Private endeavor has been active through the two arboricultural societies, the Royal Scotch, founded in 1854, and the Royal English, beginning its labors in 1880. The transactions of these societies in annual or occasional volumes represented the current magazine literature on forestry since the monthly Journal of Forestry and Estates Management, which began its career in London in 1877, transferred to Edinburgh in 1884, ceased to exist in 1885.
At present, a very well conducted Quarterly Journal of Forestry, started in 1907 by the Royal English Arboricultural Society replacing its Transactions and that of the Irish Forestry Association, also the Journal of the Board of Agriculture, occasionally, supply the needs of the continuously improving chances for development on forestry lines. Until within a short time the English professional book literature has been extremely meager, although a considerable propagandist, arboricultural, and general magazine literature exists. Schlich’s Manual of Forestry, first in three volumes published from 1889 to 1895, now in its second to fourth edition, enlarged to five volumes, is the most comprehensive publication. Another author deserving mention is John Nisbet, known by his Studies in Forestry (1894), who also engrafted continental silvicultural notions into later editions of James Brown’s The Forester, an encyclopædic work of merit. Several German and French works have been translated into English, notably K. Gayer: Die Forstbenutzung; R. Hess: Der Forstschutz; H. Fürst: Waldschutz.
John Croumbie Brown’s sixteen volumes on forests and forestry in various countries may be mentioned among the propagandist literature. The Arboricultural Societies mentioned also make a brave effort to advance professional development of forestry in their publications.
INDIA.
While so neglectful of her forest interests at home, Great Britain has developed in her possessions in the East Indies a far-seeing policy, and, under the lead of German influence, has established there one of the largest, if not most efficient, forest departments in the world.
Contrary to a frequently expressed idea that the conditions and problems of India are comparable to the conditions and problems of the United States, so that the example of Great Britain in India rather than that of any European country might serve us in the United States, the writer thinks that the very opposite is true. Not only are the natural conditions for the most part different, India being mainly tropical with an entirely different flora and different conditions of growth, but industrial, cultural, social and political conditions are also entirely different; all of which entails difference in methods of procedure. There are, to be sure, a few points of similarity: the large size of country under one government, and that in the hands of an English speaking race; the fact that the fire scourge, as with us, but from different reasons, is still the greatest problem; that there are arid regions and deserts (not over 10 per cent.), and irrigation problems and flood dangers to deal with; and finally the long delay in establishing a definite forest policy. Although this policy was inaugurated over 40 years ago, India has not yet, and will by the nature of things, not soon pass out of the first stage of development which we may confidently expect to pass through much more rapidly, due to the conditions in which we resemble Europe more closely.
The greater part of India, namely 62 per cent. of the 1,773,000 square miles, is under British administration, and is peopled by a subject race of nearly 240 million, without a voice in their government, which is carried on by a small handful of the conquerors (about 100,000 Englishmen are living in India), while the balance, around 700,000 square miles with 53 million people, is divided among a large number of more or less independent native States, very different in their civilization from ours.
Industrially, the difference will appear from the statement that about 70 per cent. of the population is engaged in agricultural pursuits, hence there is no active wood market as with us, except for domestic purposes, and, as the woods, like those of most tropical forest, are mainly cabinet woods, even the export trade is insignificant, amounting to hardly 3 million dollars, while minor forest products (lac, cutch and gambier, myrobalan, caoutchouc, etc.) represent about 12 million dollars.
Climatically, as is to be expected, on such a large territory, great variation exists, which is increased by differences in altitude from the sea level to the tops of the Himalayas. The climate is, of course, largely tropical, with a rainfall which varies from the heaviest known, of 600 inches, to almost none at all.