738 



CONSERVATION 



This has an area of 60,000 acres cov- 

 ering- part of a range of more or less 

 gently sloping, rounded hills near the 

 coast, with an elevation of from just 

 above sea level to about 1,600 feet. It 

 is practically all either poor, deciduous 

 forest or bare slopes. When the forest 

 was taken over by the state ten years 

 ago 18,000 acres had been planted by 

 the former management. During the 



, ,. r , ^^ ^ ^ M ten vears in which the Government has 



tection torests, no matter to whom they u^a' ,i,^,.„^ .^ ^^^ 1 u 



, , o . ' . . • ^ 1 J 'i^d charge 30,000 acres have been 



belong; (c) policmg of private lands ,o^„f^,i ,, wi ,. ^ 1 ^ ^i 



• , , ^ ^ ^ \ /JN 11- planted, and thev expect to plant the 



(agamst trespass, etc.) ; (a) deahng • • - • ', r ,1 



•f, r ^ ^ ^- \ \ 1 • remammg 12,000 m the course of the 



with forest corporations; [e) admin- 



districts, and the lower trained men gen- 

 erally in the minor offices, or forests. 



The organization of the different 

 branches is somewhat different from 

 ours. They have six branches : 



1. Finance, personnel, and miscel- 

 laneous business. 



2. Supervision of private forests. 

 This branch takes in : (a) Cooperation 

 with private owners; (h) care of pro- 



istration of forest law on all forests ; 

 (/) education. 



3. Works: {a^ Planting plans: 

 (h) lumbering (all cutting is done by 

 the government) ; (c) the disposition 

 of all the products of state forests. 



4. For the adjustment of state forests 

 (this is only a temporary branch hav- 

 ing charge of the work being done 

 under the adjustment program, and 



next three years. 



The important thing to be seen at 

 Takahagi was the large state nursery, 

 the largest in Japan. It has an area of 

 150 acres and a capacity of 8,000,000 

 plants per annum. The species are 

 mostly Shinoki (ChaiiKvcyf^n's obtitsa) 

 and Cryptomeria (Cryptoincria Japon- 

 ica) with a mixture of pine, chestnut, 

 and elm. It supplies five other state for- 



will be done away with as soon as this ests in addition to Takahagi. A striking 



feature of the nursery is the fact that 

 Ijoth Shinoki and Cryptomeria arc 

 transplanted cirry year. 



The object is first to make the roots 

 grow, and secondly, so as to save space, 

 because labor is eheapcr than land rent. 

 This fact is verv significant of the whole 



work is completed) : (a) Investiga- 

 tion, surveying, and making working 

 ])lans ; (b) distinguishing between for- 

 est and agricultural land, and disposing 

 of the latter; (c) planting denuded 

 areas. 



5. Protection and 



management 



of 



state forests (corresponds to our branch situation in Ja])an. Labor is cheap and 



of operation) : (a) Supervision of 

 major and minor offices: (b) protec- 

 tion and management; (c) dealing with 

 profit-sharing plantations ;' (d) investi- 

 gation and giving back of private lands 

 wrongfully taken from the people at 

 the time of the Restoration in 1868; 

 (c) dealing with litigations, both judi- 

 cial and administrative. 



6. Experiment station: (a) Utiliza- 

 tion of forest proflucc : (b) forestrv 

 proper (silviculture) ; (r) collections 

 of things made from forest materials, 

 and of birds, insects, etc. 



STATK FOREST OF TAKAHAGI 



The first state forest visited was that 

 of Takahagi. in the Tokyo Dai-rin- 

 kucho (major office).* 



land is dear, due to the over-crowded 

 condition of the whole country. The 

 cost of raising the ])lants is only $2 per 

 thousand for Cryptomeria and $2.20 

 for Shinoki. In planting, they used 

 to s|)ace five by five, but now they put 

 them in six by six feet. Three-vear-old ' 

 ]:)Iants are used. On account of the 

 chea]) labor (20 cents a day for a man 

 ])utting in 450 ])lants) the total cost 

 of ])]anting is only $3.10 per acre. 

 Cleanings must be done in the planta- 

 tions every year for five years at a cost 

 of c;o cents per acre per annum. 



The working plan seems to be very 

 closely modelled on the German plans, 

 even more so than the one at Kiso. 

 There are four sei)arate parts to it, 

 all in tabulated form: (i) The prelimi- 



^The Government has authority to prohibit cutting- on any private forest. 

 'It used to be the practise to allow mdividuals to plant state lands for a share of the 

 profits. This is being done away with on account of the litigations to which it gave rise. 



There is a major office (district headquarters) in Tokyo, as well as the central office. 



