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SECTION III.—FORESTRY. 
(From Report on the Moral and Material Progress of India during 18/1-2, by Clements R. Markham, C.B.) 
The Forest Departments in most provinces in India have not been in existence for 
more than 15 years, and much will have to be done, many difficulties and obstructions 
must be removed, before they will be in thoroughly effective working Order. The im- 
portance of their work, is, however, beginning to be understood, and when the forest 
revenues largely increase, the value of conservancy will be recognised, even by the 
numerous dass which looks upon any thought for future generations as a waste of time 
and money. 
Probably the most important, though indirect, object of forest conservancy is the 
natural influence exercised by trees on the drainage of a country. Where the mountains 
ar - e bare the rain rushes down in torrents, destroying roads and bridges, giving rise to 
destructive floods at the outlets on the plains, and doing other injuries, botli in the 
hill tract and the plains, and the supply of water is uncertain and capricious during 
the dry season. On the other hand, where the forests are preserved, the superficial 
drainage and dry weather discharge are both gradual, the springs are better supplied, 
and regularity and safety are insured to irrigation works on the plain. 
The direct objects are, first, to meet a rapidly increasing demand throughout India 
for enormous supplies of timber and fuel. The cultivators, as their condition improves, 
require to exchange miserable huts for better-built houses and better furniture. There 
is an immense demand for railway sleepers, for fuel for steamers and railways, and for 
timber and fuel for large towns. The interests of trade, which have a direct bearing on 
the prosperity of the people, also require consideration, in order to meet the demand for 
teak, sandal-wood, catechu, lac, caoutchouc, and other forest products. The rapid 
increase in the magnitude of these demands is strikingly shown by the effect it has had 
on the export timber trade in some parts of India. 
Unless the small extent of remaining available forest is very carefully managed, there 
will be great diffieulty in meeting the demands for timber, bamboo, and fuel, which are 
increasing everywhere. In 1846 a department was organised in the Bombay Presidency 
under Dr. Gibson ; in 1856 Drs. Cleghorn and Brandis commenced work in Madras and 
British Burmah respectively. Dr. Cleghorn not only created the department in Madras, 
but also laid the foundation of forest administration in the Punjab, and was subsequently 
associated with Dr. Brandis in organising the Forest Department in Bengal. In 1864 
Dr. Brandis was appointed Inspector-General of Forests to the Government of India. 
It has been found necessary to retain as many important forest tracts as possible in 
the hands of the State for exclusive management, as it is impossible to control the 
forests efficiently when in private hands, and the Government forests offer the only 
means of training an experienced bocly of foresters with practical knowledge. The 
reserved forests are under the exclusive management of the department. But the largest 
portion of the forest area is still unreserved, and the people retain rights of pasturage, 
of destructive burning, of desultory cultivation, which is equally destructive, and of 
collecting products. These unreserved forests are generally under local district officers, 
and when well managed they yield a good revenue available for roads and other public 
improvements. Thus the forests under the control of Government are divided into three 
main divisions,—reserved forests, unreserved forests, and plantations. The forests reported 
to have been reserved and secured to the State cover 6,200,000 acres as compared with 
6,000,000 acres in Prussia, 2,500,000 in France, and 112,000, comprising the Crown 
forests of England. Much time must elapse before the Forest Department in India can 
reach a really prosperous condition as regards financial results. 
The great mass of the forests, bwing to past neglect, is in a poor and exhausted 
state, and large sums must for a long time be annually spent on surveys, demarcations, 
boundaries, roads, and plantations. The income of the last three years has fluctuated