THE ROYAL ITALIAN FORESTRY COLLEGE 



By NiiLsox CouRTLAXDT Browx 

 i\ S. Trade Coinmissioncr 



Forestry education in Italy is entirely in the hands of the central 

 government at Rome, the funds for its support being part of the general 

 forestry appropriation, and is supervised by the Director General of 

 Forests under the jMinister of Agriculture. Important reforms in the 

 laws of 1910. 191 1, and 191 2 have given forestry generally in Italy a 

 new and important impetus, and along with this movement the organi- 

 zation of technical education in forestry has been entirely rearranged 

 along new lines. It consists chiefly of a new location and organization 

 of the graduate school of forestry and the two ranger schools. 



Forestry education in Italy dates back to 1869, when Italy became 

 for the first time a unified nation under the leadership of the great 

 national heroes, \'ictor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, and Mazzini. Before 

 that time Italy was made up of a number of small kingdoms, duchies, 

 principalities, and Papal States, many of which were highly jealous of 

 each other and which left a heritage of heavy financial debts, impover- 

 ished forest resources, and disturbed political and economic conditions. 

 In the year 1869 the old Benedictine monastery at Vallombrosa, in the 

 mountains of Tuscany, was given over to the Royal Forestry Institute. 

 l)Oth the faculty and students lived in the former monks' cells. Al- 

 though the funds available for educational purposes were very limited 

 for a long period, the school flourished and has turned out an excellent 

 type of technical forester. Many of its graduates, after completion of 

 the course at \'allombrosa, have continued their technical education at 

 the forest schools and in travel in Austria, France, Germany, and 

 Russia, and the personnel of the Italian force ranks on a par with that 

 of any other European country. An exceedingly high type of personnel 

 has been attracted to the work, and. under the conditions of rather 

 limited facilities in funds, together with the limitations of the law and 

 the discouraging forestry conditions, the progress made has been 

 admirable. 



The forest at \ allombrosa is most excellently adapted for the field 

 purposes of a forest school, a tract of timber of about 3,500 acres 

 being available for experimental and practitional purposes. This mon- 



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