FORESTRY AND THE WAR IN ITALY. 



By Nelson Courtlandt Brown 

 U. S. Trade Commissioner 



In spite of the severe handicaps of an exceedingly small percentage 

 of forest area, the impoverished condition of its forests, due to over- 

 cutting, burning, and overgrazing, and the lack of sufficient funds, 

 Italy has made distinct progress in her forestry program. 



In arriving at a proper estimate and view of the Italian forest sit- 

 uation one must perforce look at the situation in retrospect. The 

 political and economic background of the past centuries' history is 

 the explanation for the present condition of Italy with respect to her 

 forests. Although old historically, Italy is young politically, and has 

 only been a unified nation since the year 1870. Before that date the 

 Italian peninsula, to a large extent, had been successively dominated 

 during the Middle Ages by Spain, France, and Austria, and had been 

 split up into a large number of small states and kingdoms. Among 

 these were developed local differences and jealousies which tended to 

 disintegrate rather than consolidate the nation. Before 1870 the 

 history of Italy is a long series of wars and internal dissensions which 

 have drained the economic strength of the country. 



It is believed that the present war, although severely straining its 

 economic resources, has greatly unified and strengthened the nation. 

 It has given Italy a new sense of national spirit and of unity and 

 independence which she has heretofore lacked to a large degree. 



Italy, furthermore, has been greatly handicapped in her industrial 

 development by the lack of the two basic materials of industrial prog- 

 ress, coal and iron. The secret of her industrial future lies in the 

 development of her various water-power properties, and she has 

 already contributed through engineering and electrical genius what 

 she has lacked in natural resources. With respect to water power, 

 Italy is unusually well favored, since it is very mountainous and it 

 has a very heavy rainfall, particularly in the north. The region of tlie 

 Italian Alps, with its southern versant. is of impermeable granite, 

 the streams are unusually steep, and the rainflow exceedingly abundant. 

 Various estimates of Italy's water power are from 4,000,000 to a 

 maximum of 8.000,000 horse-power. According to recent figures 

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