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the following twenty ports, viz.: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cork, Dartmouth, Falmouth, Gloucester, Glasgow, Greenock, Guernsey, Liverpool, London, Milford, Newcastle and Shields, Southampton, Shoreham, Sunderland, Swansea, Torquay and Whitehaven. In some cases the replies seemed to favour Malabar teak. Others only used Burma teak; some did not understand what the term "girdling" meant, whilst a proportion expressed their inability to furnish any opinion on the matter.

The Government of India had also circularised all Local Governments, asking for the opinions of the local officials, both forest and others.

Brandis based his second Memorandum on a review of the whole of the new information detailed in the Reports forwarded by Local Governments and Administrations and on the opinions of the shipbuilders at home. He commenced by stating, "At the outset, it should be mentioned that the question has been considerably narrowed. The advantages and drawbacks of girdling may now be considered with reference only to teak timber, for the reports from the Central Provinces and the North-West Provinces conclusively show that sâl timber when killed by girdling is, in most cases, attacked by insects. In the first Report it was said that girdling was not indicated in the case of coniferous trees in the Himalaya, and as no definite facts bearing upon the effect of girdling on trees of other kinds have been brought forward, it will be sufficient here to discuss the question with reference to teak alone." Brandis reviewed the divergent opinions expressed on the subject by Forest Officers, discussing the question from the point of view of loss of water, oil, extra brittleness and hardness of the timber, and dealt with the question of the season at which felling took place in India and Europe, pointing out that in the latter timber was not necessarily always felled in winter, instancing the Alps, Black Forest and Vosges, where summer felling was the practice, and stated that "a large proportion of the oak timber of France and Southern Europe, used in the navy dockyards of England, is likewise not felled in winter." Summing up, Brandis said, “The practical result, then, of the discussion on seasoning teak timber by girdling appears to be, that it does not appear desirable in the present state of the opinions of Forest Officers and others to introduce this practice where it has not hitherto been employed." On the subject of the

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CYPRESS TREES (CUPRESSUS TORULOSA) AT NAINI TAL, N. W. PROVINCES

Photograph by Sir S. Eardley Wilmot

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comparative values of Burma and Malabar teak he wrote, An opinion appears to be prevalent that Burma teak grows on low and marshy soils, and is of rapid growth. This should be corrected; for most part of the Burma teak grows on dry hills, and very little of it is produced on alluvial soil; it never is found on marshy ground. As to the rate of growth, this probably varies in Burma, as in any other country, according to soil, exposition, greater or less steepness of slope and climate. The average growth of the teak in the Nellumbour plantations of Malabar is fully as rapid, if not more so, than the growth of teak in the different plantations in British Burma. There would therefore appear to be other reasons for the difference in quality of the teak timber from these two sources, which further experience may, perhaps, aid us to discover."

Brandis closed his Report with the suggestion that "Forest Officers in this country should endeavour to collect reliable data on the durability of timber in different circumstances, of different kinds, and seasoned by different methods."

The orders contained in the Resolution of the Government of India, dated 22nd October, 1867, sent to the Local Governments and Administrations were as follows:

"It seems to his Excellency in Council that the data now available appear to point to the following conclusions :

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Ist. That the question may now be considered to refer alone to teak timber, as the girdling of sâl appears to be decidedly unadvisable, and for the girdling of other trees no grounds have been brought forward.

2nd. That, under existing circumstances, there seem no grounds to recommend the seasoning of teak timber by girdling in Government forests, where it is not at present practised.

3rd. That in the Government forests of Burma, where alone the practice is existing, it cannot be abandoned, as this would, in most instances, render impracticable the export of timber; but that, in that province also, the felling of green teak might be resorted to as an experiment on a small scale, wherever the timber can be exported by land, on boats or on rafts of seasoned timber.

4th. That the data at present available do not justify a final conclusion on the merits or demerits of this mode of seasoning teak timber, but that further experience and direct experiments are required to complete our knowledge on this subject."

After his appointment as Inspector-General of Forests, Brandis had early recognised the necessity of recruiting the ranks of the superior service with some fully trained officers. The steps he took with this object in view are detailed in the next chapter, but in order to ensure, by a flow of promotion, suitable conditions of service to attract good men, he suggested that the officers of the various provinces and administrations under the Government of India should be placed on one list. This gave rise to the first classification of the superior grades of the Department.

These proposals for the reorganisation of the superior establishments of the Forest Department were approved by the Secretary of State in November, 1868. The following rules were drawn up to have effect from the 1st March, 1869. These rules were destined to remain in force with some modifications for well over thirty years, and therefore merit reproduction here.

"RULES REGARDING APPOINTMENTS, PROMOTIONS, TRANSFERS, ETC., OF OFFICERS OF THE FOREst DepartmeNT UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

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I. The forest establishments under the control of the Government of India will commonly be divided into the subordinate and the controlling establishments. The following rules are applicable to the officers who constitute the controlling establishments, under the several Lieutenant-Governors and Chief Commissioners, but not to those under the Governments of Madras and Bombay.

II. The officers of the Forest Department will be placed on one general list from 1st March, 1869, and will be divided into classes and grades with salaries as follows:

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