FORESTS OF JAPAN 



701 



The administration of the State 

 Forests is divided into two departments, 

 Extraordinary Affairs and Ordinary 

 Affairs. 



By the means accruing from the sale 

 of unnecessary land, the department 

 of Extraordinary Affairs is practically 

 limited to the unexploited areas, and 

 does the following work : 



Sale of Unnecessary Land : — The pro- 

 ceeds of the sales, which are estimated 

 at $11,500,000, are set aside as 

 a "Forestry Fund." 



Adjustment of boundary 

 lines and surveying of forests 

 belonging to the State: — The 

 aim of this work is to dis- 

 tinguish definitely those forests 

 which belong to the State and 

 to determine the exact area. 



Organization of Enter- 

 prises : — This section makes 

 working plans for the most 

 valuable forests. 



Silvicultural Work: — This 

 includes the improvement of 

 land without trees, nursery 

 work, planting and checking 

 driftsand, etc. 



Purchase of Land: — This 

 section undertakes the pur- 

 chase of land which is deemed 

 necessaryfor the proper admin- 

 istration of the State Forests 

 and their preservation. 



The department of Ordinary 

 Affairs undertakes the work in 

 exploited forests and includes 

 the local force. The main 

 duties of the force are : 



Exploitation by Felling: — 

 There are two ways of dis- 

 posing of the timber, namely, 

 sale of the standing trees or the sale 

 of logs when the logging is done by 

 the Government. The standing trees 

 sold in 1906-1907 totaled 48,792,000 

 board feet; and in 1907-1908, 42,696,000 

 board feet. The trees cut by the 

 Government in 1906-1907 totaled 

 8,496,000 board feet and in 1907-1908, 

 18,444,000 board feet. 



Silvicultural Work: — While planting 

 on the treeless areas comes under 

 Extraordinary Affairs, planting after 

 felling and in the forests in general 

 comes under Ordinarv Affairs. 



Forest Police: — All forest officers are 

 to serve as police on the forests. The 

 following is a table showing the ' ' Ordi- 

 nary Forest Revenue ' ' and expenditure 

 for three consecutive years : 



Yen Yen Yen 



Ordinary Ordinary Ordinary 

 Revenue Expendi- Surplus 

 ture 

 1906-1907 2,573,456 1,012,543 1,560,913 

 1907-1908 3,859,200 1,488,279 2,370,921 

 1908-1909 5,884,309 2,605,097 3,279,212 



Japanese Wood Chopper 



this max is at work in the utchimappu minor forest. notice 



the short saw and the wedge shaped axe 



Of the most important forests visited 

 can be mentioned the Owani, Utchi- 

 mappu and Odate Minor Forests, be- 

 sides the large areas under the Governor 

 of Hokkaido. They are all located 

 pretty well north and their most 

 valuable trees are sugi and hiba on the 

 main island and pine and fir on 

 Hokkaido. 



The forests are well covered by 

 intensive working plans furnishing de- 

 tailed maps and estimates, besides 

 prescribing a fixed annual cut and so 

 forth. The Owani Alinor Forest, for 



