PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IX CHINA IN 1919-1920 



By Joiix H. Reisxer 



Dean, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Univeritsy of Nanking, 

 Nanking, China 



Progress denotes correctly the present condition of forestry in China, 

 this country so long used as an illustration of the dire results that 

 follow the depletion of forests, and undoubtedly in greater need of 

 scientific forestry than any other large country in the world. The 

 year ending with the spring planting, 1920, showed much progress 

 over the previous year, which was described in the author's previous 

 article under a similar title. The outstanding developments of the 

 year were the organization of a Provincial Forestry Service for Shan- 

 tung Province ; the enlarging of the forestry organizations in a number 

 of provinces ; the increased activity and services rendered by the 

 Kiangsu Provincial Forest Station at Nanking, estabHshed in 1916; 

 the extension of the forestry work being undertaken by three Govern- 

 ment railways, namely. Lung Hai, Peking Hankow, and Tientsin 

 Pukow Railroad; increased educational interest in fires particularly as 

 part of the curricula of Government agricultural schools ; the increased 

 production of forest nursery stock ; and the greatly increased number 

 of district magistrates, agricultural societies, small companies, and in- 

 dividuals undertaking forestry work. 



Although a numerical expression of this progress is open to criti- 

 cism, it is fairly safe to estimate a conservative expenditure for various 

 forestry enterprises mainly nursery work and forest planting at from 

 $200,000 to a quarter million dollars, the production of 100 million 

 trees in over one thousand nurseries, and the planting of twenty-five 

 to thirty million trees on 100,000 acres of land. This may seem small 

 when compared with some other countries, but large when one con- 

 siders the background and the fact that China's interest in forestry is 

 only a very few years old. 



As indicated previously, forestry is not developing in China as it 

 has in western countries, with the Central Government assuming a 

 very large share of financial and administrative control, but by indi- 

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