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no longer under the Government of India, the State being restored to the Maharaja.

COORG

In 1865 the forests of Coorg formed a Range under an Assistant Conservator who was subordinate to the Conservator in Mysore (Van Someren). It was known as the Forest Conservancy Department. The forests consisted of three main types (1) sandal wood and small jungle in the north; (2) fine deciduous forest of teak, rosewood, etc., in the east and southeast; (3) large evergreen forests on the Ghâts along the west. Up to about 1871, except for a little planting, the main operations of the Department consisted of departmental felling and extraction of timber chiefly in South Coorg, the material being carted to Hunsur, where it was annually sold by auction. The fellings were of the usual type of the period, the finest accessible trees being selected. Fellings were also undertaken by timber merchants who could obtain licences to fell in any Government forest. West Coast merchants felled in the Ghât forests in this way. Timber required for house-building could be obtained free. These methods were doubtless in force in the time of the Rajas of Coorg. Reservation was first commenced in the eastern forests in 1870. Demarcation and survey work was carried out, and by 1875-6 an area of 308 square miles of reserved forest had been surveyed and the demarcation of all the deciduous forests of the province had been completed. Owing to realinement of boundaries the area was reduced to 295 square miles in 1877-8. The following year the demarcation of the Ghât forests commenced. In 1886-7 these forests, area 309 square miles, were declared Protected forests. The next year an area of 308 square miles of Paisaris (lands outside Reserves not included in revenue-paying or revenue free lands), Urudves (village forests) and Devarakadu (sacred groves) lands were handed over to the Department. Thus by 1888 an area of 859 square miles was under the Department. The Paisaris lands were subsequently re-transferred to the Revenue Department. In 1890-1 the Government proposed the formation of the protected forests in the Ghâts into Reserves. Settlement work was commenced the following year, but the proposal had not been given effect to at the close of the century. In 1871 Forest Rules were introduced and the issue of licences ceased, the Department opening a number of small timber depots. These were closed in 1876. In 1878 a commencement was made to localize the felling areas. This effort

was persisted in, though, in the absence of efficient communications, the provision of which proceeded but slowly, it was found difficult to exploit valuable areas bearing teak, honne (Petrocarpus marsupium), biti (Dalbergia latifolia) and matti (Terminalia tomentosa). In 1879-80 the sole right to exploit timber in the Kerti and Urti Forests in the Ghâts was granted to a Mr. Tod, who paid a fixed sum per tree subject to a minimum of Rs.3,500 per annum. Mr. Tod soon gave up the contract and in 1896-7 the licence system was reverted to, an attempt being made to locate the fellings. This was not successful and the end of the century witnessed the unrestricted fellings in full swing once more-a deplorably retrograde step. But want of communications was the main obstacle to progress. The introduction of fire protection proved difficult. The southern portion of the Anckad Reserve was first attempted in 1876-7. From this year to 1901 the methods employed were to cut both external and internal lines and to burn them when dry, fire-patrols being also appointed. Fires more or less severe occurred annually until in 1896-7, all the areas burnt in the previous year were closed to shooting in the fire season and the subordinates in whose areas fires had occurred were severely punished. This action met with a considerable measure of

success.

The first artificial regeneration work undertaken was the teak plantation in Karmad formed between 1868 and 1876. Between 1872 and 1884 ten other teak plantations were formed. In 1890 the policy was changed and the teak “taungya” method was introduced. The Kurubars practised shifting cultivation (Kumri) in the forests and were persuaded to sow teak seed with their crops of ragi and hill paddy (rice). The sowing was done in the hot weather. The area was again burnt and cultivated during the following year and casualties amongst the teak replaced. The Kurubars tended the plants until the close of the second hot weather, when they were paid at the rate of Rs.1.4.0 per every 100 surviving plants. This method proved very successful. Planting of teak in the Ghât Forests (Kutumpole) was commenced in 1870 and continued up to 1898. The attempt to raise teak was not very successful; the method of regeneration of these evergreen forests belongs to the work carried out after 1900. Attempts were also made to regenerate sandal artificially, and between 1880-3 an area of 15 acres was successfully planted with sandal at Karmad, and by 1898 over 500 acres of sandal plantations existed. The

sandal here, as in Mysore and all the sandal areas, suffered throughout the period from the serious disease known as spike." Efforts to deal with this pest proved ineffectual and its scientific cause remained unknown.

The Forests of Coorg were first alluded to as a Forest Division in 1876–7. An administration report being drawn up by Van Someren, Conservator of Mysore and Coorg. The receipts for that year were Rs.76,000 and expenditure Rs.33,000. In 1878-9 the Annual Report for the Province was prepared by Mr. F. B. Dickinson, Conservator in charge, and the Department in Coorg severed its relations with the Mysore Conservator. The staff was increased by a Sub-Assistant Conservator. In 1879-80 the revenue and expenditure were Rs.1,00,000 and Rs.55,000 respectively, and in 1899-1900 Rs.1,62,410 and Rs.88,190; the total forest area under the Department being 899 square miles or 56.82 per cent of the country.

The first working plan (that for the Hatgat and Nalkeri Reserves) was prepared in 1886; it was followed by plans for part of the Dubare Reserve in 1892, for the Anckad and Athur Reserves in 1894, for the whole of the Dubare and Arkeri Reserves in 1898 and for the Devamachi and Mawkal Reserves in 1899. The plans prescribed selection and improvement fellings by area. The fellings were made, but as was the common practice at the time, they were practically restricted to the saleable timber, i.e. the best trees in the forests, and improvement fellings to favour the young crop were not made. By the close of the century an area of 178 square miles was under Working Plans, others were under preparation for 22 square miles, whilst 699 square miles were without Working Plans.

CHAPTER II

THE PROGRESS OF FOREST CONSERVANCY IN THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, INCLUDING SIND, 1871-1900

HE somewhat slow progress made in introducing a proper conservancy of the forests in Bombay and the position arrived at by 1870 has been detailed in Chapter IV of Volume II. Some of the difficulties were dealt with by the Secretary of State in a despatch alluded to on pages 163-4. It will be remembered that Brandis visited the Presidency in the winter of 1869-70. At that time the Conservator was little more than an Inspecting Officer, having no real control over the Forest Officers of the Department. Subsequent to Brandis' visit this anomalous position was rectified and the authority of the Conservator in his Department brought into line with the practice in the provinces under the Government of India.

Both in Bombay and elsewhere it soon became apparent that the forest areas to be dealt with were far too extensive to form the charge of a single Conservator and the former took the initiative and created three Conservatorships in the Presidency in 1873, a northern and southern for Bombay and a third in the Sind Province. This was a step in the right direction, but unfortunately serious financial stringency was caused by the bad famine of 1876–7 and 1877-8 which brought about stagnation in trade and consequently a falling off in demand for forest produce. The progress made with demarcating the Forest Reserves, rendered all the more necessary owing to the peculiar position of the forests relatively to those of foreign States and private individuals, was slow and troublesome, and some of the difficulties were undoubtedly unfortunately due to the Forest Officers themselves; although the records show unmistakably that their work was often rendered more arduous by the opposition of the Civil Officers. Shuttleworth was appointed Conservator on the retirement of Dalzell in September, 1869. After the division of the Presidency Shuttleworth became Conservator of the Northern Division, and in this

position did not in all things fulfil the high promise he had shown as a Deputy Conservator.

The Annual Reports and other Memoranda for the years 18767-8 show clearly the position into which the forest policy and management was again drifting. The new Forest Act VII of 1878 had been made applicable to Bombay (II, 469), but the Rules to be made for the Presidency under the Act were still under consideration. Under the revised distribution of the forests brought about by the division of the Presidency into three Conservatorships (including Sind) the Northern Conservatorship included the forests in the Collectorate of Thana, Kolába, Ratnagiri, Khandesh, Násik, Ahmednagar, Poona, Satara, Sholapur, Surat and Kaira. These Collectorates were under the Commissioners of the Northern, Central and Southern Divisions (Ratnagiri only in the latter), each of whom was empowered to express his opinion in Memoranda upon the Conservator's Annual Forest Report before it reached the Bombay Government. The Southern Conservatorship which was under Colonel Peyton included the forests of the four districts, Kanara, Belgaum, Dharwar and Kaládgi, all under the Commissioner of the Southern Division. As has been customary in this history, the Sind Forests will be treated of separately.

The Government review of the position of the Forest Department in the Presidency in 1878 states that the Department had been making a slow headway against considerable difficulties and that greater progress had been made during the past year, in spite of the serious set-back to sales due to the two years of bad famine, than at any previous time. It was held that the application to the Presidency of the new Forest Act would greatly facilitate the work of the Department.

In the Northern Conservatorship Shuttleworth now had a strong body of good officers, some of whom were to leave their mark on the annals of forestry progress in the years to comeas will be evident by an enumeration of their names. Messrs. Gibson, Betham, Horsley, Wroughton, Hight, Wallinger, Mainwaring, Fry, Dunbar, Talbot and Fagan, most of whom had been trained at home. Bombay had soon departed from the position they at first took up as regards recruiting trained officers. Several of the above officers were destined to become in their turn Conservators in the Presidency, whilst one of them, Mr. Wroughton, subsequently became Inspector-General of Forests.

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