THE REFORESTATION MOVEMENT IN CHINA 



1039 



the Tsin and the Wei Dynasties that this ancient prin- 

 ciple was entirely forgotten. Since then, things went 

 from bad to worse; and today the economic tide of oin" 

 people has almost reached its lowest ebb. 



"To have such large tracts of land lying waste and 

 barren in a country known to the world to be the richest 

 in natural resources, is certainly deplorable I You gentle- 

 men have done well by organizing the Colonization Asso- 

 ciation. You are laying the foundations for national 

 development and paving the way for Chinese colonization. 

 I can not peruse your petition without appreciating your 

 good ideas and well-laid plans. 



"It is also rratifvinL;- to note that Air. liailio, nut nf 



TliMPLE USED AS A SCHOOL 



A former Buddist temple (in the interior) now devoted to school ]uir- 

 poses by the Chinese Colonization Association. Tlie large arch in the 

 foregroimd is llie formal gate with which all temples are customarily 

 provided. 



his love to humanity, has offered his valuable services 

 for the relief of the poor. He will greatly profit our 

 farmers by teaching them modern methods of agricul- 

 ture. 



"I hereby permit your Association to be registered : 

 I order the local officials to issue proper proclamations ; 

 and, further, I send despatches to the Boards of Agricul- 

 ture and Finance so that your purpose may be known to 

 all the provinces. 



"This is my reply." 



The Forest School made its first beginnings in the 

 Spring of 1915 with the enrollment of seventeen students, 

 all of whom hold scholarships : three from the famine 

 relief fund, five from the Governor of Anhwei, five 

 from the Governor of Shantung and six who had for- 

 merly attended the German Forest School in Tsingtau. 



which was discontinued at the outbreak of hostilities 

 with Japan. For each student the University receives 

 i;!0 Chinese dollars per year, for which it provides tui- 

 tion, lodging and meals. Their clothing and incidental 

 expenses are supplied by the students themselves. The 

 scholarship also provides a yearly cash allowance to 

 each student of $.'iO for the purchase cf books and other 

 needed incidentals. This allowance is increased by $10 

 a year during each year of the course. Thus $700 dol- 

 lars local currency will meet the student's needs during 

 his four years' residence at the school. 



The average age of the students is probably about 32. 

 They are a strong, sturdy, intelligent set of students who 

 woulil do credit to any institution. It has not yet been 

 ])ossil)le to start technical instruction in forestry, as the 

 ^lucleiits are not sufficiently familiar with luiglish to re- 

 ceive instruction in that language and there is a dearth of 

 te.Ntbouks and reference bot>ks on forestry published in 

 L'hinese. Accordingly, for at least 18 months, that is, 

 until the fall of IDKi, most of their time and energy are 

 being devoted to an intensive study of Fnglish which will 

 inable them to take adxantage of forest literature pub- 

 lished abroad. 



The most encoiu'aging feature of the entire work is 

 I he eagerness with which the provinces, and even the 

 central goxernnient, are planning to inaugurate similar 



ROAD-MAKING ON PURPLK MOUNTAIN 



Here coolies tak-e the place of draft animals. Note men who are super- 

 vising the work carrying umbrellas. 



projects elsewhere. Governor Han of Anhwei Province 

 has easily shown himself the most progressive in this 

 respect. In a speech which he recently made occurred 

 tlie following statement: 



"China has long been an agricultural nation. Nanking 

 and its neighborhood were left barren and deserted 

 by the recent wars. Such wrongs fill men's hearts with 

 shame. It is very fortunate Mr. Bailie has taken every 

 possible means to encourage agriculture and forestry. 

 But the Purple Mountain is but a limited area, and un- 

 less this work be extended to other villages and magis- 

 tracies, the plan lacks perfection. I have personally 

 visited Mr. Bailie's Experiment Station, and my heart 



