NOTICES REI,ATING TO AGRICU I.TURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAI. 121 



rent paj'able by a discharged soldier, or may postpone the date for the pay- 

 ment of the rent. When held under special conditions the soldier maj' 

 receive financial assistance to enable him to bring his farm into such a 

 state that he can make a living from it. ' 



Land may be disposed of to discharged soldiers either by way of sale or 

 by lease. When sold the price is fixed by the Land Board. If disposed of 

 on terms of deferred pa^mient the purchaser has to pay a deposit of 5 per 

 cent, of the purchase money, the balance being paid in equal annual in- 

 stalments with interest at 5 per cent. When let the term maj'' be up 

 to sixt3'-six years with a perpetual right of renewal for further successive 

 terms. The rent will be determined by the board and is not in any case 

 to be more than 4 14 P^r cent, of the capital value of the land. The lessee 

 may at any time during the continuance of the lease acquire the fee simple 

 of the land. 



Under section 6 the Minister of Lands maj' assist an applicant in the 

 clearing, fencing and general improvement of the land, the erection of build- 

 ings, and the purchase of implements, stock, seed, trees and any other things 

 which may be deemed necessary for the successful occupation of the land. The 

 rate of interest is to be fixed by the minister, but in cases of hardship he has 

 power to dispense wholty or in part with the payment of interest. The total 

 of the advances made to one person is not to exceed £500. No land let 

 or sold to a discharged soldier under the Act can be transferred until the 

 expiry of ten years from the date of the sale or the beginning of the lease. 



According to the first report on the working of the Act 500,000 acres 

 of land have been provisionalh' set apart for discharged soldiers. Of this 

 area 67,855 acres have formally been proclaimed under the Act. It has 

 been decided to cut up some blocks of land into suitable sections and, be- 

 fore finally settling soldiers on them, to eftect such improvements as will 

 enable selectors to make a living off their sections. As far as possible 

 soldiers will be employed in effecting these improvements. For fruit farm- 

 ing it has been decided to plant areas with fruit trees, particularly apples. 



RUSSIA. 



THE FORESTS OF FINNISH TOWNS. — Uppsatser i skogsbruk ; Helsingfors. Septcmlit-r 

 1916 ; For landtmannahcm ; Helsingfors, September 1916. 



In 1915 the Central Communal Office undertook an enquiry as to forest 

 economy in the towns, sending a detailed form of questions to all the towns 

 of the country. Only Kemi and Mariehamn made no response. The results 

 of this enquiry have been published in a stud}^ which forms part of a se- 

 ries showing the special researches of the Finnish Forestry Society, and 

 which is also among the publications of the Central Communal Office. 



According to the information supplied by the financial commissions 



