1 ( 5 )
2 22. <A report was submitted to Government in March last on the forests
3 Pate eee oe the settled districts, and it =e after inquiry
4 that the only forest tracts in the settled districts in
5 which Government have any rights at all were the following :—
6 Patna,— Government has a proprietory right over some 19,000 acres in
7 Pergunnah Rhotas and Chynepore ; these rights are now being inquired into,
8 and the exact tracts in which they exist are being ascertained.”
9 Rajshahye.— They own forests No. 5 and half of forests Nos. 3 and 4 in
10 Bogra.”
11 Dacca,—“ They own half the forests in Sylhet. What the nature of this
12 half ownership is, has not been explained.”
13 23. Cuttack.—“ In this division the destruction of forests inthe Tributary
14 Mechals was brought to the notice of Government by the Superintendent, and the
15 following rules have beon approved by the Government with a view to arresting
16 further waste. The Superintendent writes that ‘‘as Government has no sort of
17 right to enforce, or any means of enforcing, conservancy measures in this
18 territory, nothing more can be done.”
19 NOTIFICATION.
20 To THe T'riputary Ragaus or CutTrack.
21 ‘‘The great and unnecessary destruction of valuable forest timber trees
22 through the ‘Tributary Mehals has been noticed by Government and observed
23 by me. Expericnce has shown that in course of time, as civilization and culti-
24 vation advance, serious inroads have been made on the heretofore, uncleared
25 forests, and every year good timber fit for building purposes is becoming more
26 scarce and more difficult to procure. This is not the only evil. Denudation of
27 timber on the hills affects the climate of the country, and alse the rainfall, as
28 well as the fertility of the soil. Moreover, the great store of timber wealth
29 provided by Nature in these provinces is uselessly dissipated without -any
30 corresponding advantage oe to Rajahs or — in this generation, and
31 the next generation is moreover deprived of a valuable source of timber supply,
32 and eventually, if the destruction procceds, even fuel will become scarce.”
33 ‘Tn issuing this notice Government has no desire to interfere in any way
34 with the legitimate profits obtainable by the use or sale of timber by the
35 proprietors of tributary estates; on thescontrary Government desires to induce
36 careful consorvation of forests, so that timber may be allowed to reach maturity
37 and its sale become a source of permanent income to the Rajahs, and at the
38 same time benefit the country at large.”
39 ‘‘The following are the chicf causes of useless destruction of timber.”
40 lst.—“ The habit of cutting and clearing large tracts of valuable forests
41 for toila or temporary cultivation. These toila lands are only cultivated for two
42 or threo years, when the land is exhausted and lapses into useless thicket and
43 jungle. The profit derived from such cultivation is very small to the ryot and
44 generally little or nothing to the Rajah or zemindar.”
45 2nd.—‘* The practice of giving pottas, or permitting Sal forests to be girdled
46 for the sake of procuring daummer. Thousands of magnificent trees, worth, if
47 sold as timber, very largo sums, are annually dostroyed to procuro a few
48 chittacks of dammer. It is known that extraction of dammer does not necessitate
49 destruction of the Sil trees, but that a good supply can be obtained by cutting
50 merely a portion of the bark, extended over uot more than } of the girth of the
51 troo. In a few years the cut heals over and the tree 1s again fit to yield resin ;
52 whereas if it is girdled completely the tree dies and no more resin can be
53 obtained from it: thus the sea loses his valuable timber for the present,
54 and also loses his revenue for the future. Every Rajah will in future prohibit
55 the girdling of trees to procure dammer, and will set apart such tracts as may
56 be suitable and do not produce the finest timber for extract of dammer.”
57 b