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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 398.

398 GURDfiSPUR DISTRICT The Pathankot tahsil is abundantly wooded, mango groves and bamboo clumps having been planted round most of the villages. The sub- montane tract in Shakargarh is very bare, but the plains portion of the District. is on the whole well covered with trees, and the avenues which fringe the roads are exceptionally fine. The forest revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. zoo. Kankar or nodular limestone and saltpetre are the only mineral products of any importance. The New Egerton Woollen Mills at Dhariwal turn out woollen worsteds and hosiery of all kinds. In 1904 the number of hands employed was 908. The wool industry is carried Trade and communications. on by hand to a considerable extent, shawls being made of pashm, the fine wool of the Tibetan goat, at Dera Nānak and Kanjrūr ; but the industry is declining. Coarse blankets are also produced. A great deal of cotton is woven ; and at Batala a striped mixture of silk and English cotton thread known as sūsi used to be made in large quantities, but the manufacture has been largely displaced by that of chintz. Soap and carpets are also made at Batāla. Turbans are woven of silk or cotton or a mixture. Many attempts have been made to domesticate the silkworm, but without success. Harness and other articles of leather are made at Dinąnagar. Iron sugar-mills are made and ivory bangles are turned at several places. Sugar-refining is an important industry, and a large refinery and distillery at SUJ.~iNPUR employed 117 hands in 1904. The car- pentry of the District is above the average. There is a brewery at DALHOUSIE. Grain, sugar, oilseeds, and cotton are exported, besides woollen stuffs from the Egerton Mills, rum from Sujānpur, and beer from Dalhousie. Gram is imported from Ludhiāna and Ferozepore, ghi from Kashmir, cotton from Rupar, and iron and piece-goods from Amritsar and Delhi. Most of the trade is by rail, but a certain amount is carried by road to Siālkot and Jammu. Batāla is the chief trade centre. The Punjab Banking Company has a branch at Dalhousie. A branch of the North-Western Railway from Amritsar passes through the District, with its terminus at Pathānkot, whence a metalled cart-road runs to Dalhousie and another to Pālampur in Kangra District, with a branch to Dharmsala. The most important unmeta_lled roads are the Hoshiarpur-Sialkot road, which passes through Gurdāspur and Sialkot, and the road from Pathankot passing through Gurdāspur to Amritsar. The total length of metalled roads is 59 miles and of un- metalled roads 608 miles. Of these, 31 miles of metalled and 25 miles of unmetalled roads are under the Public Works department, while the District board controls 28 miles of metalled and 583 miles of un- metalled roads. The Rāvi is crossed by fifteen ferries and the Beas(