Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/685

 This brings us to the consideration of the fuel de- mand for those uses which firewood now subset, as emred with the sources from which this is or could hereafter be met. As we saw, on a-pound-a-day-per-head the total India alone would annual demand for now imply wood-fuel s demand calculation, in British for-about too low an estimate, and it would be safer to put the annual consumption at about thre times this The answer glance st the figure. On the latter assumption our forests now supply less than 2 per cent of the wood-fuel we require. Where does the balance come from? Even on the lowest ratio of consumption, the forest supplies will not meet more than 6 per cent of the demand. to this question requires s chief substitutes for domestic use. .It is well known that tmr part of India, the droppings of cattle are collected,. dried, and used as fuel. The talerifle value of such fuel is lower (being only one-half to two*third, i.z** 1600 to 000 calories) than that of firewood, nor can it be used by itself. . Still, ss it produces a low heat and is the only available fuel in many irrigated or treeless areas, it is extensively used in urban as in rural traetsJ The price of dried cattle excrement in the neighborhood of cities (t.y., Madras, Madura) is greater than its price as manure (as it tends to approximate to the price of firswood). and accordingly, the areas around our towns are deprived of the farm-yard manure which they could otherwise obtain to enrich their soil. a Itm mm is not ummmomomioal m  low tsm is sre only Bibs of Nttrosen, Sjlbe of l'hosphorle todd, mud lb sikh# lib I, otmb, lime passing wood-fuel in over the gre- 250 million lbs of dry firewood, per dsy, or over 44 million tons of firewood s year. This is, however,