co-
sharers, and the other two villages by two residents
of Jalalpur.

us ns for selection. — The landholders of Khandaut have
intimated their willingness to hand over their ravine
land for management by Government on some such

terms as those proposed for the Etawah zamindars, and,
of the other two landholders, one is anxious, and
the other would probably be willing, to sell the
land.

The block is situated about 10 miles from the land recently
acquired for babul plantation work at Bandhar Buzurg,
and the tract of almost deserted country north of the
road between the two places might later on be acquired
by Government as some of the landholders are anxious
to sell the land. The block is situated at the end of the
Jalalpur distributary of the Dhasan canal : it could be
managed as a remunerative area- The block is suitable
for a famine relief work for the north of fcbe Bath tahsil .

Block VI.— Muskara Block.

Situation- — The block selected is situated on the right bank
of the Barma river in the Maudaha tahsil of the
Hamirpur district, two miles from Muskara.

Area. — The block selected includes land from the following
villages : —

Acres Acres.

Mihauua ... 400 Seoni (deserted) 2,500

Muskara ... 250 Nauranga ( „ ) 300

Bihuni Kalan ... 1,000 Chilheta Rath ( „ ) 300

„ Khurd ..." 500 Chaundaura ( „ ) 700

Total area, 5,950 acres, of which 3,800 acres are deserted.

Ownership. — The landholder of Bihuni Kalan village is a
resident in Jalalpur and is anxious to sell his land. Mr.
Fremantle was not able to get into touch with the other
landholders, but, in view of the amount of deserted
land, he thinks that it is probable that they would be
willing to sell their land or to oo-operate with
Government in some scheme of reclamation.

Reasons for selection. — The area is only eight miles from the
newly-acquired Bandhar Buzurg plantation which the
writers think should be enlarged. It is close to a good
road and also to the proposed extension of the Cawnpore-
Banda line (Sumerpur-Harpalpur branch), and although
it is at present too far from a railway line to be managed
as a remunerative work, it would be advisable to obtain
control of the land in anticipation of the new line being
constructed, more specially as so much of the land is
deserted. In times of famine it would provide a relief
work for the eastern part of the Maudaha tahsil,

( 73A )

Block VII.— Seonri Block.

Situation. — The block selected is situated on the right bank
of the Dhasan river in Panwari-Jaitpur pargana of the
Kulpahar tahsil in the Hamirpur district, 20 miles
from Harpalpur station.

Area. — The block selected includes land from nine villages as
follows : —

Acres. Acres.

Maleta ... 300 Gohani Pauwan .. 300

Kachaucha ... 500 Sakranda Rath

Gugarwala .. 600 Salaya Khas

Ajit (deserted) ' ... 150 Jhannabira

Seonri

150
100
800
1,500

Total area, 4,400 acres.
Ownership. — Three villages are held by Lalas of Banda, three
by Parihar Thakurs, one by a widow of Basela, and
only two by a large number of pattidars.
Reasons for selection. — The area is opposite the Motikatra
forest reserve on the left bank of the river in the Jhansi
district and is close to the Islampur distributary of the
Dhasan canal, from which waste water should be avail-
able. The reclamation of this block would prevent a large
amount of erosion as its frontage is about seven miles.
It would provide famine relief work for the western part
of the Kulpahar tahsil. It was one of the blocks pro-
posed for reclamation by Mr. Stevenson, i.c.s., lately
Collector of Hamirpur, but it is an area in which work
must be looked upon as protective only.

Block VHI.-Sikri Block.

Situation. — The block selected is situated on the left bank of
the Betwa river in the Oral tahsil of the Jalaun district,
about 10 miles from Ait and! Oral railway stations.
Area.— The block includes land from four villages as follows : —

Acres. Acres.

Sikri ... ... 1,700 Kamtha ... ... 1,500

Kahta ... ... 1,100 Makrecha ... ... 400

Total area ... 4,700
Ownership. — These villages are owned by a number of resident

pattidars, chiefly Thakurs, Brahmans and Lodhis.
Reasons for selection. — The areas is opposite the junction of the
Dhasan and Betwa rivers, close to which the existing
Thorro and Burmain forest reserves are situated. It is
within a mile of the Hamirpur branch of the Betwa
canal from which waste water should be available. It

" 14

( 74A ) _ ,

would provide famine relief work for the south-western
portion of the Orai tahsil with headquarters at Kotra,
and, being only four miles from the Kotra-Orai road,
would be a remunerative block.

Block IX.— Tikar Block.

Situation. — The block selected is situated on the left bank of
the Betwa river in the Orai tahsil of the Jalaun district,
about eight miles from Orai.

Area. — The block includes land from three villages as
follows : —

Acres. Acres.

Rampura ... SOO • Dhanupura (deserted) ... 500

Tikar ... ... 2,000 Airi - ... ... 300

Bindhauli ... 1,200

Total area ... 4,300

Ownership. — Four villages are owned by a small number of
pattidars, chiefly Lodhis and Brahmans, the remaining
one by a resident of Kisaulia.

Reasons for selection. — The chief reason for the selection of
this block is that the 13-annas proprietor of Tikar village
has expressed his willingness that Government should
take over part of his ravines on the Etawah system,
while there is a further large area in the deserted village.
The 1,200 acres included from the Bindauli village is
only about a quarter of the whole of this village's tract
of ravines. Of the remaining villages one consists of
one house only. The block is within a mile of the
Hamirpur branch of the Betwa canal and would provide
famine relief work for the southern portion of the Orai
tahsil with headquarters at Air Khas. Being situated
BO close to Orai it would be a remunerative block.

Block X.— Kalpi Block.

Situation. — This block is situated between the existing Kalpi

Babul Eeserve and the river.
Area. — The block includes land from three villages as

follows . —

Dhaman ... 1,500 acres Hamidpur ... 200 acres.

Rar ... 300 „

Total area... 2,000 „

Ownership. — Twelve annas share of the village of Dhaman is
held by four Ahir pattidars ; the balance of the village
and the whole of the two smaller villages are held by
Brahmans of Kalpi.

( 75A )

Reasons for selection. — The existing area of reserve is about
1,500 acres. The addition of the area would bring it up
to 3,500 acres, which is large enough to form a block of
eoonomical size. The holder of the eight-anna share
of Dhaman seems not unwilling for some of his ravine
land to be managed by Government.

APPENDIX IX.

A report on the ravines of the Bhadawar Estate (1915), Agra
district, by E. A. COUBTHOPE, ESQ., I.F.S.

1. The investigation, of which the following is a report, has
been made in compliance with instructions received in a demi-
official letter no. 132, dated the 19th August, 1914, from the Under
Secretary to Government. In view of the recent orders to Mr. A.
W. Fremantle and myself to take into consideration the question
of providing work for famine labourers, I arranged with the Super-
intending Engineer, 3rd circle, who bad also received orders to
rep~ort on the suitability of ravine reclamation for famine works,
that Mr. Eoche, Executive Engineer, lower division, Agra canal,
should make his investigation simultaneously.

2. The whole of the Bhadawar estate is situated in the Bah
tahsil, between the Jumna and Chainbal rivers in that corner of
the Agra district which adjoins the Etawah district. I believe
that the estate owns entirely or in part 29 villages, but this report
is only concerned with those in which there is ravine land. There
•are 19 of these and the total area of the ravine tracts is 12,859
acres, according to the . list supplied to me by the tahsildar of Bah,
which is attached to this report. This ravine land does not form
one compact block, but the different tracts are within a reasonably
short distance of each other.

3. It is necessary to give a detailed description of these
ravines ; while the ravines in some villages are more rugged than
in others, and the " bottoms " of some ravines are wider than those
of others, the ravine tract of this part of the Agra district, taken
as a whole, is very much the same as the larger tract in the
Etawah district. At the tops of some of the ravines there are a
few fields which have been reclaimed by means of field " bandhis "
but in this respect the villagers of the Agra district seem to be
less enterprising than those of the Etawah district.

4. There can be no doubt at all that the ravines of the Bah
tahsil, as in the Etawah district, are rapidly cutting back into the
cultivation ; at the tops of all those ravines, which begin with
a sheer drop, can be seen great blocks of earth which have fallen in
quite recently and which next rains will be washed away alto-
gether. It is easy to find old inhabitants who can remember the
time when ground now scored by ravines was under cultivation.
At one village we saw a place where a bandh had been made at the
head of a ravine some years ago in order to form a small tank.

( 77A )

From the trees now growing there it was possible to see what tho
level of the tank had been. From want of attention the bandh had
been breached with the result that the bed of the ravine had scoured
out to a depth of fully 20', while the head of the ravine was each
year creeping farther back into the fields. From enquiries and
from observations Mr. Roche and I are agreed that the average
annual encroachment of those ravines is about 15'.

5. In this connection some apparently grotesque statistics are
not without interest as helping to illustrate the enormous wastage
of good soil that is resulting from the erosion in ravine tracts. In
the Etawah district there is good evidence that 400 years ago the
land, now intersected by innumerable ravines was level ground.
A rough calculation shows that, at a minimum estimate, during
this period about 150",000,000 cubic feet of earth have been washed
away. This means that for every second of the 400 years 11 cubic
feet have been washed out of the Etawah district in canal phrase-
ology 11 cusecs. Although, as I have mentioned, the above
is a minimum estimate, the result will appear to be sufficiently
appalling if the figure is put at 5' cuseos, if it is realized that
there has been a constant outflow of earth in a stream 24' wide and
2' deep flowing at the rate of one mile in three hours, which is
about the rate of an ordinary canal distributary, for the last 400
years. Another way of illustrating the loss may be found in dividing
the total area of the ravine tracts in each district by the period
of 400 years. Thus it will be found that in the Etawah district
there has been a loss of 250 acres per annum, while in the Bah
tahsil about 160 acres appears to have disappeared each year. If
we put this figure at only 100 acres per annum the loss would
seem to be sufficiently serious.

6. As being useful for the purpose of estimating the number
of labourers for whom work could be found in times of famine as well
as for the purpose of estimating the cost of reclaiming ravines, I sug-
gested to Mr. Roche that we should lay out the sites for all bandhs
on a known area. Mr. Roche agreed that the map attached to this
report shows the ravine system which we worked over in the
village of Chitra. The total catchment area of this ravine system is
320 acres, and in these ravines we laid out 42 bandhs. The total
area of ravine tract which would be reclaimed, that is excluding all
present cultivation, would be 250 acres.

By taking measurements of all the sites we have calculated
that the total amount of earthwork in these 42 bandhs would be
420,000 cubic feet. The bandhs vary greatly in size, one bandh
being as much as 50,000 cubic feet. Using ordinary labour the cost
would be about Rs, 1,260, using famine labour the cost would be

( 78A )

about Es. 1,680. Mr. Koche and I are agreed that the area select-
ed for this experiment was a fairly average one, beicg, if anything,
ratber more difficult than others which we inspected. In some
ravines fewer bandhs might be necessary, but in that case they
would probably be larger ones. So it may be taken that the cost of
" bandhing" such ravine tracts, apart from the cost of other works
necessary for reclamation, would be about Rs. 5 per acre. It may
also be calculated that the construction of bandhs would keep one
man and his family occupied on each acre of ravines for about a
fortnight.

7. It is also useful to note that Mr. Roche and myself laid out
and measured these bandhs aggregating 420,000 cubic feet in three
days working only in the mornings for about four hours. From this
it is obvious that similar projects for famine works can easily be
laid out by any trained officer at very short notice, and Mr. Roohe
and I are agreed that only in this way can such projects be laid out.
We have had a survey of the area which we dealt with made by the
surveyor employed by the estate and his map is attached,^ but it is
extremely doubtful whether work? managers could, from this map,
again locate the position of the bandhs in spite of the measurements
given. Moreover, it would be an expensive bu iness to have such
surveys made over large areas. For the purpose of making esti-
mates it would be quite sufficient to calculate the probable earth-
work by the area, as already shown, and trained men should be
employed to lay out bandhs a short time before it is decided to
start work.

8. After completing this experiment Mr. Roche and I inspect-
ed the following tracts belonging to the Bhadawar estate in
addition to Chitra in which we made our experiment, and in
addition to certain ravines not belonging to the estate with which
this report has no concern : Naugawan, Khilaoli, Shahpur Gujar,
Garwar and Nandgawan. None of these areas seemed to present
any special difficulties. The ravines of Nandgawan, typical of the
Chambal ravines, are somewhat deeper than those of Chitra and
other Jamna ravines in those parts ; on the other hand, those of
Khilaoli and Shahpur Gujar would be far easier to deal with than
those of Chitra, in that the slopes are not so steep and ploughs
could be employed almost everywhere without any preliminary
digging.

9. I have been especially instructed to report whether it would
be possible to combine a scheme for the reclamation of the ravnes of
the Bhadawar estate with that already inaugurated for the reclamation
of the Btawah ravines. I admit that, before making any investiga-
tion, 1 thought that this was extremely unlikely, as I thought that

( 79A )

the officer in charge of the Etawah division would have as much as
he could conveniently manage in the Etawah district, and I did not
realize how close to Etawah the Bhadawar estate was. Since
Mr. Liddiard has demarcated out the ravine tracts which are to be
handed over to the management of the Forest department in the
Etawah district, however, it appears that the total area to be
managed in that district, including the Fisher Forest, is only
about 20,000 acres instead of 30,000 acres as was first estimated.
Moreover, I find that Chitra Hat or Naugawan, either of which
would make a convenient centre for a new range if formed, are ac-
tually closer to Etawah than either Chakarnagar or Bhareh, which
are likely to be the headquarters of two of the three Etawah ranges.
Therefore, so long as work in the Agra district is confined to the
Bhadawar estate, and until more land comes under the manage-
ment of the Etawah division in the Etawah district, I think that
there is no reason why the officer in charge of that division should
not supervise work in the Bhadawar estate. But it must be
recognized that, as this work of reclamation extends, as it must
extend in both districts, it is quite certain that eventually another
division will have to be formed whether the land managed belongs
to the zamindars or to Government.

10. Having dealt with that aspect of the case I now turn to
a matter which is of more immediate importance to the estate
itself, more especially as I understand that the Court of Wards, on
behalf of the owner, would probably be willing to undertake the
work without financial assistance from Government, namely, the
question of the probability of the scheme proving remunerative.
This work of reclaiming ravines by means of bandhs and afforesta-
tion is a new work and it is not possible, therefore, to point to any
block of reclaimed ravines, on which plantations have been estab-
lished, as a proof that the revenue directly resulting from the work
done represents a fair return on the expenditure incurred. More-
over, I do not think that this is quite a fair way to examine the
project, for it must be remembered that not only will the reclama-
tion result in direct revenue from the land reclaimed, but it also
prevents loss of revenue from the land now under cultivation
which would inevitably be destroyed by the encroachment of
the ravines. Moreover, families who on account of the destruction
of their fields would emigrate to other estates in less precarious
localities will find employment in the plantations or in breeding
cattle on the improved pastures.

11. I think that a fair comparison may be drawn between the
reclamation of these ravine tracts and reclamation of the sand
dunes in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux — Les Landes in France.

( 80A )

It is almost inconceivable that the French Government of
about 100 years ago can have hoped to establish valuable coni-
ferous forests on those vast stretches of apparently pure silver sand,
but the Government did realize that it was possible and necessary
to check the encroachment of the sand on to the inland cultiva-
tion. Accordingly the French Forest department began to hold up
the shifting sand by planting tufts of coarse grass and when these
were buried the forest officers planted more. It is easy to imagine
the despair of these officers at the apparent hopelessness of their
task, but they persevered and in the end their patient efforts over-
came the forces of nature. The shifting sand was fixed and they
began to sow seed. On what was once a rolling waste of sand now
flourish dense pine forests, in which the peasants find ample work
for themselves and pasture for their cattle and behind the shelter of
which they cultivate their fields in security.

The work still goes on, more and more sand is reclaimed, and
it is noteworthy that here, as in other very different localities, the
French Forest department is content to go preparing the ground
for future afforestation for 20 or 30 years before sowing or planting
any trees.

12. Similarly I do not think that it is necessary for Govern-
ment or for an estate to look too closely into the financial possibili-
ties of schemes for the reclamation of ravines in the first instance.
Nevertheless figures would seem to show that the scheme for the
reclamation of the ravines of the Bhadawar estate is bound to be
remunerative. I understand from the Collector of Agra that the
estate could probably afford to invest a sum of about Es. 15,000
annually in this project.

I have calculated that with this sum of money it would be
possible to reclaim 400 acres per annum. Of the 19 villages of the
estate which comprise a total ravine area of 12,000 acres only 10,
comprising a ravine tract of 8,000 acres, are the sole property of
the estate and it would be better to confine work to these at
first.

It would therefore take 20 years to reclaim this area. Es. 15000
at 4 per cent, compound interest amounts to about 4| lakhs after
a period of 20 years.

After 20 years the 400 acres first treated would be ready for
exploitation, and thereafter 400 acres would be worked annually.
Putting the value of the growing stock after 20 years at only Es. 100
per annum, the revenue resulting from fellings alone should be
worth Es. 40,000 per annum, which is, I think, a very fur return
on the capital expenditure. But this has made no allowance for
revenue from grazing, from cut grass or from thinnings, and yet it is

( 8U )

from these sources that we mainly rely on getting early returns.
In the Kalpi plantation in the dry year 1913 we obtained a orop of
over 10,000 maunds of hay from an area of 1,000 acres. This year
after heavy rains we have obtained crop of about 12,000 maunds
from an area of 860 acres- Even assuming that there may be no sale
for hay from the ravines of the Bhadawar estate in a good year, —
and I do not admit that this is likely to be the case, — the sale for
hay in a bad year would quite compensate for the lack of revenue
from this source in a good year The price for hay in cities suoh
as Agra or Etawah in an ordinary year is about Re. 1 per maund,
while in a bad year it is Bs. 2 or more. This is for the feed of
horses. In a bad year at least Re. 1 per maund caa- be obtained
in the district for the feed of cattle. Such years of" scarcity may,
I think, be reckoned to come once in every five years.

Assuming that only half the reclaimed area was kept closed
during the monsoon to allow the grass to grow, the revenue from
the total reclaimed area would be Bs. 5 per acre, or say Rs. 4 profit,
which gives a return of about 13 annas per acre per annum.

As regards grazing under the scheme for the Etawah ravines
grazing dues can only be charged for grazing on improved areas
If the estate worked on similar lines and did not charge grazing
dues from the beginning, revenue from this source woul 1 not begin
to come in for three years, after which time 400 acres would be
ready. Thereafter the area open to grazing would increase by
400 acres each year. Re. 1 per cow or bullock is a fair fee, al-
though graziers are willing to pay more for good grazing. Under
proper management it should be possible to accommodate one head
per acre, without causing deterioration to the pasture. Assuming
that there is a sufficient demand for grazing, revenue from this
source, starting from Rs. 400 per annum after the third year of
management, should be Rs. 8,000 per annum after the 23rd year
of management.

33- 1 have attached to this report a financial forecast based
on the figures given in the last paragraph. That is, I have assumed
that a sum of JBs. 15,000 is spent each year, that for the first three
years there is no revenue at all, but that after the third year a
revenue" from grazing increasing each year by Rs. 400, that every
fivfl years with unfailing regularity there is a year of scarcity in which
the reclaimed area, and the reclaimed area only, produces a crop of
grass worth Rs. 8 per acre, and I have assumed that only half the
reclaimed area has been closed to grazing during the rains and,
finally, that, in the 20th year, the compartment sown up in the
first year is felled and the produce sold at the rate of Rs. 100 per
acre.

15

( 82A )

I have assumed that all the money spent is borrowed at 4 per
cent, compound interest ; on the other hand I have put all revenue
into a sinking fund at 4 per cent, compound interest.

It will be seen that it is not until the 21st year of management
is there a regular surplus of revenue over expenditure. It will also
be seen that in the 30th year of management the sinking fund will
be sufficient to pay off the accumulated debt, leaving the estate
with its ravines reclaimed and a valuable forest established thereon
from which a regular revenue of about Rs. 40,000 may be
expected.

It is not, of course, to be expected that the revenue and expend-
iture will actually correspond to the figure given for each year.
But I do not think that the forecast as a whole is unduly optimis-
tic. - It would not be unreasonable, for instance, to expect some
revenue from the sale of grass every year. It is quite possible that
a little revenue may be obtained from the sale of trees already grow-
ing on the ravines. There is .one factor, however, which may
entirely upset the forecast, and that is the question of supply of
labour. The forecast is based on the assumption that an area of
400 acres per annum is reclaimed. Although the estate can,
apparently, find the money necessary for this, it is possible that in
good years, when the villagers are fully occupied in their fields,
labour may be so scarce that it will be impossible to reclaim so
large an area, in which case the whole programme would be delayed.
On the other hand, it is quite certain that in years of scarcity or
famine sufficient labour could be found to reclaim a very much
larger area and in the interests of the villagers it would almost
certainly be necessary to carry out the work on a much larger scale
than usual. It is possible, therefore, that the average area reclaim-
ed annually will be much larger than 400 acres, and ia that
case the financial success of the scheme would be even better than
shown in the forecast. I do not know whether the estate would
be in a position to find the extra money required for carrying out
extra work in years of scarcity, although I suppose that Govern-
ment would be ready to assist it, but I think that in any case it
would be a satisfactory arrangement if the estate could put aside
any savings effected in any year to form an emergency fund for
years in which more money was required.

14. The Bhadawar estate is situated in a more than usually
favourable position for the establishment of fuel and fodder reserve s
in ravine tracts, for there is a metalled road from Naugawan and
Chitra to the railway, eight miles away, at Jaswantnagar on the East
Indian Railway. All the villages are within quite reasonable distance
of this metalled road and some of them are less than eight miles from

( 83A )

the railway line. There should, therefore, be a ready sale for babul
bark for Cawnpore, and of fuel and grass and timber for Agra. I
am informed also that transport by water is possible.

15. I find that the Collector of Agra is anxious that work on
these ravines should start as soon as possible, while the Assistant
Manager to the Court of Wards is anxious that it should start im-
mediately in order to provide work for needy tenants. I can see
no reason why work should not be started at Chitra at once ; the
position of all the bxndhs has been marked on the ground and some
of these at least could be constructed at once under the supervision
of the Assistant Manager. The officer in charge of the Etawah
division and perhaps the Ranger in charge of the Etawah Range
might occasionally visit the estate to assist the Assistant Manager.
When the bandlis have been constructed it will be necessary to
break down the worst of the cliffs and to plough up as much ground
as possible, before and during the monsoon. It will not be pos-
sible to do much actual afforestation this year owing to want of
establishment, but in any case the ground would have to be pre-
pared first in the manner suggested, and the sooner this is done
the better.

16. Ultimately the following establishment is likely to be
required : —

1 Supervisor on pay and allowances of about Rs. 100 per

mensem.

2 Assistants on about Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 per mensem.
10 Patrols on average pay of Rs. 10 per mensem.

The estate would have to find quarters for the supervisor and
his assistants, and the patrols would find quarters in the vilhges.

17. I think that it would be advisable that the estate should
make application under section 38 of the Forest Act, so that the
provisions of the Forest Act may be applied, but as the estate is
likely to find all the money necessary for the project, the terms of
management would be somewhat different to those drawn up for
the Etawah zamindars.

In conclusion, I will only say that I think that this is a scheme
which is likely to commend itself to Government in that it is one
which not only calls for no further expenditure on its part, but
also finds for it a sharer — if only to a very small extent — in the ex-
pense of maintaining the Etawah division.

E. A. COURTHOPE,

Deputy Conservator of Fortes,

Afforestation division.

( 84A. )
Statement no. I showing expenditure accumulated for 30 years.

Year.

Expendi-
ture.

In'erest OD
capital at
4 per cent

Total ex-
penditure
for year.

Accumulat-
ed capital.

Accumu-
lated
revenue
as per
statement
no. II.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

1st ...

15,000

...

15,000

15,000

• •

2nd ...

15,000

600

15,600

30,600

...

3rd ...

15,000

1,224

16,224

46,824

* • •

4th ...

15,000

1,872

16,872

£8,696

400

5th ...

15,000

2,548

17,548

81,244

4,416

6th ...

15,000

3,249

18,249

99,493

6,792

7th ...

- 1 5,000

3,979

18,979

1,18,472

7,623

8th ...

•15,000

4,733

19,738

1,38,210

9,927

9th ...

15,000

5,528

20,528

1,58,738

12,723

10th...

15,000

6,349

21,349

1,80,087

27,231 '

llth...

15,000

7,203

22,203

•2,02,290

31,520

12th...

15,000

8,091

23,091

2,25,381

36,380

13th...

15,000

9,015

24,015

2,49,396

41,835

14th...

15,000

9,975

24,975

2,74,371

47,908

15th...

15,000

10,974

25,974

3,00,345

73,824

16th...

15,000

12,013

27,013

3,27,358

81,976

17th...

15,000

13,094

28,094

3,57,452

90,855

18th...

15,000

14,298

29,298

3,86,750

1,00,489

( 85A )

Statement no. I showing expenditure accumulated for 30 years- (concluded)

Accumu-

" Year.

Expendi-
ture.

Interest on
capital at.
4 per cent

Total ex-
penditure
for year.

Accumula-
ted capital

lated
revenue
as per
statement

•

no. II.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs

19th...

15,000

15,470

30,470

4,17,220

1,10,908

20th...

15,000

16,668

31,688

4,48,908

1,49,344

21st ...

15,000

17,956

32,958

4,81,864

2,02,517

22nd...

15,000

19,274

34,274

5,16,138

2,58,217

23rd...

15,000

20,645

35,645

5,51,783

3,16,545

24th...

15,000

22,071

37,071

5,88,854

3,77,208

/OuQ i*t •••

15,000

23,554

38,554

6,27,408

4,72,294

26th...

15,000

25,096

40,096

6,67,594

5,39,185

27th...

15,000

26,700

41,700

7,09,204

6,08 752

I

28th...

15,000

28,368

43,368

7,52,568

6,81,102

29th...

15,000

30,102

45,102

7,97,670

7,56,346

30th...

15,000

31,906

46,906

8,44,576

8,66,599

( 86A )

Statement no. IT showing revenue accumulated for 30 years.

Sources of revenue.

Years.

Total
revenue
for year.

Accumu-
lated
revenue.

Accumu-
lated
expendi-
ture.

Grazing.

Grass in
' famine
years.

From
fellings.

Interest
on accumu-
lated
revenue.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rsi

Rs.

1st

...

...

...

...

15,000

2nd

...

...

...

- ...

30,600

3rd

'••

...

...

* • *

...

...

46,824

4th

400

...

••

400

400

63,696

5th

800

3,200

...

16

4,016

4,416

81,244

6th

1,200

...

176

1,276

5,792

99,493

7th

1,600

...

231

1,831

7,623

1,18,472

8th

2,000

• •

...

304

2,304

9,927

1,38,210-

9th

2,400

...

...

396

2,796

12,723

1,58,738

10th

2,800

11,200

508

14,508

27,231

1,80,087

llth ~.-y.

3,200

...

1,089

4,289

31,520

2,02,290

12th

3,600

...

1,260

4,860

36,380

2,25,381

13th

4,000

...

1,455

5,455

41,835

2,49,346

14th

- 4,400

...

...

1,673

6,073

47,908

2,74,371

15th

4,800

19,200

...

1.916

25,916

73,824

3,00,345

16th

5,200

...

2,952

8,152

81,976

3,27,358

17th

5,600

...

* * *

3,279

8,879

90,855

3,57,452

18th

6,000

...

* • *

8,634

9,634

1,00,489

3,86,750

( 87A )

Statement no. II revenue accumulated for 30 years— (concluded).

Yea rs .

Sources of revenue.

Total
revenue
for year.

•

Accumu-
lated
revenue.

Accumu-
lated
expendi-
ture.

Grazing.

Grass in
famine
years.

From
fellings.

Interest
on accumu-
lated
revenue.

' '

Rs.

K&

Rs

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

Rs.

19th

6,400

...

...

4,019

10,419

1,10,908

4,17,220

20th

6,800

27,200

4,436

38,436

1,49,344

4,48,908

21st

7 200

40,000

5,973

53,173

2,02,517

4,8.1,864

22nd

7,600

...

40,000

8,100

55,700

2,58,217

5,16,138

23rd

8,000

...

40,000

10,328

58,328

3,16,545

5,51,783

24th

8,000

...

•40,000

12,661

60,6bl

3,77,206

5,88,854

25th

8,000

32,000

40,000

15088

95,088

4,72,294

6,27,408

*

26th

8,000

...

40,000

18,8'Jl

60,8'Jl

5,39,185

6,67,504

27ih

8,000

...

40,000

21,56.

()9;567

6,08,752

7,09,204

28th

8,000

40,000

24,350

72,350

6,81,102

7,52,568

29th

8,000

...

40rOOO

27,244

75,244 7,56,346

7.97,670

30;,h

8,000

.....

40,000

30,253

1,10,">.53 8,66,599

8,44,576

List showing area, of ravines in Court of Wards vi'lages of the
Bhadawar Estate.

Village.

1. Bhadera

2. Chitra

3. Daipura

4. Garni Beroli

5. Garwar

6. Katohora

Area in acres.

455

428

156

887

1.079

1,290

( 88A )

Village. Area in acres.

7. Karaoni ... ... ... 285

8. Ehacharpura ... ... ... 142

9. Khilaoli ... ... ... 2,438

10. Korth ... ... ... 667

11. Mao ... ... ... 538

12. Nandgawan ... ... ... 446

13. Naoli ... ... ... 215

14. Naugawan .., ... ... 1,748

15. Nonera ... ... ... 247

16. Pai ... ... ... 627

17. Partabpura, Garhya ... ... 191

18. Shahpur Gujar .. ... 554

19. Udaip ir Khurd ... ... 466

Total ... 12,859

APPENDIX X.

Letter no. 259-L of the Qth August, 1915, from the Chief Secretary
to Government, United Provinces, to the Director of Land
Records and Agriculture, United Provinces.

I AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
no. 1054/V— 938A., dated the 26th April, 1915, with which you for-
warded a copy of the report by Messrs. Fremantle and Courthope
on the reclamation of ravine lands. The report, with the omission
of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, which are of no public interest, will be
published in the Gazette.

2. With regard to the suggestion contained in your letter that
District Boards might be empowered to acquire land with a view to
reclaiming it, I aja to say that the Lieutenant- Governor is of
opinion that at present the District Boards have their hands full,
and their finances fully occupied, with roads and education and that
the day has not yet come when they can be employed on the work
of general agricultural development.

3. The immediate action to be taken on the report will be as
follows : —

(i) The Commissioner of Jhansi is being asked to furnish
Government with his views on the specific proposals as
to the blocks of land in which work may be undertaken.

(ii) The Conservator, Eastern Circle, is being asked to in-
struct the officer in charge of the Afforestation division
to draw up a note showing how reclamation work can
be carried on by famine labour. It is proposed to
incorporate this note in the Famine Code.

(iii) Paragraphs 27-29 of the report contain certain useful
suggestions as co the training of establishment for the
work of reclamation. I am to ask that you will discuss
these with the Conservator, Eastern Circle.

4. The report raises the whole question of the agency that
should be employed iii work of this nature. The Lieutenant-
Governor is of opinion that it is a waste of power to use expert
officers of the Forest department in ravine reclamation. The pri-
mary object of the reclamation scheme is the increase of agricul-
tural efficiency and wealth, rather than forestry ; and for this
reason His Honour is inclined to the opinion that all the experi-
ments which are being carried out at present in the ravine tracts
should, in course of time, be undertaken by the Agricultural depart-
ment in preference to the Forest department. This course becomes

16

( 90A )

particularly obvious when measures are adopted for preventing the
spread of erosion, whether as part of or supplementary to the
scheme for the employment of ravine areas. Work of this nature
is clearly more in the line of the Agricultural Engineer than in
that of officers of the Forest department. The Agricultural depart-
ment would, on many points, require bhe advice and help of a
forest officer; but it should not be for the forest officer to design
or control the work. Sir James Meston would like, in course of
time, to see a large sub-department, under the Director of Agricul-
ture, for the profitable utilisation of waste lands with the checking
of erosion as one of its incidental duties To some extent, as in
the treatment of usar, its work would be one of instruction and
demonstration. In other cases, such as the reclamation of ravines,
it may need in a large measure to be kept in the hands of the
Government.

5. In time the afforestation staff may come under the Direc-
tor of Agriculture as his expert assistants in this work, specially
delegated from the Forest department for the purpose. For the
present the Afforestation officers must push on the work in the
Etawah district, but a distinct advance will be made if it is found
possible to use them for training a future staff of subordinates
for the ravine work.

6. I am to ask that you will consider the whole question jointly
with the Conservator of Forests, Eastern Circle, and favour Gov-
ernment at an early date with your views. I am also to ask that
you will work out detailed proposals for the pay, numbers and
training of staff which would eventually be employed on this work.
In their report Messrs. Courthope and Fremantle suggested that
the staff should consist of 3 classes — Lower Subordinates, Upper
Subordinates, and Officers of the status corresponding to the Pro-
vincial Service This will afford a useful basis for discussion.

7. The Lieutenant-G-overnor is anxious that a start in the
work of training should be made next cold weather. In His
Honour's opinion one provincial service officer and three or four
subordinates are all that will be needed to begin with.

8. The Conservator of Forests, Eastern Circle, is being supplied
with a copy of this letter direct.

APPENDIX XI.
Agreement with owners of ravine waste lands.

This indenture made the day of 191 Between

the Secretary of State for India in Council hereinafter called " the
Secretary of State " of the one part and eon of

resident of in the district of

hereinafter called " the owner " of the other part AND
WHEREAS the Local Government of the United Provinces of
Agra and Oudh hereinafter called " the Local Government " have
decided to take over certain areas of land upon the application
of the owner of the areas aforesaid with a view to the preservation
formation or conservation of forests thereon AND WHEREAS
the said owner made an application on the

day of to the said Local Govern-

ment praying that the land set forth in the schedule hereto
annexed may be taken over under the management of the Forest
department of the said Local Government for the purposes afore-
mentioned AND WHEREAS the said Secretary of State and the
said owner have agreed that the said land set forth in the schedule
hereto annexed shall be placed under the management of the said
Forest department subject to the following conditions: —

(1) That the land be gazetted as reserved forests under sections
4 and 19 of the Indian Forest Act (Act VII of 1878).

(2) That subject to the terms of the forest settlement the
Forest Officer appointed by the said Forest department in that
behalf shall have full powers of control regarding the treatment
of the land and allotment and regulation of grazing the felling of
trees and removal of all produce and shall have powers to close
such areas to grazing as he may deem fit for such period as he may
think necessary and to impose such grazing fees in such areas as
he may think fit.

(3) That any complaint against the action of the Forest depart-
ment or any dispute arising under this agreement shall be referred
to the Collector of the Etawah district. An appeal from the
decision of the Collector shall lie to the Commissioner of the
Allahabad division whose decision shall be final.

(4) That the Local Government will pay the whole expenditure
and take the whole of the receipts until it has repaid itself the
money which it has spent on the land set forth in the schedule
hereto annexed together with interest at 4 per cent.

(5) That when the Local Goyernment has repaid itself for its
expenditure and the said interest thereon the surplus of the income

( 92A )

arising from the said lands over and above the said expenditure and
said interest if any will be paid in each and every year to the said
owner. That until the said expenditure and said interest has been
paid off the said owner will receive no cash profits arising from the
said lands. That such income arising as aforesaid when due will
be paid to the said owner on the first day of June in each and
every year during the subsistence of these presents.

(6) That the following accounts will be maintained for each
estate and for the forest as a whole namely capital revenue a,nd
expenditure accounts.

(7) That on the receipt side of the revenue and expenditure
account will be credited all cash receipts of every description on
the expenditure or debt side of the revenue and expenditure
accounts will be entered all cash expenditure of every desoription
including Government revenue that is now assessed or may be in
future assessed on the area or the portion of the said area set forth
in the schedule hereto Annexed and both recurring and non-reour-
ring expenditure and also one-fourth of the assumed pay of all
officers of a superior grade whether gazetted or non-gazetted and
one-sixteenth of the pay of inferior servants on all establish-
ment bills to cover the cost of leave and pension for the staff and
such sum as the Local Government may fix from time to time on
the gross income to cover the cost of superior supervision.

The said owner shall have no voice in the decision of the
amount of tbe expenditure which the Forest department may con-
sider necessary.

, (8) That at the close of every financial year the revenue and
expenditure account will be totalled and the deficit or profit shall
be carried to the capital account.

(9) That for several years the expenditure will exceed the
receipts and the excess will be carried to the debit of the capital
account At the end of the financial year interest at 4 per cent,
shall be added to the total sum on the debit side of the capital
account and such interest shall be calculated on the mean
between the outstanding balance at the commencement and the
outstanding balance at the close of each financial year.

(10) That when the revenue and expenditure account shows a
profit it shall be carried to the credit of the capital account and
deducted from the total on the debit side.

(11) That when the debit balance of the capital account has
been paid off by the profits from the revenue and expenditure
account any sum standing on the credit side shall be paid to the
said owner on the 1st day of June in each year.

(12) That expenditure on works in each estate will be kept

( 93A )

separate and each estate will be debited with a share of all expen-
diture common to the whole range or the whole division propor-
tionate to the acreage but no estate will be debited with any share
of range or divisional expenditure until the estate has been
gazetted under section 4 -of the Forest Act and management
assumed by the Forest department.

(13) That the profits derived from the area belonging bo each
separate estate will be kept separately. In the event of contracts
covering two or more estates the profit and loss will be divided
proportionately tu area.

(14) That in the event of any dispute arising as to the revenue
and expenditure account the Local Government shall appoint a
chartered accountant to audit the same which audit shall be final
and the fee chargeable by such chartered accountant will be
debited to the said account.

(15) That the Secretary of State may at any time relinquish
the said lands set forth in the schedule hereto annexed.

(16) That if the Secretary of State relinquishes the said lands
the said ownor shall not be liable to pay Government any amount
that may be standing at the debit of the capital account.

AND IT IS HEREBY FURTHEE AGREED that if
any part or parts of the said land hereby taken under the manage-
ment of the Forest department by these presents shall be cleared
and broken up for the purposes of cultivation or any other purpose '
and thereby rendered liable to assessment to Government revenue
under the law in force for the time being the said Local Govern-
ment may assess such part or parts so broken up and brought
under cultivation to Government revenue AND IT IS FUB-
THER AGREED AND DECLARED that put of any rents that
shall accrue from lands placed under cultivation under the fore-
going clause one-half of the rent accruing from the same shall be
paid within days from the date of collection of

the same to the owner and the other half be placed to the credit of
the revenue and expenditure account AND IT IS HEREBY
FURTHER AGREED that if the said owner should desire at
any time to take back the land set forth in the schedule hereto
annexed into his own occupation and management he shall have the
option of doing so at the expiry of the period of the current or of
any future settlement of the land revenue of the district in which
the said land is situated upon his giving a previous 12 months'
notice expiring on the 31st March in writing of his intention so to
do to the said Local Government and upon his paying the balance
if any due on the said capital account and upon his executing an
undertaking to manage the said lands set forth in the schedule

( 94A )

hereto annexed in a manner to be laid down by the Local
Government and such land so taken shall be subject to the
payment of any Government revenue which then or may at
any time thereafter be assessed upon the said land so taken
back or any portion thereof AND m the event of a breach
of any of the terms laid down by the Local Government for
the management of the said property as aforesaid by the taid
owner then it shall be lawful for the said Secretary of State to
re-enter into and upon the said lands set forth in the schedule -
hereto annexed and occupy and manage the same under the condi-
tions laid down in this agreement for as long as the said Local
Government pays to him the said owner the profits payable to him
under this agreement.

In witness whereof the parties hereto have set their hands the
day and year first above written.

APPENDIX XII.

Note on the possibilities of afforestation in the ravines on the edge
oj the Ganges Khadir, Meerut district, by E. Benskin, Esq.,
I.F.S.

The ravines along the Ganges in the Meerut district; differ in
characteristics from those of Agra and Btawah in that they generally
start more gradually from the cultivation above, although there
are doubtless places where ravine formation is of a more serious
nature.

2. The ravines rise from the higher cultivated level and pass
directly through the khola which has an undulating appearance
and consists of little hillocks covered often with a very fair forest
vegetation and, where this is absent, with thick coarse grasses. In
the depressions between the higher level the soils is covered over
with a deep deposition of sand. On the whole the country is very
similar to some of the French sand dunes. From the khola the
ravines disappear into the khadir which is a strip of low lying and
waterlogged land covered with tall grasses, interspersed with a
certain amount of crop cultivation : it is understood that this strip
of country was once the bed of the Ganges.

The khola and khadir traverse the whole length of the eastern
boundary of the Meerut district and have a combined average
width of 1 mile.

3. Round the edge of the ravines and in the khola there is a
considerable growth of trees, but I noticed that this tree growth is
confined to those areas which are free from deep sand accumulation.
Of the more valuable tree species found on the area shisham seems
to grow fairly well, also " Holoptelia integrifolia," but there was
a noteworthy absence of natural regeneration due to some unknown
causes. Along the outer edge of the ravines " Butea frondosa "
appears to be the predominant species.

4. The soil, where not covered over with sand, is of a compact
alluvial nature, somewhat coarser in texture to the soils usually
met with in the ravines of Etawah. The water level is within a
few feet of the surface over the greater part of the khola, while in
the khadir water lies about the surface in pools throughout the
greater part of the year.

5. There is no doubt the establishment of a forest in the khola
of the Meerut district would be a most profitable undertaking
owing to the proximity of the Imperial city . part of the area is
already adjacent to the railway and it is understood that there are

( 96A )

to be further railway constructions which will completely open up
the country. Even in parts some 20 miles from the market by
road, there is a ready sale for fuel, and I was much surprised to
hear that the Court of Wards were able to sell even their dhak
forests at a good price. There is every indication that the demands
for timber and fuel will become greater in the near future and, as
the country is opened out, a forest estate would become a most
valuable property.

6. Owing to the difference in the conditions as compared with
those met with in the Btawah ravines I think it would be advis-
able, before giving any definite proposals, if some experiments were
carried out in different localities in order to determine the most
suitable species which could be introduced into the area and the
best means of raising those species. I have little doubt that
shisham plantations could be easily raised along the upper edge of
the raviaes and on the higher land within the khola: the soil condi-
tions are most certainly far superior to those prevailing in Etawah
where shisham has been so successfully raised. There are also
other species which could doubtless be introduced, such as kamhar,
" Q-melina arborea "; tendu, "Diospyros melanoxylon "; teak,
"Teotona grandis ";sirsa, '* Albizzia prooera;" kusam, "Sohleichera
trijuga;" all of which are known to be easily established on ravine
soils.

As regards the depressions covered with a deep deposition of
sand, I am doubtful whether the soil conditions are sufficiently
suitable for direct afforestation, and it will probably be found that
soil improvement operations will be necessary for many years before
any planting or eowing operations could be successfully under-
taken. Owing, however, to the proximity of water to the surface
it may be possible to find species which will overcome these
difficulties. I propose that experimental plots of 5 — 10 acres each
be selected in the following positions in order to determine the
best means of afforesting each class of land found within the khola,
and also what operations should be undertaken to improve the
condition of the soil: —

(1) At the head of a ravine and including part of the ravine

course, 10 acres.
(Q) On the higher land within the khola.

(3) On low sandy land with a thick grass covering.

(4) On low lying land with a moderate grass covering.

If possible, the plots should be contiguous to one another or
adjacent.

The khadir or low lying land offers far greater difficulties and
owing to its waterlogged nature drainage is out of the question. The

( 97A )

only means of afforesting this area would be to plant out on high
mounts or banks such species which are known to thrive on
waterlogged soils. The area is at present treeless except for a
stunted growth of " Tarnarix." I am informed that during the
monsoon about 3 feet of water lies over the whole country. I
proposed to take up an area of about 3 acres in the khadir, and I am
in communication with the sylviculturist for his assistance in
choosing the most suitable species to experiment with.

7. It is quite impossible to prepare any detailed forecast of
the financial return without any basis to work upon, so I will
not attempt to do so ; but if it is found possible to raise forest
plantations without undue difficulty, their success is assured owing
to the ideal situation with regard to the markets.

8. My proposals are to take up an area of 3'0 acres in various
. parts of the khola and khadir. In order to supervise this work it

would be necessary to put a Supervisor in charge for five months in
order to see that the necessary operations were carried out during
the rains and also a forest guard should be appointed to assist him
in carrying out the 'work and protecting the plantations which
should be fenced either with wire or thorns.

The cost of establishment and cultural operations for one year
would be as follows : —

Rs.

1 supervisor at Rs. 20 per mensem for 5 months ... 100

1 forest guard at Rs. 8 per mensem for 12 months ••- 96

Cultural operations, inclusive of all charges at Rs. 35 per

acre, over 30 acres ... ... ... 1,500

Total ... 1,246

Owing to the possibility of failures during the first year it would
probably be necessary to continue experiments during the next and
subsequent years. It may be that no difficulties will arise, but I
would strongly advise that operations should be on a small scale
for at least three years until it is seen how the plantations develop.

Assuming that no unforeseen difficulties arise it would be pos-
sible to afforest the khola ravines at a cost not exceeding Rs. 35
per acre, inclusive of all charges. This expenditure at the end of
40 years at 4 per cent, would accumulate to Rs. 168 : even allowing
no return in the inbervening years for grazing, and from thinnings
I think that there would be a possible return.

9. There is a point which has to be considered and that is the
effect of an afforestation scheme on grazing. Grazing canno? be
permitted in any newly raised plantations until the plants are
sufficiently well established to withstand damage. No grazing

17

( 98A )

should be allowed in any sowing or plantation block for eight years.
Assuming the regeneration rotation to be 40 years this would
mean that not more than one-fifth of the area would be closed to
grazing at any time. I do not think that this would affect the
surrounding people severely.

10. It is understood that there is an estate with some consi-
derable area of ravines in this locality under the Court of Wards
and that they are desirous of undertaking afforestation operations.
During my short stay in the Meerut district I was unable to see
more than a trifling part of the estate, but it is believed that the
above remarks and suggestions would apply equally well to this
part also. The area of the ravines in this estate, so far as I can
gather, are some 3,000 acres, and I understand that the estate would
be prepared to pay the expenses incurred on a small experiment
such as is now suggested. Work can be started immediately or as
soon as is desired.

It would be desirable if the Court of Wards could give some
idea as to the annual grants they would be prepared to make for
the work. Assuming an area of 80 acres is taken up each year an
annual grant of Es. 2,800 would be necessary. The labour would,
I think, be ample for this work, but should operations have to be
curtailed on this account it would be advisable to put any savings
aside for utilizing the additional labour available in years of
famine. Such labour can always be employed with ad vantage* and
without affecting the general scheme in any way.

11. The final point which I wish to draw attention to is the
necessity for the application under section 38 of the Indian Forest
Act for the reservation of these forests, as, without this, the
plantations cannot be adequately protected.

E. BENSKIN,

Divisional Forest Officer,
Dated the 1th April, 1916. Afforestation division.

APPENDIX XIII.

Note on the financial expectations of afforestation.

As one of the principal points to be considered in dealing with
the revision of the landowners' agreements at Etawatr will be the
financial prospects of afforestation, it would be well to calculate,
as well as the limited data at present available will allow, what the
financial expectations will be.

Areas may be divided into three categories : —

(1) Areas which will certainly pay handsomely. These include
all areas near large towns, i.e., Fisher Forest, the Allenbagh, the
Improvement Trust areas at Cawnpore and Lucknow, and the area
tentatively suggested near Agra. Also areas with easy rail com-
munications to large markets, e.g., Kalpi. It must be noted that
all these areas will have a very fair annual revenue from fuel and
grass, more than sufficient to pay all interest charges, and this is
of considerable financial importance.

(2) Areas which will certainly not pay if considered as a purely
financial proposition. These include areas on the Kuari (Bindwa-
khurd, Bindwakalan, etc.)i a river which is dry for most of the year
and practically useless for floating. Land carriage from these areas
would be prohibitive.

(3) Areas where the financial expectations require to be more
closely examined, and in this category are included the majority
of the Etawah ravine areas, i.e ^ all plantations along the Jumna,
Chambal ravines, from which either road transport or river trans-
port is feasible to railways.

The following calculations are based on the following data :— -

I. Expenditure —

Ks. a. p.

(1) The initial capital cost of creation of plantations

(based on actuals) ... ... 40 0 0 per acre.

(2) Annual recurring charges of upkeep (including

all establishment, etc.) ... ... 300 ,,

(3) Annual minimum payment to landowner ... 080 „

(4) At the end of every 20th year, a special expendi-

ture in sowing and planting, filling up
blanks, etc., of ... ... 10 0 0

II. Revenue. — Before calculating this, a brief explanation of
the system of management must first be given. The system will be
essentially babul coppice (on a 20-year rotation) with a sprinkling

( 100A )

of standards of good quality timber trees (especially shisham) on
a 40-year rotation. The standards will be so far apart as not to
interfere with the fodder orop, the extreme importance of which
is fully realised, and in these ravine lands the very best and maxi-
mum yield of fodder is obtained under a crop of babul trees.

It is assumed throughout that the area to be reclaimed will be
free of rights. But the revenue anticipated from fuel, fodder and
grazing has been put on a very low basis, so that the local inhabi-
tants may benefit, since the principal object of these plantations is
the improvement of agricultural conditions in these precarious
tracts. The revenue expected from timber and babul is conserva-
tive and not optimistic.

Each year 1 acre is afforested ; when 5 years old, the first thinning
will be made, and 320 plants at 1 pice each obtained— Bs. 5. When
10 years old, the second thinning will be made and 160 plants at
1 anna each obtained — Es. 10. When 15 years old the third thinning
will be made, and 48 plants at 3 annas each obtained — Es. 9. In
the 20th year a final felling of the coppice will be made, giving 100
trees per acre. In these calculations, these 100 babuls have been
calculated both at Jtie. 1 and 8 annas each nett. (The sale value in
Cawnpore is about Es. 2-8-0 each.) This completes the first
rotation of the coppice, and there are left 15 timber trees as
standards. Thus at the end of the 20th year there will be 20 acres
in a series of age gradations with the coppice 0 — 19, and the
standards 1 — 20 years old.

In the second, 20 years (i.e., 21st to 40th year), there will be a
final coppice felling on 1 acre each year, and thinnings as above.
In the 40th year will be in addition a final felling of standards
1 acre, giving 15 trees at Es. 20 each. (1 tree gives 20 cubic feet
in the log at Ee. 1 per cubic feet.) In the third, 20 years (i.e., 41st
to 60th year), the coppice revenue will be as above, and there will
be a final felling of standards over 1 acre each year. The annual
revenue from fodder and grass is calculated as follows : —

Fodder grass. — Valued at 2 annas per maund on one-quarter of
the crop or 4 annas per acre in normal years. And 2 annas per
maund on the full crop or Ee. 1 per acre every fifth year, when
fodder scarcity may be expected.

Grazing. — Four annas per acre per annum for four-fifths of the
area (i.e., 16 acres open out of 20), each area being closed until ib is
4 years old).

Areas will be treated as follows : —

Entirely closed for four months (June — September). ,

Open to grass-cutting for four months (October — January).

Open to grazing for four months (February — May), after the
4th year.

A crop of 8 maunds of hay per acre per annum is obtained after
reclamation. This will only be fully utilised in scarcity years
We can now calculate the financial expactations of plantations on
the data given above.

A. — On 1st rotation of 20 years.
J. — Expenditure or capital cost.

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the begin-

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X 1*8009

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each year,

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the end of

each year.

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40

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( 102A )

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Years.

Rs.

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40

Xl'1699

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12-75

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40

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X 1-0400

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0 50

-

Total cost of 20 acres at end

•

'

of 20th year .

1238-80

823-02

137 'IT

Rs. 2,199

II.— Bevenue.

(1) Annual. — Grass 4 annas per acre per annum, plus an extra 12 annas
every fifth year, an average of 6 '4 annas per acre per annum, plus
compound interest at 4 per cent.

Revenue in 20 years

Rs. 109-73

Grazing.— Four annas per acre per annum from the fifth year, plus
compound interest at 4 per cent.

Rs.
Revenue in 20 years ... ... ... 36'43

(2) Periodic.— Thinnings —

First. — Thinnings Rs. 5 each year from 6th to 20th year,

Rs. 75 plus compound interest at 4 per cent. .. 104*12

Second. — Thinnings Rs. 10 each year from llth to
20th year, Rs. 100 or plus compound interest at 4
percent. ... ... ... ..." 124-86

Third thinnings Rs. 9 each year from 16th to 20th year,

Rs. 45 plus compound interest at 4 per cent. ... 50-69

(3) Final coppice felling (a) 100 trees at Re. 1 ... " 100

or (6) at 8 annas ... ... ... 50

Rs. Rs.

Total revenue at end of 20 years (a) 5 25 • 83 or (6)475 • 83

( 103A )

This reduces the total capital value of 20 acres at the end of 1st coppice
rotation to —

(a) Rs. 1,673 or (b) Rs. 1,723.

B. — On the 2nd rotation of 20 years.

I.— Annual expenditure —

Rs.

(1) Special expenditure on 1 acre ... ... 10

(2) Upkeep charges on 20 acres ... ... 60

(3) Payments to landowner, 20 acres... ... 10

Total ... 80

II. — Annual revenue —

(a) or (b)

(1) Final coppice felling on 1 acre per annum ... 100 50

(2) Thinnings on 3 acres per annum ... ... 24 24

(3) Grass, 6 '4 annas per acre on 20 acres ... 8 8

(4) Grazing, 4 annas per acre on 16 acres ... 4 4
Total annual gross revenue ... Rs. 136 (a) or Rs. 86 (6).
Nett annual revenue, (a) Rs. 56 or (b) Rs. 6.

(NOTE.— So far we have dealt ouly with babul coppice, grass and grazing,
and if the plantations were simple babul and grass the financial expectations
would be poor, i.e., after paying the minimum of 8 annas per acre per annum
to the landowner, Government would get —

(a) In the more favourably situated localities,

where 20-year old babul are worth Re. 1
each, an annual return of Rs. 56 on a
capital of ... ... ...Rs. 1,673=3*3 per cent.

(b) In the less favourably situated localities

where 20-year babul are worth 8 annas
each, an annual return of tls. 6 on a
capital of ... ... ...Rs. 1,723=0'35 per cent.

We will now go on to consider the effect of the standards of timber
trees on the financial aspect.

Rs.

At the end of the 2nd rotation (i.e., in the 40th year) we
get the 1st standard timber felling, or 15 trees at Rs. 20 each... =300
Thus the total capital value of 20 acres at the end of the 40th year
becomes —

(a) (Rs. 1,673x2' 1911)— Rs. 56 per annum plus com-

pound interest)— 300

=+Rs. 3,665 -7 -1,667 '5— 300

= Rs. 1,698.

(b) (Rs. 1,723 X 2- 1911) -Rs. 6 per annum X com-

pound interest) — Rs. 300
=+Rs. 3,775—177—300
== Rs. 3,298.

0.— On the 3rd rotation of 20 years.

( 104& )

Rs.

I. Annual expenditure (as above) ... ... 80

II. Annual revenue — Rs.

(1) From babul coppice and grass and grazing

as above ... ... ... (a) 136 (6)86

(2) From timber standards, 1 acre per annum

(for 1st 19 years)... ... ...Rs. 300 for 19 years.

Nett annual revenue (for 1st 19 years) ... .. (a) 356 (b) 306

and for 20th year... ... ... 56 6

Then total capital value at end of 60th year —

(a) (Rs. 1,698x2-1911)— (Rs. 356 per annum for 1st 19

years plus compound interest)— Rs, 56

=+Rs. 3,720-10,245—56

= Rs. 6,581 (i.e., a surplus of over Rs. 6,000).
(6) (Rs. 3,298x2-1911)— Rs. 306 per annum for 1st

year) — Rs. 6

=Ra. 7,226—8,806—6

=Rs. 1,586 (i.e a. surplus of over Rs. 1,500).

These figures conclusively prove (1) that simple babul coppice
and grass-grazing will not prove financially profitable, but the grass
is essential for famine insurance and to improve the general
conditions for the cultivators, while the babul is very useful for
reclamation, for improving the grass crop, and for giving interme-
diate early returns ; (2) that timber standards with babul coppice
and grass will prove financially profitable ; (3) that Government
can afford to pay the landowner a minimum of 8 annas per acre,
as each acre comes under reclamation (under present agreements
the landowner would get no caeh return for 40'50 years) debit 4 per
cent, compound interest on capital expenditure up to the 40th year,
and between the 41st and 60bh years will recover not only the capital
invested plus compound interest, but obtain also a 3/4 share of the
surplus (which should be between Rs. 1,600 and 6,000 on each 20
acres), actually, results will be better than these calculations show,
because it is proposed to treat a certain proportion of the whole
area of each plantation (possibly 20 per cent.) for intensive timber
production, the financial expectations from which are very much
higher than scattered timber trees amongst babul coppice, and the
calculations have been made throughout on the latter (and less
favourable) basis. However, the figures as they stand are sufficient-
ly satisfactory. It should be emphasised that for areas in category
(1) referred to above, e.g., areas near big towns such as the Allen-
bagh, Fisher Forest, etc., financial expectations are naturally very

( 105A )

much higher, while for landlocked areas in category, (2) where
excessive cost of extraction and freight will materially reduce the
nett value of babul and timber, these calculatious do not apply.
But taking into consideration the conservative estimates and data
on which these calculations are bised, there can be no doubt that
eoorrnoua areas of waste lands in the province will come within
the radius of profitable working which these calculations indicate.

E. A. SMYTHIES,

Sylvicutturist, United Provinces.

18

*••>•

APPENDIX XIV.

RAVINE RECLAMATION AND FAMINE RELIEF.

Being a note on the experience gained in the Etawah district

in the 1919 famine.

Introduction.

1. In the autumn of 1918, when the complete failure of the
monsoon had made it clear that there would be severe scarcity in
the ravine tracts of the Etawah district, Government decided that
the principal form of famine relief in those tracts should be ravine
reclamation work. This was a form of relief that had not been
tried previously to any appreciable extent, and the Famine Code,
comprehensive as it is, does not in many ways cover this type of
work. Moreover, few Forest Officers in these provinces know
much about the Famine Code, or have had occasion in the past to
study it intimately in its actual working. With the probable ex-
tension of afforestation and ravine reclamation work in the province
and with the certainty of recurrence of famine operations (in the
Jumna-Chambal ravine tract especially), at fairly frequent inter-
vals, the need of some guide or record for this type of work becomes
apparent. This note has, therefore, been drawn up on the experi-
ence gained in the 1918-19 famine in the Etawah district. Although
primarily from the Forest point of view, and to serve as a guide
to the Forest Officer, it will, it is hoped, also prove of some value
to Collectors and Famine Officers within whos, charge this type of
famine relief work is adopted.

The absence of all previous experience of famine relief work in
ravine reclamation led inevitably to a few mistakes in the begin-
ning. The accounts procedure was new to the Forest staff, \vhile
the standardization of tasks, the organisation of gangs, the check-
ing of continually shifting work, and many other points had to be
ascertained by practical experience before the work could run
smoothly and properly. This note will, it is hoped, help to smooth
over the initial difficulty when ravine reclamation work is again
carried out by famine labour.

Chapter I-

PRELIMINARY WORK.

°* ^' *n or^er *° understand what follows, a brief description of
objects1 and methods of ravine reclamation is desirable. The
courses of the Jumna and Chambal rivers (and several of their

( 107A )

tributaries) through the plains are characterised by innumerable
ravines on their banks. The banks of these rivers have for various
reasons (chiefly uncontrolled heavy grazing of cattle, goats, camels,
etc. become almost destitute of vegetation, except for a sparse and
desert flora This absence of protective vegetation and the result-
ing rapid flow or rush of water in the monsoon from the compara-
tively high flat plateau to the river through the soft alluvial soil
his resulted in a vast and intricate network of ravines being formed.
1 hese ravines extend for a distance varying from a few furlongs to
a few miles on both sides of the Jumna and its tributaiies ; they
often start suddenly at the edge of cultivation with a drop of some
80 feet or they may be less severe, and they take up a meandering
course, joining up with other systems, eventually falling into the
main river. This ravine belt is increasing in extent every year
as tbe ravines eat into the flat cultivated lands at their heads in
each rmnsoon. These ravine lands are at present almost valueless
they yie'd a small quantity of inferior fuel arid still more inferior
grazing and that is all.

The surface is almost impermeable to rain water, and all
natural reproduction and grass die down as soon as the rains
cease.

The objects of reclaiming these ravines are —

(1) to check further erosion and loss of cultivated lands at

their sources ;

(2) to afforest these waste lands and obtain therefrom im-

proved grass and fuel for the local villagers, and valuable
commercial products (timber and poles, tanning bark,
bamboos, etc.) to pay back the cost of reclamation ;

To any who are not experienced in ravine reclamation work,
the following brief description of technical treatment
may be useful.

In treating this ravine country, the two great essential facts
to be considered are —

(1) to check the further erosion ;

(2) to improve the soil aeration and moisture content.

The erosion in the ravine beds is checked (and converted into
deposition) by the formation of bandhs or darns across the ravines
in suitable places, and tho erosion on the sides and at the head of
ravines is checked by creating an adequate clothing of vegetation.
But the vegetation can only be produced by the improvement of
the aeration and moisture content of the soil.

Objects of ravine
reclamation.

Method of rarlne
reclamation

( 106A )

The method of bandhing, the measurements and diagram of a
typical bandh are given below : —

WATER SlOt

k---

--T

Cubic contents of b<mdh='d,8l25 cub. ft.

Length 45'
Height 5'
Top width 7'
Slopes 1 : 1 and 1 : 3

NOTE.— The flat top an-i the angles of slopes are fixed; the height (and
base) vary according to the site. The water level is fixed at two-thirds of
total height and is regulated by the level of the water escape.

The laying-out and construction of bandhs have to be done
with great care, eince if one bandh in a ravine gives way in the
rains the dammed up watar suddenly released nearly always
carries away all the bandhs below. The following are the chief
points that require attention : —

(1) Bandhing is started at the tops of all the side ravines and

worked down to the junction with the main ravines.
(The main ravines are seldom bandhed at all, because
if the side ravines are well done, they would be unneces-
sary, and if badly done they would never stand the rush
of water.) Every branch ravine must be bandhed.

(2) In determining the site for a bandh, a controlling factor is

the proposed position for the water escape. This must
always be as far away from the bandh as possible If
there is a low narrow neck which can be out through to
lead the flood water to another ravine, the condition is
ideal. An escape skirting the edge of a bar.dk will
very soon scour out and undermine the bandh which will
never survive. Frequently a well-planned bandh will
have a sheet of water stretching to 100 yards on the
up side in the rains.

(3) Bandhs to be at right angles co the flow of water and never

in a narrow gorge with steep banks.

(4) The water escape must be capable of taking off all flood

water. Its bottom level must be carefully fixed so as to
be about 3' below the top of the bandh.

f( 109A )

The amount of bandhing required varies considerably with the
country, and no average can be given.

Simultaneously with this bandhing work the sides and heads of
the ravines are prepared for tree growth •

Preparation of the flat high level land,

I he whole surface is ploughed up deeply with English Sabul
ploughs to a depth of 9" to 10" and the surface orust thoroughly
broken up In famine years this work is done by hand to create
a big labour demand for the famine-stricken population, as is being
done this year.

Small parallel ridges (!' high and 2' broad at the base) 10' apart
are then made by hand labour usually with a shallow ditch on the
upper side. These ridges act as seed beds, and the soil is kept
loose and the clods well broken up, so that the rootlets can penetrate
easily. The same method of preparation is employed in the ravines
also, wherever the ground is at all flat or gently sloping.
Preparation of the steep slopes in the ravines.

With an almost vertical slope, little or nothing can be done,
but with all slopes up to 60° shallow platforms, or ditches and
ridges are made on the contour.

Section of a terraced slope.

( 110A )

Advantages of
ravine reclama-
tion work, for
famine relief

The ditches act as silt and water traps, and the mounds as
efficient seed beds. Petty irregularities in the surface are at the
same time eased off as far as possible, pinnacles of earth knocked
down, knife-e'Jged ridges flattened, runnels eroded by rivulets
smoothed off, and so on. &11 this surface working, bandhing, and
ditching, etc., has a striking effect on the catchment of the rain-
fall. For whereas in untreated areas (as already mentioned) the
maximum penetration is only 10'', in worked areas the soil after
a year shows moisture down to 3', and after two or three years
when vegetation has been established the water penetration
increases up to 7'. After two years, practically no water escapes
the lowest ban<ihs.

This brief note will suffice to indicate the principles of working
as far as famine labour would be concerned, the subsequent sowing
and tending is done in the rains when famine relief work ceases.

4. There are peveral factors in this ravine reclamation work
which make it a very suitable form of famine relief- These may
be briefly indicated —

I. The variety of work affords employment for every descrip-
tion of unskilled labour; for men, digging and cliff-break-
ing ; for women, ridging and carrying earth ; for the old
and feeble and for quite small children, clod-breaking oa
the bandhs and ridges. (The details of organization
and classification of gangs are given in the next chapter.)
II. It is a form of work which (unlike other relief works
such as roads or buildings or tanks) can be started or
stopped at any time, without rendering useless the work
previously done.

III. It will in time prove directly remunerative, besides

affording a permanent improved fuel and fodder-supply
to the neighbourhood.

IV. It is singularly well adapted to small civil works,

scattered about in the vicinity of the famine-stricken
villages. In fact, labour should be definitely limited to
a maximum of 800 to 1,000 on any one work, as larger
numbers are difficult to control.

V. The gangs of 30 to 50 work more or less separately and
the work is always moving on to new ground. This is
a favourable factor for sanitation and prevention of
cholera or other infectious diseases.

VI. Eeclamation work is peculiarly flexible and elastic, and
a scheme of work prepared before the famine starts can
be easily and quickly adapted or added to or altered to
meet altering conditions of labour-supply.

( UlA )

5. When the monsoon failure indicates clearly that famine
operations will be necessary, the Forest Officer, in consultation with
the Collector, has to draw up the schema of work to be followed, if
such scheme is not already prepared. The Collector indicates
roughly where relief works will be required, and how much labour
at each may be expected. The area? to be worked over are then
fixed, and the boundaries clearly demarcated by a dag-bel on the
ground. It will enormously facilitate subsequent checking and
control if rectangular 10 or 20-acre plots are dag-belled out, and
numbered, two or three or five or more such plots being marked at
each work as required, simultaneously the bandits required in these
plots have to be selected, their sites pegged and dag-belled, their
dimensions taken and tracings prepared, and their water escapes
clearly defined. This work has to be completed before the opening
of any test work, which itself precedes the declaration of famine.

Preparation of
famine relief
scheme-

Chapter -I I.

ORGANIZATION OF LABOUR AND TASKS.

6. Before describing the organization of labour and fixing
the tasks, a brief account of what famine relief work is will help the
uninitiated Forest Officer to understand what follows. It con-
sists essentially of daily labour work on a gigantic sale.* With all
sorts and conditions of labour (from stout men to infants in arms),
which is all carefully graded into 5 or 6 grades, each grade has
its standard daily wage. Wages are paid daily in annas and pice
to every man, woman, and child on every work, after the daily
tasks have been measured up. Tasks not completed to standard
'lead to small fines. Daily labour muster rolls are kept up by gangs
and grades of labour, but no signatures or thumb-impressions taken.
These details of working conditions will suffice to indicate the
necessity of really good organization of labour, staff, and tasks,
u avoid confusion. When it is added that there are black sheep
in every fold, but famine works appear to draw more than the
usual proportion, the further necessity of most elaborate check and
constant supervision becomes apparent.

* To give an idea of scope ol the work, payments in forest famine works in
the Etawah district in 1918-19 exceeded Ks. 1,000 duly when the famine was
in full swing, distribute 1 between 15 works which were scattered over 50 miles
of country. The famine lab >ur or ravine reclamation under Divisional Forest
OJBcer, Afforestation Division, amounted to more than half the total famine
labour for the whole province.

The essentials
of famine relief
work.

( 112A )

Organiztion of 7. The grades of labour. These are defined in the Famine
labour and staff. Code. They are summarised for clearness of subsequent details —

LABOUR —

A. — Mates of gangs.

B. — Strong men and women.

C. — Weak or old men and women, youths, and maidens
of 15 or 16 years old.

D. — Children 10—14 years of age.
GK— Children 7 — 10 years of age.
H. — Infants in arms. .
STAFF—

Foremen. — One foreman to 150 labour.
Managers. — One to each work.
Circle Officers (i.e., Range Officers). —

5-6 works and 3,000 to 5,000 units of labour is as
much as one Range Officer can adequately look after.
He must see each work once a week. The Divisional
Forest Officers from 12 to 20 works, 10,000 to 15,000
units of labour is as much as the Divisional Forest
Officers can control. He should see each work once a
month.

The labour that comes to the work is classified and divided
into gangs. Most of the work consists of—

(1) Digging.

(2) Ridging.

(3) Bandhing.

A digging gang consists of 30 B, units (either male gang or
female gang).

A ridging gang consists of 30 C, units (male and female mixed)
to make the ditch, with a corresponding number of D or Q units
to make the ridge. One worker makes the trench and ridge while
the child breaks up the clods on the ridge to make a suitable
seed bed for the development of the young seedling.
A bandhing gang consists of —
10 or 12 B diggers.
10 to 20 C earth-carriers.
10 C or D rammers.

10 to 20 or more G children and feeble old folk for clod-
breaking.

( 113A )

A variety of miscellaneous jobs on each work also absorbs each
its own small gang, i.e. (4) fencing, (5) well-making, (6) clearing
trees and shrubs, i.7) water-supply, (8) road-makin», etc.

The standard task for every type of work has to be clearly . Standardiza-
defined. After a good deal of trial and experiment, the following tionoftask-
standard tasks were finally adopted in the Btawah 1919 famine
work : —

(i) Digging. — The varieties of soil-hardness in these ravine
lands are so considerable that one standard task for all conditions
of soil was found to be impracticable. The following variations
- were adopted : —

fa) In soft flat ravine bottoms and where the soil had been
worked in previous years -

1 B man— 160 c.ft, (160 sq, ft. to 1 ft. dep^ih). .
1 gang of 30 B men, 4,800 o.ft.

(b) On average unworked land and moderate slopes—

1 B man--120 o.ft.

1 gang of 30 B men, 3,600 c.ft.

(c) On hard kankar ridges and very steep slopes —

1 B man— 100 c.ft.

1 gang of 30 B men, 3,000 c.ft.

(d) Digging water-escapes for band/is. Individual task —

1 B man 84 c.ft., i.e., 7' long, 6' broad, 2' deep.

For B women gangs for (aj and (b) The task was two-thirds
of task for B men gangs.

(According to Famine Code rules, aAvoman is paid the same
as a man, but does two-thirds of his work.)

(ii) Ridding. — This work involves digging a trench 1' deep
and 2' broad (in soil previously dug by digging gangs) and heaping
the soil therefrom in a triangular ridge on the downhill side.
Tasks-

B men 60 running feet of trench.
B women 40 running feet of trench.
C class 30 running feet of trench.

D and G- children, breaking clods on the ridges, 1 child to
1 ridger (very old and feeble men and women were
often used on this work also).

(iii) Bandhing. — The task was 120 c.ft. of earth or 1,440 o.ft.
per gang of 12 men, if earth obtained from borrow pits.

19

( H4A )

Scale of wages.

For the C class carriers employed, the task was to carry this
dug earth to bandh site (12 to 20 carriers employed). The children
had to pulverise this quautity of earth on other miscellaneous tasks
were —

(iv) Fencing.— One gang of 10 to 12 B men per work. Task
15 to 22 running feet of hedge per man, including collection of
thorny shrubs, etc. ; the hedge was 5' thick, with stout thorny
branches fixed into holes on either side and ceotre tilled in with
loose thorns.

(v) Water-supply. — The gang varied with the distance of
water and numbers on the work and tbe season up to the end of
April. A man for every 200 labour for every furlong the water had
to be brought. la May, increased to 1 man for every 150 labour,
for every 150 yards.

(vi) Well-making. — The gang consisted of 1 mate (an expe-
rienced well-digger) 3 or 4 diggers — task 80 c.ft. per man.

3. Earth-removers increasing to 4, as well deepened.

These are the principal tasks. The adjustment of digging
tasks was left to the Manager on the spot, under the control of
the Range Officer.

Experience, as work opened, always showed a plethora of old
and feeble men and women and youug children, who should do
nothing but clod-breakiug. As employment has to be provided
for all who come to works (under the Code ouly lepers and
lunatics may be refused), a comparatively large number of bandhs
had to be laid out, as bandhing work absorbs more clod-breakers
than any other.

9. An idea of the scale of wages paid will be of interest to
Forest Officers unaccustomed to labour conditions where villagers
turn out en masse to work in order to live.

The wage scale is controlled by the price of the common food
grain. In Btawah in 1919 the following wages were generally
paid for a full day's work: —

Clasi of labour.

Daily wages.

Remarks.

Ks

a.

P-

B men and women

0

2

6

Wage basis, price of

0 (old and feeble) adults

0

2

3

grain 6J seers.

D children (10— 14)..

0

1

3

G ditto (7—10) ..

0

'2

0

Infanta in arms

0

0

3

( 115A )

•

Chapter III.

CHECKING AND CONTROL.

10. The accounts procedure is given very fully in chapter XIX Accounts,
of the Famine Code. Buh a brief summary of the main outlines,
as far as they concern the Divisional Forest Officer and his Range
Officers, will possibly prove of assistance, as the procedure is very
different to ordinary Forest Accounts. The system is based on a
permanent fixed advance. Everyone has an advance of varying
size, i.e., a Works Manager has an advance equal to three days'
expenditure (Rs. 100 to 300) received from his Range Officer. A
Range Officer has an advance equal to ten days' expenditure
(Rs. 2,000 to 4.000). He keeps some in cash and advances some to
his Works Managers, who draw on him for more when their
ailottment is spent.

The Divisional Forest Officer has a fairly large advance
(Rs. 12,000) which he distributes to his Range Officers and a little
to his famine head clerk.

Every Saturday afternoon Works Managers prepare the
consolidated weekly summary for their work and submit to their
Range Officer. He consolidates for his range and submits to the
Divisional Famine Officer on Sunday morning. The consolidated
accounts for the division have to be ready and submitted to
Colleotorate on Monday morning. Obviously there is no scope
for dilatoriness or unpunctuality. Then on Monday the exact
amount of the weekly expenditure is obtained from the Treasury
and distributed exactly according to their accounts to Range
Officers. Thus everyone is again in receipt of his full permanent
advance, and so it goes on week after week.

There are, of course, no monthly accounts. The audit of
accounts is done in the Collector's office.

11. The Divisional Forest Officer is solely responsible for all
technical details, for the character and quantity of the work done,
for the fixing of tasks, for the laying-out and construction of
bandhs and all similar details. He is also very largely responsible
for the due observance of Famine Code Procedure, but in this he is
largely helped by the Collector and his inspecting officers, who
bring to notice mistakes in procedure.

For Forest famine works intense supervision and continual
surprise inspections are absolutely essential, more so than for any

The figures of advances show the amounts given out in the Etawab 1919
famine, to give home idea oi their u

( -116A )

form of Departmental Forest work with which the writer is
acquainted. This intense control is necessary not only to prevent
swindling by Works Managers and foreman, but to keep the work up
to the mark and ensure that full tasks are done.

The complete check and inspection of a Forest famine work
is a long business ; paragraph 42, Appendix D of Famine Code
detail some points to be looked to, but the Forest Officer has in
addition to examine and check the technical work. Experience
only will show how a famine work should be inspected : it cannot
be explained. It takes over three hours to do properly, and is rather
an ordeal to carry out day after day in the middle of the hot
weather in the pitiless, shadeless ravines-

>

Chapter IV.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Cost per acre. 12. There are several miscellaneous points worth recording as

a result of experience gained in the 1919 famine work. One point
is the cost per acre. It must be emphasised that the cost of soil-
preparation by ordinary departmental methods is no criterion or
standard when estimating for famine work, for several reasons.
The main reason is that the work is done far more thoroughly by
famine labour than we can possibly attempt to carry out depart-
mentally, when the capital cost of creating plantations has con-
tinually to be borne in mind. The euorinous ma^s of labour that
has to be accommodated at famine time would result, if worked on
. ordinary lines, in preparing such an enormous area of new plan-
tation that the subsequent sowing up and tending during the
rains (when famine labour is no longer available), would be almost
impossible. In fact the area worked is kept within workable
limits by ina easing the intensity and quality of the tvork. A^aiu,
the preliminary soil-loosening is normally done by ploughing in
all flattisb art as, and left undone on steep and precipitous slopes,
but in famine time digging by hand labour is substituted, and is
done everywhere, both CD flat ground and steep slopes. Finally,
the employment of numbers of old and feeble folk and young
children, and various miscellaneous expenses not usually incurred
[e.g., establishment (5 per cent.), mates (5 per cent.), water-supply
and well-digging (5 per cent.), etc., add quite 20 per cent, to the
cost of the work].

The cost per acre varies considerably with the locality,
especially with the degree of steepness of the slopes. A calculation

( 117A

was made for an acre of fairly steep ravine land and worked out
follows. Cost of soil-preparation per 1 acre : —

as

-

Ui>its of work.

Cost

Approxi-

Nature of work.

of uai

mate cost

Remarks.

Class of

Number

aniias.

per acre

labour.

of units.

annas.

(1) Digging ...

B

500

24

1,250

(2) Ridging ... |

C
Dor G

150

150

2
1}

500

C

B

25 to 50

2*

}

(3) Bandhitiy ...1

C
D
G

50 „ 100
30 „ 70

25 „ 50

2
1*

/ 250 to
f 500.

Bundking very
variable.

(4) Miscellaneous

(20 per cent.

of above

cost)

...

Add 10 per

400 to 450

For miscellane-

cent. of

ous works add

abovu.

10 per cent.

to number of

work units

and 20 per

cent, to total

cost.

i

B

600

...

1 A L,

-

Total cost ...^

C
D
G

250
200
100

/ As.
> 2,400 to
\ 2,650.

This gives roughly a cost of Rs. 150 to Rs. 165 per acre. Mild
ravine country would reduce it by 25 per cent., while really bad and
precipitous ravines, with 60' to 80' sheer drops, would increase the
cost indefinitely. ( i t is not economical to work such areas at all
from a plantation point of view, but sometimes they must be
worked to check further erosion.)

13. This table represents the working of the soil with extra-
ordinary thoroughness, far beyond anything that has ever been

Intensity of Boil
preparation.

( 118A )

*

attempted before. (As a natural consequence, the plantation
results promise to be excellent.)

The cost per acre can, however, be materially reduced (with-
out any serious difference iu the subsequent success of the planta-
tion) by omitting the breaking down of unnecessary precipitous
slopes and by omitting the wholesale digging of steep slopes (on
which the presence of loose soil tends to fill up the water ditches).
The intensity of soil-preparation is in fact a most useful regulat-
ing factor ; as already indicated, '.i the famine is severe aad large
numbers are expected on famine relief works, the soil-preparation
must be intense to keep the area worked within reasonable limits ;
if the famine conditions are less severe, less intensive working
will avoid a corresponding reduction in woiked areas.

In the Etawah famine of 1919 there was no previous experi-
ence to guide us ; when the scheme of work was p epared in the
autumn, double the number of famine units of work were expected
that actually came ; the area worked was expected to reach 1,200
to 1,400 acres, which was as much as the Forest staff could have
dealt with in the rains ; actually about 700 to 800 acres of land
was prepared.

It will be useful to bear this point iu mind on future occasion.
Conclusion. 14. In conclusion it may ba useful to summarise briefly
the results of experience gained in the 1919 famine in the Etawah
ravines —

(i) Ravine reclamation is eminently suited to famine relief

work.

(ii) It required, however, by its very nature, by the variation
in tasks, by the scattered working, by the continuous
shifting of work, considerable intensity of supervision
and inspection, more so than is required normally for
other forms of famine relief work Controlling charges
must therefore be limited in size.

(iii) With intense soil-breaking, the cost comes to about
Bs. 150 to 160 per acre for average ravine country, and
the number of works units per acre (vide table in para-
graph 12) is roughly —
Adults ... ... ... ... .. 800

Children ... ... ... ... ... 300

Total ... 1,100

(iv) The number cf work units and cost per acre can be
materially reduced, if necessary, by leaving sheer cliffs
unworked (where further erosion is not to be checkedj

( 119A )

and by preparing ridges and ditches on steep slopes
without soil working in between. In any one locality
there is a definite maximum area which can be borne
in mind, and considerable variations in labour-supply
oau to some extent be balanced by variations in intensity
of soil working.

(v) The standard tasks (detailed in paragraph 8) were found
by experience co represent a good and fair day's work
for the classes of labour. Fines for non-completion of
task were very occasional.

These are the chief points worth noting. Their record in this
note will, it is hoped, prove of value when next famine conditions
occur, and famine labour is utilized on a large scale in ravine
reclamation work.

E. A. SMYTHIES,
Divisional Forest Officer,
Afforestation division.

APPENDIX XV.

i- The organi-
zation of relief
system-
fa) The revision
of relief program-
mes-

!• (b) Any other
arrangement re-
quiring notice.

Extract from the final Famine Report of Etawah district by

J. C. Nelson, Esq., I.O.S.

The village works programme was taken in hand in September,
1918, as soon as it was oertain that there would be famine in the
dry tracts of the district. Most of the works entered in the pro-
gramme were considered useless from every point of view except
that merely of finding work for idle hands, and tbere was no pro-
ject at all for the Bidhuna tahsil where the Arind tract cannot be
neglected when any such agricultural situation arises. In the
previous spring I had requested sanction to the acceptance as a
famine work of the Ravine Reclamation system, and that sanction
had been accorded. My request for the deputation at the time of
an overseer to prepare projects in Bidhuiia was not, however,
acceded. The Divisional Forest Officer accordingly prepared, in
consultation with me, a programme for ravine reclamation works
in the Jumna-Chambal portion of the Etawah, Bharthana, and
Auraiya tahsils. A few projects of the village works programme
were also worked out and other works were improvised. The
system that had to be adopted was defined for us by the absence
of any outside professional assistance, even medical. I accordingly
decided at oiice that we would have no big works or residential
camps, and that the people must be kept at their homes. This
entailed the finding of suitable works at comparatively short dis-
tances one from each other, so that the " catchment area," so to
speak of the work*fc, would cover the whole scarcity tract, without
leaving blanks and without undue overlapping. Ravine reclama-
tion works were carried out wherever the Forest department
(whose staff was also limited) would manage it, with due consider-
ation also to the utility of the works, and the rest of the area was
then dealt with by selecting worhs of genuine local utility at suit-
able spots and arranging for a succession of works also, when
necessary.

With a failure of monsoon, a fodder famine in the Trans-
Jumna tract is always to be expected and its treatment is nearly
as important as that of the food famine. The experience we
have bought in a hard school this year shows that it is not enough
to bring by rail, but assistance must be given in the transport of
this hay to the remoter villages. T propose to leave on the famine
file a short memo, on the detailed steps that we have learnt to be
necessary. In general the system I adopted was to establish

( 121A )

9ub-d£p6ts across the rivers to serve the more inaccessible and more
distant tracts, where the people themselves could deal with the
remaining short lead, and to assist others by giving a cash advance
for hired transport as well as an order for hay against their
Taqavi bond. Transport to these sub-depots I financed out of
the District Famine Fund. Arrangements should be made by
the Department of Laud Records and Agriculture much earlier for
the supply of hay. I was allotted 1,50,000 maunds by them. I
had asked for this supply to commence by 15th December, but
none arrived till nearly the end of January and the amounts
received at first were derisory. In January I received under 4,000
maunds, in February under 13,000, in March under 12,000, and in
April under 16,000 maunds. In all I received under 90,000
maunds

In the remoter parts of this tract also it will be found that,
with a complete failure of the Jcharif and no prospect of rabi, the
small banias who inhabit many of the smaller villages will leave
and that grain is not to be had at all in many hamlets. Transport
is so difficult that ordinary laws of supply and demand cease to
work as was the case all over India before railways came. Arrange-
ments were, therefore, necessary for grain de*p6ts, whence villages
can draw their supplies, at one or more suitable places ; there
should be no difficulty in getting some big trade or landowner to
arrange for this. It should be easy in an ordinary famine year
which is not complicated with railway restrictions.

The first test work was opened on the 30th November, 1918,
under the Forest department. During the month of December,
1918, four forest works and three other works were started* one
after the other. There were 14 such works open when scarcity
was declared on the 27th January, 1919. Test works were opened
in the lower Sengur valley, but were found unnecessary, and were
closed after a fairly long trial. Relief was not found necessary
there. None were tried in the Sengur-Sirsa doab. It is evident,
I think, that these two rather precarious tracts will not need relief
in future in the event of the failure however complete of one mon-
soon, unless it follows a series of bad seasons.

The backbone of the system was the ravine reclamation work ;
the rest were tanks and bandhs for the most part according to
what was suitable to local conditions.

In the Etawah sub-division, where the watering of cattle is a
great difficulty, all the works were tanks. In the Auraiya Kharka
and Trans-Jumna with few exceptions the works were all bandhs,
the terrain there being suitable for them and watering difficulties
not usually so great. A few road repairs were done where they

20

2 The first
opening of poor-
houses and test
works-

3. Village civil
works.

(o) Their na-
ture and suffici-
ency, classes of
people employed
on them

( 122A )

3. (*) The ex-
tent to which
dependants were
relieved on vil-
lage civil works.

3- (<0 How far
female exceeded
male workers
and consequent
increase of de-
pendants (if any).

3. (d) Amount
of earthwork
done.

3- (e) Bate per
1,000 cubic feet.

3. (/) Cost of
relief per unit.

3. (9) Their
success in reliev-
ing distress.

were really useful, and I hope that the old " permit line " road
which was broken in two by a mass of ravines, in one place for a
distance of about a mile and a half, thereby completely interrupting
communications, will be restored to good working order and will
continue to be suitable for wheeled traffic for many years to come.
This particular work is not yet completed : it is being financed now
by the District Board. The vast majority of people who frequented
the work were, as usual, ordinary labourers and cultivators of the
lower castes, but this time some Thakurs and Brahmans were to be
found on almost all works, not only as mates, in which capacity
they joined readily enough at the start, but also among the rank
*nd file of the workers. At one very poor village where the
population is predominantly Brahman, this caste formed a very
large proportion of the workers and were kept in separate gangs.

Dependants were not relieved. The Famine Commissioner,
however, sanctioned the relief of " Gr class " children with the
directions that they should be given light work. Accordingly child-
ren of 7 to 10 years of -age were allowed on relief works from
the third week of March. They worked at clod-breaking and
ramming with tiny wooden " chaparis." This met the case well.
It pleased the parents whose children were kept under their eyes
and out of mischief and prevented the overloading of the gratuitous
relief lists with children who are old enough to have the duty to
work impressed on them.

On the forest works the number of women was always below
that of male workers, probably because the works were at some dis-
tance in the ravines and in most cases at a considerable distance
from the hamlets themselves. Conditions were very trying there,
there never being even a vestige of shade, and the heat was excessive
for children who naturally go with their mothers

Amount of earthwork done on civil works comes to 10,209,664
cubic feet. On forest works the area worked over was 900 acres
and the earthwork done thereon was 126,933,632 cubic feet. The
grand total is therefore 137,145,296 cubic feet.

On civil works the rate per 1,000 cubic feet oomes to Bs. 7*47,
while on forest works it was between Ks. 181 and Bs. 182 per acre.
It is not possible to calculate the rate per 1,000 cubic feet of earth-
work done on forest works, as much of the work cannot be put into
cubio feet. The reasons are explained in the note recorded by the
Divisional Forest Officer which forms an annexure to this report.

The cost of relief on civil works works out at 2'04 annas per
unit, while on Forest works it was 2 annas 1 pie.

There is no doubt that the system of bringing the work to the
workers instead of taking the workers to the work is far the more

( 133A )

efficient, as a means of relieving distress. There is no upsetting
of the communal life of the village, families are not broken up, the
cattle are properly looked after, the people kept in better spirits, and
the risk of epidemic is greatly diminished by avoiding concentrated
camps and big crowded works. When everyone comes in the morn-
ing and leaves in the afternoon, the risk of fouling the land in the
neighbourhood is enormously diminished, and in the case of Forest
works, where the ground worked over changes all the time, is practi-
cally eliminated. The principal difficulties are two : firstly, the find-
ing of a sufficient number of decently honest and capable managers,
and, secondly, the necessity for continued supervision by gazetted
officers, involving as it does appalling exposure in an arid and tree-
less tract. The first results in a great practical difficulty in exact-
ing a full task and also in very high " overhead charge." I per-
sonally think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

One naib-tahsildar or selected qanungo was posted in each
tahsil to work as circle officer. They had to inspect all the works
and were held primarily responsible for their proper management.
Direct supervision of gratuitous relief was also entrusted to them.
The Forest works were in the hands of the Divisional Forest Officer,
but the Circle Officers concerned and the Divisional Officers
inspected and reported on them from all points of view except
purely technical ones. On each of the works there was one
manager, one or more moharrirs or foremen according to the number
of labourers, two peons, and a storekeeper.

The loss of cattle owing to scarcity of fodder is estimated at
40,000, of which, however, probably only about 10,000 consisted of
bullocks, special care being taken of plough cattle.

The replacement of the cattle lost is not easy and must take
some years. The resources of the cultivators in the distressed
tracts are at very low ebb and they are already burdened with the
Government taqavi advances which will have to be recovered
immediately, so that unless there is a succession of good years, the
damage done is not likely to be remedied for some time especially
as it is likely to be aggravated by a low birth-rate as a direct result
of poor nutrition. But for the complete remission of the revenue
for both instalments in the Trans-Jumna tract, it would be impos-
sible for these people to get level for a long time. The price of
cattle rules very high.

We owe a special debt of gratitude to the officers of the Forest
department who conducted a very important and very difficult ex-
periment to what I consider a most successful conclusion. This
involved unremitting labour on their part and all in addition to
their ordinary duties. The conditions under which this labour was

3. (h) The
management of
the work and
the staff employ-
ed.

5- Loss of
cattle

(a) Proportion
of plough cattle
lost to cattle in
general in the
district.

5- ( t>) Anticipa-
tion for the
replacement of
lost cattle.

6. The work
ing of staff of all
grades, civil,
military> officials,
and non-officials-

( 124A )

performed have already beeu described ; they reached about the
limit of human endurance. Without great organizing ability the
experiment could nob have been successful, as difficulties aroge
day by day which had to be met day by day wiuh new adaptations.
These services rendered so ungrudgingly and cheerfully by Messrs.
B. A. Smythies, E. Benskiu, and M. J. McDonald deserve the most
cordial recognition.

APPENDIX XVI.
List of Forest Officers employed on Afforestation.

Officers in charge.

E. A. Courfchope, Deputy Conservator of Forests, 7th December
to 2nd May, 1915.

E. Benskin, M.A., Deputy Conservator of Forests, 2nd May,
1915 to 25th August, 1917.

Babu Grirdhari Lai, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests,
25th August 1917 to 10th November, 1917.

Lala Kali Charan, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests, 10th
November, 1917 to 23rd April, 1918.

E. Benskin, M.A., Deputy Conservator of Forests, 23rd April,
1918 to 1st April, 1919.

E. A. Smythies, B.A,, Deputy Conservator of Forests, 1st April
to 21st October, 1919.

M. J. McDonald, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests,
21st October, 1919.

Officers attached.

* G. K. Murphy, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests, 26th
February, 1914 to 19th May, 1917.

H. W. Moor, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests. 1914 to
1917.

* W. A. Bailey, B.A., Deputy Conservator of Forests, 30th No-
vember, 1914 to 16th July, 1915.

E. Benskin, M.A., Deputy Conservator of Forests, 30th January
to 2nd May, 1915.

Babu Girdhari Lai, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests,
24th June to 25th August 1917.

. * Lala Hukum Chand, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests,
7th August, 1917 to 25th April, 1918.

M. J. McDonald, Extra Assistant Conservator of Forests,
28th March to 23rd June, 1917, and llth May, 1918 to 21st Octo-
ber, 1919.

• These officers held charge of 1h* Etawab division for short periods.

APPENDIX XVII.

Copy of a G. 0. no. 1503/X1II— 142 of the $th September, 1920, on

the future policy of Government with regard to afforestation.

FOREST DEPARTMENT.

I am directed to invite a reference to this Government's resolu-
tion no. 971/XIV— 179, dated the 21st December, 1914 (copy
enclosed for ready reference), in paragraph 9, of which the general
policy to be observed in regard to the work of afforestation was laid
down. The underlined ideas of that policy were —

(1) the reclamation of ravine land with the object of rendering

profitable land already ruined and of preventing further
ruin of the country-side by erosion ;

(2) the provision of fuel and fodder reserves, thereby increas-

ing the supply of grass and the creation of the suitable
breeding grounds for cattle ; and

(3) an increase in the supply of babul bark for the Cawnpore

Tanneries.

No attempt, however, was then made to work out or co-ordinate
the methods by which these three results could be arrived at, as it
was felt that experience alone could suggest a solution of the pro-
blem. It was decided that a beginning should be made by inviting
landholders in the Jumna-Chambal ravine tract in the Etawah dis-
trict to submit applications under section 38 of the Indian Forest
Act, and over 20,000 acres in that tract were accordingly handed
over to the Forest department under agreement, practically all by
three large landholders who were glad to oblige Government in
that matter.

2. The area thus acquired has been under the management of
the Forest department for about four years and the following con-
clusions emerge from the experience that has now been gained : — •
(1) that from the point of view of universal ravine reclamation
the scheme is of the limited value. Afforestation as a
method of dealing with such ravines is now a proven
success, but as a practical proposition the method is not
capable of universal application. Its effect on the ground
reclaimed is admirable and it prevents further encroach-
ment by ravines on the agricultural land directly
behind it, but it is always liable to be " outflanked "
by untreated ravines, so that unless the blocks taken
up are large, the protective effect is small and local.
Further, as the majority of the villages are situated

( 127A )

on the actual edge of the ravine country, it is im-
possible to afforest a continuous belt of land along the
tops of the ravines, owing to the natural reluctance of
the villagers to allow the land immediately surrounding
their village sites to be taken up for afforestation. The
scheme originally mooted therefore, which has for its
ultimate object the reclamation of the whole Jumna-
Cbambal ravine tract solely by means of afforestation, is
in practice impossible. The only possibility in these
circumstances is a scheme in which the villagers will
willingly co-operate. This implies that the scheme must
be one which appears to them as a profitable one from
the start. It has seemed probable that in much of the
area under consideration it might be possible to break
down the ravines and with a minimum of tree-planting
on the steeper slopes render the land suitable for the
production of fodder^ or even suitable for agriculture. It
is understood that further experiments in this line are
necessary before any definite conclusion can be reached.

(2) That as a scheme for producing babul-bark, firewood, small

timber for local use, and improved grazing and grass-
supply it is a great practical success, but not likely to be
a financial success without the addition of valuable
timber. This, however, fortunately grows well in places
and has been planted wherever possible during the last
few years. .

(3) That any considerable extension of the area already taken

up will become possible only when the Forest department
have demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt the
benefit to be derived from the scheme by both land-
holders and tenants.

3. The agreement into which the Etawah landlords entered is
not considered equitable by them. His Honour has therefore ap-
proved the terms of the agreement proposed by you, which it is
believed will render the -scheme not only attractive to them, but
also to other landlords who on the present terms are not willing to
co-operate. The changes embodied in the agreement are to the
following effect : —

(1) that the owners of the land taken up will, in future, receive

payment from the Government at the rate of 8 annas
per acre or one-fourth of the net profits accruing there-
from, whichever is greater ; and

(2) that the capital expenditure, which will be provided entire-

ly by Government, will not be redeemed on completion

( 128A )

of afiorestatioa operations but will remain outstanding,
the annual profits, which will be divfded between
Q-overnmnet and the owner, providing the return thereon.

4. The scheme outlined above is based on a change of policy
dictated by the lessons gained by experience. It implies the
definite abandonment of the scheme of universal ravine reclama-
tion by afforestation alone, such abandonment being obviously
inevitable. The intention now is to render reclamation attractive
as a business proposition to the people themselves. This object
has been kept in view in revising the agreement and must be an
important criterion in judging the experiments referred to in the
last part of paragraph 2(1) supra.

5. I am accordingly to request that, in view of the foregoing
observations, steps may be taken to institute experiments on the
lines indicated above as soon as possible.

6. I am also to convey the approval of Government to the
proposal of the Forest department to the charging of fees to persons
who are not right -holders, to the continuance of the development
of the areas already taken up by the present methods, the success
of which has been fully demonstrated, wherever these areas show
prospects of a reasonable financial return, and to the extension of
their operations to other suitable localities as occasion offers and
financial considerations allow. It is understood that the extension
of these operations may ultimately involve the creation of two
new divisions.

7. As regards the financing of the scheme, His Honour is of the
opinion that the Forest department should not be charged with the
whole capital expenditure incurred in the reclamation of areas
which could not possibly give any return ; if considered solely as a
financial proposition, but where reclamation works would only be
undertaken purely as a protective measure. The decision there-
fore to undertake a work of this class should lie with the revenue
authorities.

APPENDIX XVIII.

Revised agreement with owners of waste land as approved by G. 0
no. 1608/XIV-142 of 2nd October, 1920.

AGREEMENT.

indenture made the day of 192

BETWEEN the SECRETARY OF STATE FOB INDIA IN COUNCIL here-
inafter called the " Secretary of State " of the one part AND

°F resident

of in the district of

hereinafter called " the Owner " of the other part and WHEREAS
the Local Government of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
hereinafter called " the Local Government " have decided to take
over certain areas of land upon the application of the owner afore-
said with a view to the preservation formation or conservation of
forests thereon AND WHEREAS THE said owner made an application
on the day of to the sard Local Government

praying that the land set forth in the schedule hereto annexed be
taken under the management of the Forest department of the said
Local Government for the purposes aforementioned AND WHEBEAS
the said Secretary of State and the said owner have agreed that
the said land set forth in the schedule hereto annexed shall be
placed under the management of the said Forest department subject
to the following conditions :•-

(1) That the land be gazetted as reserved forests under sections

4 and 19 of the Indian Forest Act (VII of 1878).

(2) That subject to the terms of the Forest settlement the

Forest Officer appointed by the said Forest department
iu that behalf shall have full powers of control regarding
the treatment of the land the allotment and regulation
of grazing the felling of the trees and removal of all
produce and shall have power to close such areas to
grazing as he may deem tit for such period as he may

( 130A )

think necessary and to impose such grazing fees in such
areas as he may think fit.

(3) That any complaint against the action of the Forest

department or any dispute arising under this agreement
shall be referred to the Collector of the
district. An appeal from the decision of the Collector
shall lie to the Commissioner of the division

whose decision shall be final.

(4) The Local Government will pay the whole expenditure

involved in the operations undertaken by the Forest
department and iu addition will pay to the owner
annually on or before the first of June next following
the close of the financial year for which the payment is
due a sum equivalent to eight aniias per acre on that
area on which actual afforestation operations have been
undertaken and will also collect and credit to itself all
income accruing from the said areas provided that when
one-quarter of the net profit on any estate exceeds the
aforesaid sum then the Local Government will pay to
the said owner one-quarter of the net profit in lieu of
the said payment of eight annas per acre

(5) That the following accounts will be maintained for each

estate separately and for the forest as a whole namely
capital revenue and expenditure accounts,

(6) That on the receipt side of revenue and expendi ure account

will be credited all cash and book transfer receipts of every
description. On the expenditure or debit side of the
revenue and expenditure account will be entered all cash
and book transfer expenditure of every description
including Government revenue that is now assessed or
may be in future assessed on the said area or portion
of the said area and the aforesaid annual payment to the
owner and such supervision and establishment charges
as the Local Government may from time to time deter-
mine. The said owner shall have no voice in the decision

( 13U )

of the amount of the expenditure which the Forest
department may consider necessary.

(7) That at the close of every financial year the revenue and

expenditure account shall be totalled and the deficit or
profit shall be carried to the capital account.

(8) That so long as the expenditure exceeds the receipts the

excess will be carried to the debit of the capital account.
At the end of the financial year interest at 4 per cent,
shall be added to the total sum of the debit side of the
capital account outstanding from the previous year and
2 per cent, in respect of the total deficit of the current
year.

(9) That when the revenue and expenditure account shows a

profit it shall be carried to the credit of the capital
account and deducted from the total on the debit side.

(10) That expenditure on works in each estate will be kept

separate and each estate will be debited with its share
of all expenditure as laid down in clause (6) subject to
the proviso that no estate will be debited with any
expenditure until that estate has been gazetted under
section 4 of the Forest Act and management assumed
by the Forest department.

(11) That the profits derived from the area belonging to each

separate estate will be kept separately. In the case of
a contract covering two or 'more estates the profit and
loss will be divided between the estates proportionately
to their area.

(12) That a copy of the yearly capital and revenue and expend-

iture account for each estate shall each year be sent
to the owner or owners of the estate on or before the
first of June in each year.

(13) That in the event of any dispute arising as to the revenue

and expenditure account the Local Government shall
appoint a chartered accountant to audit the same
which audit shall be final and the fee chargeable by

( 132A )

such chartered accountant will be debited to the said
account.

(14) That the Secretary of State may at any time relinquish
the said lands set forth in the schedule hereto annexed.

(15) That if the Secretary of State relinquishes the said lands
the said owner shall not be liable to pay Government
any amount that may be standing at the debit of the
capital account.

(16) When an estate has been completely afforested to the.
satisfaction of the Forest Officers and the gross in-
come exceeds the gross expenditure th ; capital account
will be closed and the net profits distributed in accord-
ance with the provisions of clause (4) namely three-
quarters of the net profits to the Forest department and
one-quarter to the owner.

PROVIDED AND IT is HEREBY FURTHER AGREED that any part or
parts of the said lands hereby taken under the management of the
Forest department by these presents may be cleared and broken up
for the purposes of cultivation or any other purpose in which event
should such land be rendered liable to assessment to Government
revenue under the law in force for the time being the said Local
Government may assess such part or parts so broken up and
brought under cultivation to Government revenue AND IT is FOR-
THEB AGREED AND DECLARED that out of any profits that shall
accrue from lands placed under cultivation under the foregoing
clause one-half shall be paid to the owner and the other half be
placed to the credit of the revenue and expenditure account. AND
IT is HEREBY FDRTHRii AGREED that if the said owner should desire
at any time to take back the land set forth in the schedule hereto
annexed into his own occupation and management he shall have
the option of doing so upon his giving twelve mouths' previous
notice in writing expiring on the thirty-first March of his intention
so to do to the said Local Government and upon paying to the said
Local Government the balance if any due on the said capital
account and upon his executing and undertaking to manage the

( 133A )

said lands set forth in the schedule hereto annexed in a manner to
be laid down by the said Local Government and such land so taken
shall be subject to the payment of the Government revenue which
then or may at any time thereafter be assessed upon the said land
so taken back or any portion thereof AND in the event of a breach
of any of the terms laid down by the Local Government for the
management of the said property as aforesaid by the said owner
then it shall be lawful for the said Secretary of State to re-enter
into and upon the said lands set forth in the schedule hereto
annexed and occupy and manage the same under the conditions
laid down in this agreement for as long as the said Local Govern-
ment pays to him the said owner the profits payable to him under
this agreement.

In witness whereof the parties hereto have set their hands the
day and year first above written.

Signature of owner. Secretary to Government,

United Provinces.

Witness. Witness.

Witness. Witness.

\

Afforestati
-bed Provino

an in the Uni
sa, India.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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