1 22
2 lessly drawn up, and a remeasurement of the stock has been found necessary ;
3 the remeasurement was not, however, completed before the close of the year, and
4 hence the cubical contents of a small portion of the timber has been estimated on
5 the average of the measured logs.
6 11°. Form No. 26 exhibits the amount realized on account of timber sales.
7 118. The sugyested Form No. 27, hitherto attached to the report, is not
8 applicable to these Provinces, and,has therefore been omitted.
9 114. Notwithstanding the reductions made in the estimated value of stock,
10 Form No. 28 exhibits a net revenue for 1871-72 of Rs. 1,45,901-0-7, against
11 Its. 94,867-5-11 for the year 1870-71.
12 HEAD II.—Generau Remarks,
13 115. Among the subjects which call for general remark is the audit of
14 Forest accounts, which was transferred to this Office in 1870-71. The arrangement
15 is found to work well, and will daily lead to more satisfactory results as regards
16 the control of the expenditure of the Department. Formerly the vouchers and
17 bills supporting the accounts were as 4 rule deficient in details regarding the
18 extent or amount of work on which the expenditure was incurred. ‘This detect
19 is gradually being removed, and in the course of a short time the accounts will
20 furnish such details as will render them reliable data on which estimates of the
21 cost of every description of forest work can be based. With the view of facili-
22 tating the control over the detail expenditure of the Department, a separate
23 account will now be opened in this office for each forest. These records will be
24 in the form of debtor and creditor accounts, showing on one side the expenditure,
25 on the other the revenue, sv that on reference to these the financial results in
26 each forest can also he obtained. The want of such a record as that last men-
27 tioned was much felt in checking the figures given in the two last columns of the
28 State Forest Return prescribed by the Chief Commissioner.
29 116. Adverting to the Form just mentioned I would point out that the
30 figures given in the two last columns do not include the revenue from timber
31 sales, as the timber having been previously removed from the forests it was not
32 possible to ascertain the correct amount with which each forest should be
33 credited. For the same reason the expenditure under A. I. has also been
34 omitted.
35 117. With the view of entering more fully into the subject referred to in
36 para, 48 of the Chief Commissioner’s review on the report for 1870-71, endea-
37 \purs were made to get up a Forest map illustrating the position of all forest landa,
38 State and private ; but it was not found possible to collect the required details in
39 time for this reyort, and, owing to the want of reliable maps of many parts of the
40 Provinces, I fear that some time must elapse before such a map can be com-
41 pleted. The accompanying sheets of the Central Provinces’ map show the
42 position of the State forests, but without the yther forest details they are of little
43 use in illustrating the merits of these reserves as sources for the supply of small
44 timber and ordinary forest produce.
45 118, The system of collecting the rent of small cultivated plots in tha
46 torests of the Western Division, referred to in last ycar’s report, has continued
47 in force during the year under report ; it is now better understood and more
48 favourably received by the people. To guard against the acquisition of prescrip-
49 tive rights in the State forests the precaution of granting unnual leases iq
50 adopted.