500 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



as are necessary for shelter or seed. The salary of the inspectors ap- 

 pointed by the forest council is paid from the treasury of the com- 

 munity, one-half of the amount paid being later refunded from the 

 State treasury. In addition, forest owners are obliged to pay the in- 

 spector who handles the marking, instructions, or other similar work, 

 at a rate fixed by the governing body of the community. 



8. Neither the special regulations adopted by the local communities 

 nor the general regulation mentioned in paragraph 6 apply to forests 

 under public management; to district commons managed under rules 

 prescribed by the body in charge of forest affairs and under super- 

 vision approved by it ; or to land cleared for gardens, agricultural crops, 

 or hay fields, or used for building sites, roads, industrial establishments, 

 or storage places. 



In short, the legislation at present in eft"ect in Norway provides for 

 public control of all privately owned coniferous forests, which consti- 

 tute 75 per cent of the forest area of the country, and by far the 

 most important stands, both from a protection and a production stand- 

 point. This control is exercised by the local communities so far as 

 they are sufficiently interested to adopt the necessary regulations. At 

 the close of 1916, 261 communities, or somewhat less than one-half of 

 the 550 forest communities in the country, had adopted such regula- 

 tions. Of these 80 applied to protection forests only, while the re- 

 maining 181 applied to forests in general. In the absence of such 

 special regulations control is exercised under the general regulation pro- 

 hibiting the cutting of coniferous trees less than 20 centimeters (8 

 inches) in diameter. Salaries for the inspectors appointed to carry out 

 either the special or general regulations are paid in part by the local 

 community, in part by the State, and in part by the private owner. 



Mr. Anton Smitt, the Norwegian forester who visited this country 

 in 1916 to collect seed for experimental use in western Norway, has 

 offered a .number of interesting criticisms of the legislation now in 

 effect. In his judgment, the provision forbidding the cutting of all 

 trees under 20 centimeters in diameter is at the same time the strongest 

 and the weakest point in the law. The weakness lies in the fact that 

 the ordinary man concludes that when the State fixes a minimum 

 diameter limit in this way, no damage is done if all trees above this 

 diameter are cut. Norwegian foresters consequently believe that the 

 law should be amended so as to provide that cutting can be done only 

 after designation by a publicly appointed or approved forester. 



Another weak point in the law is the provision for inspection, since 

 the present wording permits the appointment of inspectors without 



