increase the general supply of fuel in the country. The Collectors had now expressed an almost unanimous opinion that private enterprise was not likely to meet the increasing demand for fuel, and the Madras Government had accordingly deemed it proper to authorise the reservation and protection of extensive scrub jungles. The largest of the jungles so reserved was in the Salem district, where six tracts aggregating 12 square miles had been reserved. The total cost of this reservation work would amount, it was estimated, to Rs.7000 in the first year, with an annual outlay of Rs.500 only in the following years-a sum far too small to effectively carry out the work it was desired to effect. But at the period this parsimony in providing a sufficient staff was common throughout India, a result of the as yet imperfect knowledge extant of the work involved.

The question of the depletion of fuel supplies in the Presidency was aggravated by the advent of the railway, which burnt wood-fuel. It had become a serious competitor for this commodity with the villager, and it was realised that, with the great increase in the cutting of firewood, which was taking place all along the railway line, the scrub jungles within its neighbourhood would soon be cut out and disappear.

On this subject the Locomotive Superintendent of the Madras Railway, in a letter dated 21st December, 1856, wrote: "We have just commenced burning wood between Palghat and Beypoor, so that our issues from Palghat will be greatly increased. We shall probably require an additional monthly supply of 1,200,000 lbs. (about 290,000 cubic feet per acre) for that portion of the line." The Conservator addressed the following letter to Government in this connection :

During my late journeys on the Madras Railway I have been struck with the favourable growth of wood in the Palghat gap, and observed that fuel is conveyed by almost every train from the west of Coimbatore eastwards as far as Erode.

The wooded country occupying the notch between the Koondah and Anaimalai ranges was famous for wild elephants, but the extended cultivation along the line, and the increasing demand for wood, have jointly contributed to clear the primæval forests, and there is now only a thin scattered jungle.

The land west of Palghat is entirely private property, and in the Coimbatore district the jungle is being rapidly taken up

for cultivation, both in the vicinity of Walliar and in the adjoining valleys of Anaimalai and Bolumputty.

The question of railway fuel is daily forcing itself upon the attention of the different administrations of the Empire, and after much reflection as to the prospective wants of this Presidency, I beg to suggest that a compact block, say, 5000 to 6000 acres, be reserved at once, not for skilled and expensive planting, but for the spontaneous and unrestrained reproduction of wood. The provision of a constant supply of fuel at Palghat calls for careful consideration."

It may be mentioned that to provide the estimated railway requirements this area would have to yield 50 cubic feet per acre per annum! The Conservator drew attention to the letter from the Locomotive Superintendent above quoted and continued—

"The Collector suggested the course now recommended, and has offered to assist me in the matter; I request that he be empowered to take the necessary steps. I limit my application to the extent specified at present, but the Collector might be instructed to enquire what amount of land is available, without prejudice to existing rights.

It is desirable that the land taken up be as near as possible to the western limits of the Coimbatore district, the moisture being greater on the verge of the gháts, and it should, if possible, be close to the Walliar Station.

I have just returned from Nellore, and have seen in a much drier climate the successful management of a reserved tract, the productiveness of the jungle being much increased by excluding cattle, clearing away creepers, and other simple measures of conservancy."

The Board of Revenue (March, 1866) was asked to instruct the Collector of Coimbatore to mark off and reserve the land above referred to by the Conservator, and the latter was directed to report on his proposed arrangements for preserving and working the tract.

As will be shown later, in the case of the Punjab Railways, the Secretary of State had vetoed the suggestion that the Railway Management should expend railway moneys on the formation of plantations maintained for railway fuel supplies. The Secretary of State held that money provided for the building and extension of the railways could not be devoted to an enterprise so far removed from direct railway construction work and maintenance. An application at this date from the

Madras Railways to the same effect was consequently disallowed. The work of making a proper provision of fuel for the purpose was held to fall within the province of Departments maintained for the purpose.

By June, 1866, Lieutenant Walker was engaged on the work of reserving " 5000 acres of firewood jungle at the extreme western limit of the Coimbatore district, and near the line of railway." He was also giving attention to the locomotive fuel requirements in the Salem district, and the reservation and conservancy of the tracts of firewood jungles near Ahtoor and Malliapooram. 'This method," said the Conservator, "will always be far less expensive than forming plantations, and if cattle and fire can be kept out of these tracts, and felling carried on with system, and some attention given to conservancy, the yield of firewood will be considerably enhanced. Dr. Cleghorn and I had several consultations on the subject of forming plantations to meet the future fuel requirements of the railway, and we agreed that if the Locomotive Department continued to use firewood as fuel to a great extent, it would eventually be necessary to form large plantations in the following localities: (1) near Erode, (2) near Bangalore, (3) beyond Cuddapah, (4) near Arconum. West of Coimbatore the humidity of the climate will always ensure an abundant supply of fuel without artificial planting.

Full information from the railway company seems necessary on the following points: (1) source of present supply, (2) their experience as to what timbers yield the best fuel, (3) estimate of prospective requirements.

Plantations of this kind will have to be undertaken by Government or the railway department, as it is not probable that private enterprise will ever do anything in this way."

In an Order (10th July, 1866) on the above letter the Conservator was requested to communicate at once with the Collectors concerned, with a view to the reservation of suitable tracts in the neighbourhood of Arconum, Cuddapah and Erode. The papers relating to the subject of fuel reserves for railway purposes would be communicated to the Commissioner of Mysore, with reference to the proposal to establish a reserve near Bangalore.

The trouble at this period in Madras, and for some considerable time thereafter, was due to the reluctance of many of the Collectors to realise the importance of the Forest Conservancy question; and, in consequence, to the half-hearted manner in

which they supported the efforts of the Forest Department. And the Collectors often received the support of the Board of Revenue, who were still but lukewarm partisans of the Forest Conservancy business. In April, 1869, we find the Consulting Engineer for Railways addressing the Madras Government, Public Works Department, on the serious question of fuel supplies. This letter and the Conservator's remarks on the subject give a clear summary of the position of the question at the time.

In his letter (No. 117, dated 8th April, 1869) the Consulting Engineer shows that on the last five years' average the cost of coal at the stations along the north-west line beyond Cuddapah ranged from Rs.33 and Rs.40 a ton. Coal was the cheapest imported fuel at the time, and as 3 tons of firewood were taken to be equivalent to one ton of coal, it could be assumed that the Madras Railway Company would be able to pay from Rs.10 to Rs.12 per ton for firewood at the stations beyond Cuddapah. On the subject of the existing prices of firewood the Consulting Engineer wrote:

"The cost of firewood is at present regulated entirely by the rate of seigniorage charged by Government. This was lately raised from 6 annas per 1000 lbs. to 10 annas, or to 22 annas per ton. There can, however, be no doubt that, even with this enhanced rate of seigniorage, the cost of firewood cut in Government jungles is at present far below the cost of production. Such a condition is not only wrong in principle, but operates most prejudicially by preventing the growth of firewood by private enterprise. The opinion of the Government has been repeatedly recorded as to the impolicy of allowing it to continue. Its vicious operation is shown most clearly in the present instance, where the ease with which firewood can be obtained from the Government jungles furnishes the railway authorities with an argument against paying a price more nearly resembling the cost of production; and such an argument necessarily tends to prevent any artificial cultivation, even by the agency of the Forest Department.

So far as the railways in this Presidency are concerned, the question is one of vital importance. For their supplies of coke and coal they are, in all probability, likely to be for ever dependent upon external sources; and, in the event of England being engaged in a naval war, the nearest available source of supply would be the coalfields of Northern India, from which

a land carriage of some 2000 miles would be inevitable. Under those circumstances, if there were no reserve of firewood from which to draw their supplies of fuel, the railways could not be worked, except at a cost largely in excess of the present rates."

The fact that with the passing of the years some of the Engineer's arguments have come to be proved fallacious does not detract from their soundness at that juncture. His allusion to what would happen if a naval war occurred is quite prophetic.

The following table shows the consumption in tons of the different kinds of fuel during the years 1867 and 1868 by the railway companies in this Presidency :

The Consulting Engineer advocated the raising of the rate for firewood and agreed with the proposal of the Forest Department that it should be increased at an early date to Rs.1 for 1000 lbs. or Rs.2.4 per ton. That this enhancement should not, however, be regarded as final; but that the rate should be gradually increased until it more nearly assimilated the cost of production. The Engineer asserted that the enhanced rate should not be paid by the railway only, as the Conservator of Forests had suggested (an extraordinary short-sighted proposal to make), but should be payable by all, a suggestion to which the Government agreed.

As has been mentioned, the railway authorities had been considering the advisability of forming plantations of their own, a policy which, though supported by the Madras Government, had been vetoed by the Secretary of State. The Consulting Engineer is not on such sure ground when he deals with this plantation matter. He wrote: "I take this opportunity to represent to Government the very great importance which I attach to the early formation of a firewood