1 ( 107 )
2 But if necessary an Agency could be established on the Sutlej ; and
3 native merchants use the other rivers, These Agencies have proved on
4 the whole satisfactory. From their Returns, rendered up to May 1856,
5 they are proved to have been financially profitable ; to have met the
6 exigencies of the service, at times when immense supplies of timber were
7 indispensable ; and to have furnished the article at lower prices than
8 could otherwise have been attained. Among the Officers engaged,
9 Lieutenant Heath, of the Artillery, and Major Longden, of H. M.’s 10th
10 Foot, deserve mention.
11 196. With such an absorbing demand, it has been difficult to preserve.
12 even these prolific forests from rapid diminution of
13 resources, But anxious thought has been given to
14 the subject of their conservation. The local authorities have been vested
15 with large manorial powers for this purpose, and they have entertained
16 establishments of forest rangers, and rules, both general and local, have
17 been promulgated. This protection has been extended to the trees most
18 valuable for building purposes, which in these regions are mostly of two’
19 species, namely, the cedar (Cedrus deodara) and the pine or Scotch fir.
20 The copse-wood and shrubs, useful for fuel are similarly protected. But the
21 trees and shrubs are liable, not only to be felled and cut, but also to be
22 devoured by conflagration. The Hill people burn the rank grass on the
23 Hill sides to prepare the ground for cultivation. On the summer nights,
24 just before the rainy season is ushered in, whole ranges are illuminated
25 by these conflagrations, which destroy not only the grass, but also valuable
26 trees and shrubs. This practice, which could not be avons interdicted,
27 is placed under due restriction.
28 197. In para. 462 of the Second Punjab Report it was shown how
29 much had been done for Arboriculture. ” The
30 Sikh Government never spared trees, and in
31 practice scarcely recognized.any rights of property in them: the people
32 were ignorant of their value. Thus the country became bare and will
33 not become well wooded for some generations. But a great’ stimulus
34 has been imparted by the British Government. No District is without
35 its nursery of plants and seedlings, no canal without its avenues; no
36 public building, and almost no road, without its groves. Of the above
37 description, there are some 2,899,365 (exclusive of those planted by the
38 Engineer Department) trees in these Territories, of which 1,574,616
39 Conservation of Forests,
40 ASbobfontitien: