The provisions of the Forest Act also indirectly help in securing the immunity of the forests from fire. Section 27 authorizes the closure of forests to pasture and other privileges as an additional punishment for incendiarism, while under Section 23 it is obligatory on every person enjoying any privileges in a reserved forest and on every village officer to intimate the occurrence of fire and to render help in extinguishing it." It will become apparent from the above résumé of the opinions held and methods employed in the various Provinces that what has been termed a revolution has occurred in this important matter of fire protecting the forests. The Government of India warning that enthusiasm for the new ideas should not lead the Forest Officer to form the opinion that firè protection in any form is a waste of money comes in time. From personal observations the author has been able to carry out, it is easy to see that the pendulum might easily swing too far. In every Circle and in every Division or part of a Division the advisability of early controlled burning must be decided on its merits by the officers on the spot. The obvious and very decided advantages to be obtained in the contentment of the people and the getting quit of a most harassing form of work by the forest staff, must not be allowed to weigh against the effect of the operation on the forest crop. This being said, from the experience already gained, it would appear that fire may prove one of the most useful allies of the Sylviculturist in obtaining the successful regeneration of his areas in the case of some species, and to the Protection Officer in ridding him of dangerous pests. CHAPTER XVI THE PROGRESS OF SYLVICULTURE IN INDIA AND BURMA T 1901-25 HE Forest Officer who has been away from India a decade or even less would find it difficult to realize the great progress which has been made in the sylvicultural treatment of some of the best-known Indian species. Nor would he be able to appreciate, without visiting the areas, the advanced nature of the work now being undertaken in many of the Provinces. Having passed the whole of his Service in managing forest areas under the socalled Selection System by the equally so-called Improvement Fellings, which, as is now very thoroughly realized, did little more than remove the marketable individuals of a few species from the mixed crop-to such a man the mere mention of the fact that areas are managed under concentrated regeneration fellings, by taungya or otherwise; under the uniform or shelter wood compartment system, either by natural regeneration or artificial work; or by combinations of this method with strips or groups; under coppice or coppice with standards, would convey little. With the fixed ideas engendered during a life's work carried out on the one basis it would prove difficult to visualize the present great advance; to appreciate that at the present day work on as high a plane as anything on the Continent of Europe is to be seen in India. It is true that such a statement must be qualified, and necessarily qualified, by the proviso that these methods have been so far only applied to a comparatively small percentage of the forest area; nor does their application indicate that India is as yet in a position to afford to the Forest Probationer as valuable a trainingground as exists in Europe. For with the exception of a few plantations no Indian forest has yet passed through a whole rotation, much less several, as is the case on the Continent of Europe; and therefore the many object lessons for the student are inevitably absent. But in this chapter the case of the student does not primarily come into the question. It may be argued that the Indian Forest Service now issues a number of exceedingly able and informative reports and, in addition, that many of the Working Plans drawn up for forest areas are on as high a level as is to be found in any other Service in the world. This is the case. But the ablest reports, monographs and treatises cannot take the place of ocular demonstration; and more especially perhaps where forestry is concerned. And Government Annual Reports nowadays, in their abbreviated form and multitudinous statistics, are dry bones upon which it is almost impossible to clothe any lucid account which would be either informative or likely to hold the attention of the enquirer. It was this realization which obliged the author of this history either to bring it to an abrupt termination or to revisit India. It proved a most illuminating visit. In Volume II, Chapter XVIII, the progress in sylviculture and the position achieved at the end of last century was portrayed, based on the opinions held by Ribbentrop, then Inspector-General, and it may be surmised the Senior Officer of the Department. Before reviewing the progress of the present century a summary of the break away from the old Selection System in the different Provinces is necessary. Bengal.-Clear felling has been introduced into Northern Bengal, and practically all clear fellings are restocked artificially by taungya. The cost of formation in 1924-5 averaged Rs.15 per acre against Rs.22 in 1923-4. The cost of an established plantation being from Rs.25 to Rs.30 per acre. It is expected that plantations of "gamari" (Gmelina arborea) will mature in thirty years and be worth at present prices Rs.2000 per acre, and those of sâl, the slowest grower, at eighty years and be worth Rs.5500 per acre, both at present prices and taking no account of the intermediate yields from thinnings. In the Sundarbans natural regeneration of all the principal species is adequate, as it always has been. In the Chittagong Divisions successive regeneration fellings, which aim at establishing garjan" (Dipterocarpus turbinatus), have been recently introduced. Where coppice has been relied on they appear to have been satisfactory. In the rest of the forest area under the Selection System climber cutting and improvement fellings and thinnings are in force, and are carried out with such detail as the strength of the staff permits. Assam. The old method of improvement fellings with climber cutting is still in force in Assam. In Goalpara only has the modern method of improvement-cum-selection been introduced-chiefly in the Guma and Central Ranges Clear felling and taungya regeneration have been introduced in recent years in the Sylhet and Cachar Divisions, and experimental sowings after clear felling in the Sadiya Division on a small scale. Burma. The chief system of concentrated regeneration in Burma at the present time (1925), as will be described later, is the taungya method. In some instances regular plantations are formed, whilst the rest of the forest areas are under improvement-cum-selection operations. The following figures of cost show how considerable has been the increase in the concentrated regeneration work: 1900-1-Sowing and planting, Rs.60,570; Improvement fellings, climber cutting, etc., Rs.74-118. 1910-11-Sowing and planting, Rs.69,307; Improvement fellings and thinnings, etc., Rs.116,560. 1923-4Sowing and planting, Rs.138,760; Improvement fellings and thinnings, etc., Rs.60,767. Bihar and Orissa.-Until 1919 the systems in force were either the Selection or Coppice with Standards. The Uniform System has been introduced into the sâl forests of the old Singbhum Division, the areas of forest not included in the Regeneration Periodic Block being worked under the Selection System with Improvement Fellings and Thinnings. The Uniform System or modifications is being applied to other important forests. Coppice on rotations of from twenty to fifty years is prescribed in Sambalpur, where a part of the area is under the Strip System. Central Provinces.-The forests of the Province are in a transition stage. Early in the century the Coppice with Standards System was introduced over large areas. After ten to twenty years' work the system was found to be inapplicable to extensive areas. The forests had greatly improved in younger age classes after fifty years of protection. The working now introduced is careful Improvement fellings with cleanings and thinnings combined with the removal of the old standards. In the South Raipur Forests the Uniform System is prescribed under the new Working Plan. The Allapilli and Bori Forests were not placed under Coppice with Standards and will be referred to later on. Taungya regeneration has been introduced into Bilaspur. In the Buldana Division profitable fuel plantations of babul (Acacia arabica) are |