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Forestry - a Brief Description
Extracts from a speech given to the Senior Students at
Rangoon University in 1926 by Sir Harcourt-Butler.
Rangoon University in 1926 by Sir Harcourt-Butler.
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The forest of Burma cover more ground than all the others forests in the Indian Empire put together. For our purposes they may be divided into two classes, reserved forests over 30,000 square miles and forests not reserved some 117,000 square miles. Both classes are the property of the State. The reserved forests are managed by the State with a view to the protection and the raising of revenue. They are more or less closed to the public. No rights are allowed to accrue in them except such as have been decided by competent authority after local enquiry, such as extraction of produce for domestic use or in certain cases shifting cultivation. The unreserved forests subject to restrictions in the matter of extracting certain kinds of trees and of removing timber for trade purposes are at the disposal of the local inhabitants. The forests are the most productive in the empire. For an annual expenditure of about a crore of rupees they yield a revenue of about two crores. The bulk of the forest revenue comes from the sale of timber. There are minor forest receipts such as the sale of bamboos, of fuel, of lac but timber is the main concern.
The chief demand for timber for export is for teak. Seventy per cent of the revenue of the department comes from teak. Teak is still the best wood known for building purposes and for ships. It lasts longer than other woods because it is better in quality, better seasoned and better able to resist the ravages of insect pests. Burma is the greatest source of teak supply in the world. The best flat lands have been given up to paddy cultivation, the bulk of the teak forest is at present in the hills. The teak trees grow mixed in with other species and are spread over large areas. Forest work would be simple and cheap if the teak trees grew conveniently close together.
This is not the case – the teak trees grow far apart, often not one to the acre, three to the acre is exceptionally close and they are often found in inaccessible places where extraction and haulage are beset by many difficulties. Teak trees are too heavy to float until the sap has been taken out of them. The big trees are marked for girdling with a view to the removal of sap. The standard for girdling is a girth of 6 ½ feet breast high in a dry forest and 7 ½ feet breast high in a moist forest. Girdling means that they are ringed near the base with a cut some three inches deep round the trunk, so as to expose three inches of the heart wood.
The forest of Burma cover more ground than all the others forests in the Indian Empire put together. For our purposes they may be divided into two classes, reserved forests over 30,000 square miles and forests not reserved some 117,000 square miles. Both classes are the property of the State. The reserved forests are managed by the State with a view to the protection and the raising of revenue. They are more or less closed to the public. No rights are allowed to accrue in them except such as have been decided by competent authority after local enquiry, such as extraction of produce for domestic use or in certain cases shifting cultivation. The unreserved forests subject to restrictions in the matter of extracting certain kinds of trees and of removing timber for trade purposes are at the disposal of the local inhabitants. The forests are the most productive in the empire. For an annual expenditure of about a crore of rupees they yield a revenue of about two crores. The bulk of the forest revenue comes from the sale of timber. There are minor forest receipts such as the sale of bamboos, of fuel, of lac but timber is the main concern.
The chief demand for timber for export is for teak. Seventy per cent of the revenue of the department comes from teak. Teak is still the best wood known for building purposes and for ships. It lasts longer than other woods because it is better in quality, better seasoned and better able to resist the ravages of insect pests. Burma is the greatest source of teak supply in the world. The best flat lands have been given up to paddy cultivation, the bulk of the teak forest is at present in the hills. The teak trees grow mixed in with other species and are spread over large areas. Forest work would be simple and cheap if the teak trees grew conveniently close together.
This is not the case – the teak trees grow far apart, often not one to the acre, three to the acre is exceptionally close and they are often found in inaccessible places where extraction and haulage are beset by many difficulties. Teak trees are too heavy to float until the sap has been taken out of them. The big trees are marked for girdling with a view to the removal of sap. The standard for girdling is a girth of 6 ½ feet breast high in a dry forest and 7 ½ feet breast high in a moist forest. Girdling means that they are ringed near the base with a cut some three inches deep round the trunk, so as to expose three inches of the heart wood.
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The girdling cuts off the supply of sap to the trunk and the timber seasons naturally. When a teak tree has been girdled for about three years it is free from sap and is cut down and dragged by elephants or buffaloes to the nearest stream by which it floats during the rains to the Irrawaddy, Salween or other big river. There it is joined to others and makes a raft which is piloted down to a timber depot. The rafts on the river are one of the most familial scenes of Burman life. The logs have to be followed down the streams as they often get jammed in narrow or shallow places; and they then have to be dislodged and pushed on by elephants or buffaloes. Altogether it may easily take five years for a teak log to reach a timber depot. These operations entail very heavy expenditure and constant supervision. Each log has to be cut to the right length and a drag hole cut in it so as to take a chain for haulage. It has been found desirable to leave most of the work of extraction to the big commercial firms , who pay royalties to the Government for the logs which they cut. Extraction by the Government is now limited to a small area.
Attempts have been made for several years past to put hard woods, other than teak, upon the market, but so far there is little demand for the outside Burma. Inside Burma the trade output of hard woods is now as large as that of teak and much is cut in unreserved forests for building which never comes on the market at all. Very few of the hard wood trees are light enough to float, so haulage will always be a difficulty as the marketable trees are greatly dispersed. When cut the wood is not stored sufficiently long to be seasoned. Experiments are being made at the forest depot at Rangoon in artificial seasoning of hard woods but for commercial purposes seasoning must be got by keeping large stocks.
One of the principal functions of the Forest Department is to make survey, so as to work out scientific plans for felling, re-planting, protecting and opening up the different forest areas over a period of years. These are called working plans but they can only be prepared after maps have been provided by the Survey of India. Some very successful surveys have recently been made from the air, a form of aerial work in which Burma has been a pioneer. Before a working plan can be drawn up it is necessary to count the number of trees of valuable kinds over a certain girth, usually 3 feet, on a portion of the forest area, and to prepare a map called
The girdling cuts off the supply of sap to the trunk and the timber seasons naturally. When a teak tree has been girdled for about three years it is free from sap and is cut down and dragged by elephants or buffaloes to the nearest stream by which it floats during the rains to the Irrawaddy, Salween or other big river. There it is joined to others and makes a raft which is piloted down to a timber depot. The rafts on the river are one of the most familial scenes of Burman life. The logs have to be followed down the streams as they often get jammed in narrow or shallow places; and they then have to be dislodged and pushed on by elephants or buffaloes. Altogether it may easily take five years for a teak log to reach a timber depot. These operations entail very heavy expenditure and constant supervision. Each log has to be cut to the right length and a drag hole cut in it so as to take a chain for haulage. It has been found desirable to leave most of the work of extraction to the big commercial firms , who pay royalties to the Government for the logs which they cut. Extraction by the Government is now limited to a small area.
Attempts have been made for several years past to put hard woods, other than teak, upon the market, but so far there is little demand for the outside Burma. Inside Burma the trade output of hard woods is now as large as that of teak and much is cut in unreserved forests for building which never comes on the market at all. Very few of the hard wood trees are light enough to float, so haulage will always be a difficulty as the marketable trees are greatly dispersed. When cut the wood is not stored sufficiently long to be seasoned. Experiments are being made at the forest depot at Rangoon in artificial seasoning of hard woods but for commercial purposes seasoning must be got by keeping large stocks.
One of the principal functions of the Forest Department is to make survey, so as to work out scientific plans for felling, re-planting, protecting and opening up the different forest areas over a period of years. These are called working plans but they can only be prepared after maps have been provided by the Survey of India. Some very successful surveys have recently been made from the air, a form of aerial work in which Burma has been a pioneer. Before a working plan can be drawn up it is necessary to count the number of trees of valuable kinds over a certain girth, usually 3 feet, on a portion of the forest area, and to prepare a map called
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the stock map showing where the different species are to be found. Not long ago some stock maps were made in Tenasserim from the air with considerable success. In the endeavour to find a way through for logs in floating streams from the Tharrawaddy forests to the Myitmaka river, very successful methods of river training have been developed and much land has been reclaimed by controlling the deposit of silt from these river. The department has to make buildings for its staff, villages for it workers and roads for them and for transporting produce. The big firms have to do the same.
Meanwhile, re-planting of what is called regeneration work, is going on steadily and valuable assets are being built up for future generations. It is slow work especially with teak. The girth of a teak tree in the natural forest is about 3 feet at 50 years of age, 5 feet at 100 years and 7 feet at 150 years. It takes about 250 years to reach a girth of 12 feet. In plantations it is hoped to grow trees big enough to fell in 80 to 100 years because they can be looked after and other trees and bamboos can be cut down if they are suppressed the teak. In natural forests at the outside, three trees to the acre are ready for felling every thirty years or about ten trees a century. Thirty years is now the felling cycle which sufficiently meets the demands of the forest for rest. By making plantations it is hoped to grow, under the most favourable conditions as to soil and climate, as many as fifty trees to the acre large enough to fell every century, besides a number of poles and posts. These plantations are in accessible places. They commenced in 1856 and now cover over 100,000 acres.
The science of forestry is still in it youth. Forest officers are wringing out the secrets of nature, learning her ways and how to improve them. In no other department does one come into such close touch with nature, her strife, her growth and her peace, her majesty and her silence and all the mute confidences of the vegetable and animal kingdom. And all the time the forest officer has to keep in close relation with the markets of the busy world. Forest service is not at present popular with young Burmans. I commend to you a career honourable and uplifting and of great value to your country.
the stock map showing where the different species are to be found. Not long ago some stock maps were made in Tenasserim from the air with considerable success. In the endeavour to find a way through for logs in floating streams from the Tharrawaddy forests to the Myitmaka river, very successful methods of river training have been developed and much land has been reclaimed by controlling the deposit of silt from these river. The department has to make buildings for its staff, villages for it workers and roads for them and for transporting produce. The big firms have to do the same.
Meanwhile, re-planting of what is called regeneration work, is going on steadily and valuable assets are being built up for future generations. It is slow work especially with teak. The girth of a teak tree in the natural forest is about 3 feet at 50 years of age, 5 feet at 100 years and 7 feet at 150 years. It takes about 250 years to reach a girth of 12 feet. In plantations it is hoped to grow trees big enough to fell in 80 to 100 years because they can be looked after and other trees and bamboos can be cut down if they are suppressed the teak. In natural forests at the outside, three trees to the acre are ready for felling every thirty years or about ten trees a century. Thirty years is now the felling cycle which sufficiently meets the demands of the forest for rest. By making plantations it is hoped to grow, under the most favourable conditions as to soil and climate, as many as fifty trees to the acre large enough to fell every century, besides a number of poles and posts. These plantations are in accessible places. They commenced in 1856 and now cover over 100,000 acres.
The science of forestry is still in it youth. Forest officers are wringing out the secrets of nature, learning her ways and how to improve them. In no other department does one come into such close touch with nature, her strife, her growth and her peace, her majesty and her silence and all the mute confidences of the vegetable and animal kingdom. And all the time the forest officer has to keep in close relation with the markets of the busy world. Forest service is not at present popular with young Burmans. I commend to you a career honourable and uplifting and of great value to your country.