The President, (Colonel Hill, M.P.,) suggested an addition or alteration of the resolution. A very influential deputation had already waited upon Mr. Chaplin who gave them to understand, that he could not do as was wished without money, and he had not the money with which to do it. Communications should be made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a view of inducing him to look favourably on the proposal, and there would then be more chance of carrying it out.

Mr. Harper said he would wish the meeting to leave the matter entirely in the hands of the Executive Council, to approach either the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the President of the Board of Agriculture as they thought fit.

The resolution was carried unanimously.

Recently, in the House of Commons, Sir J. Lubbock asked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he proposed to carry out the recommendations of the Select Committee on Forestry.

no

Mr. Chaplin's reply was as follows:

The Select Committee on Forestry made two recommendations. One was the creation of a Board of Forestry; the other the establishment of a School of Forestry in more than one centre. But the powers of the Board of Agriculture under the Act which created that department are strictly limited, and the Board has means and no power of giving effect directly to these recommendations. We are doing what we can within our powers by (1) making further statistical inquiry than has yet been made into the extent of woods and plantations, distinguishing the younger from the older woods; (2) by inspecting and aiding by a grant the lectures given in the University of Edinburgh under the sanction of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society. We have also undertaken, under certain conditions, to make grants towards the Chair of Agriculture and Forestry about to be established in the Durham College of Science; and we are now in correspondence with the Surveyors' Institution with a view to the official recognition of the examinations in forestry conducted by that institution. I should be very glad to promote the development of education in forestry as far as possible; but I think that within the power of the Board of Agriculture we are doing all that can be done in that direction.-Timber Trade Journal.

705703

Tinnevelly forms the southernmost district of the Madras Presidency and occupies an area of 5381 square miles. Its principal forest areas occupy the eastern slopes of the range of hills which forms the western boundary of the district and is roughly taken at 900,000 acres. The mean annual rainfall in the plains may be estimated at 30, and that on the hills at 100 inches. Deciduous forests occupy all the drier slopes up to an elevation of 2,000 feet and from this elevation great masses of evergreen forests, broken only by ruined patches of Karni clearings, stretch themselves upward to the crests of the range and along the streams at the bottom of valleys. A line of cairns which runs more or less midway along the slopes, separates the "Reserved Lands," which lie below, from the "Reserved Forests" which lie above it. In the former, free grazing and the removal of headloads of grass and firewood for bona fide home use are allowed; but in the latter no such privileges exist.

South Tinnevelly comprises the taluqs of Nanguneri, and Ambasamudram; but my remarks will chiefly apply to Papanasam which is by far the principal block in the district. The forest area, although very limited and the field for work not large, has, still, much in it that is interesting The sacred waters of the Tambaraparni and other rivers take their rise here, and it is the irrigation they afford which is the principal source of wealth to the district; fairly good fishing and shooting are obtained, and the richness and variety of the vegetation are well known.

The forests were formerly worked under the "License" and "Selection" systems and more recently 'Coppice under standards," "Jardinage," and cultural operations were introduced.

LICENSE SYSTEM :-This was applied to the lower deciduous forests and was confined to the removal of firewood, agricultural implements and small timber. It may be briefly described as follows. The purchaser on payment of a fee receives from the issuer a ticket which prescribes the period and locality, the description and amount of produce, and the thanna through which the

produce must pass. At the thanna the produce is checked and if it accords with the terms of the ticket, the ticket is retained and in exchange a "way permit" is given, which covers the produce to its place of destination. It will be at once seen that this is a wasteful and ruinous system. Under it the best trees are selected and removed and crooked, gnarled, dwarfed and rejected trees remain which must only deteriorate the forests and reduce their value and utility; or perhaps out of a felled tree a small portion of the trunk or a branch is taken and the rest allowed to rot or removed for some other less useful purpose. This system has given way to the "Coppice under standards "

system.

COPPICE UNDER STANDARDS:-An attempt at this system was made the year previous on small irregular patches, but it was not understood and it proved a financial failure.

The Mundanthorai plateau, which is about 10 square miles, was then chosen, as it is centrally situated and affords easy access to the foresters and forest guards of the range for studying the system and applying it to their own charges. A base line was first laid out along the Mundanthorai-Kariar Road and from this parallel lines were taken 15 chains apart, then across these, at right-angles, another row of lines were cut at 20 chains apart, thereby dividing up the area into 30 acre coupes so arranged that the winds which blow with great force for nearly four months in the year cut the coupes more or less at right-angles to their greater length. The coupes are demarcated with stones, showing the number or name of the coupe and the year in which the coupe was felled, thus:

(The angle of the stones shows the direction of the coupe boundary line, and each face of the stone points to the cut area and has inscribed on it the name of the which it was cut.)

coupe

and the year

in

The principal trees and shrubs found within the plateau are Teak, Pterocarpus Marsupium, Satinwood, Tamarind, Grewia tiliæ folia, abutilifolia and asiatica, Briedelia retusa, Cordia Myxa and angustifolia, Cassia Fistula, Albizzia odoratissima, Lebbek and amara, Spondias mangifera, Hemigyrosa canescens and deficiens, Schleichera trijuga, Diospyros Embryopteris and Melanoxylon, Careya arborea, Zizyphus Jujuba and xylopyra, Anogeissus latifolia, Dalbergia latifolia, paniculata and lanceolaria, Premna latifolia, Morinda citrifolia, Chionanthus malabarica, Sapindus emarginatus, Walsura piscidia, Aglaia, minutiflora, Atalantia monophylla, Limonia alata, Mundulea suberosa, Buchanania latifolia, Terminalia Chebula, Arjuna and belerica, Vitex altissima and trifolia, Mimusops indica and Roxburghiana, Cycas revoluta, Gyrocarpus Jacquini, Givotia rottleriformis, Bauhinia malabarica and tomentosa, Hydnocarpus alpina, Hardwickia binata and pinnata, Phyllanthus Emblica and polyphyllus, with dense extensive patches of undergrowth consisting mostly of Strobilanthes Kunthianus, Memecylon tinctorium, Randia dumetorum, Webera asiatica, Flacourtia sepiaria, Erythroxylon indicum, Dichrostachys cinerea, Zizyphus Enoplia, Helicteres Isora, Actephila excelsa and Cadaba triphylla.

Most of the trees and shrubs coppice well and send out strong, vigorous shoots, and in the case of Dalbergia paniculata it was here discovered, as was noticed in the 1888 September number of the Indian Forester, that coppice shoots spring from the parenchyma between the woody zones, a fact unknown in other dicotyledonous plants.

I am indebted to J. G. F. M. for his "A note on Forest Management in Tinnevelly" published in the January-March number of the Indian Forester where he has given in much detail the "signal advantages" gained by the system, but a short account from one who had introduced the system and laid out the coupes, may not be out of place.

The fellings were done departmentally, but might now be given out on contract, except for the fact that small branches and twigs are removed in headloads by the poorer class of villagers, mostly women, from the sale of which they just scrape a day's living. It would be exceedingly hard to leave them to the tender mercies of a contractor. I have not an account of the out-turn of produce with me, but the net gain at the end of the official year 1888-89 was something near Rs. 25 per acre, with a prospect of being very materially increased. From 10 to 20 standards, according to the richness or poorness of the soil and the denseness of the undergrowth, were left per acre. On fairly extensive slopes of 1 in 10 and steeper, it was found advisable to retain the continuity of the leaf canopy and the fellings approached more an improvement-thinning and cleaning operation than regular coppice; care being taken to improve the stock, prevent erosion and maintain high forest. The regrowth