828 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



transshipped from Europe. About 80 per cent of the raw-rubber sup- 

 ply of the world is controlled by interests in the United Kingdom. In 

 1917, the United States imported 180,000 tons of rubber, valued at 

 $233,000,000. Of this amount, 19 per cent came from Europe, 62.5 per 

 cent from Asia, 16 per cent from South America, and 2.5 per cent from 

 North America. After the war it seems probable that the direct ship- 

 ment of crude rubber to the United States will be much curtailed, as 

 the principal competitors of the United States in the rubber manufac- 

 turing industries will be her present allies — the United Kingdom, 

 France, and Italy. 



B. L. G. 



Rubber Trade of the World. Commercial America, XIV. May, 1918, pp. 19-25. 



STATISTICS AND HISTORY 



Even in such a small and thoroughly organized 

 Siviss country as Switzerland, forest statistics are diffi- 



Forest cult to gather and interpret. From the reports of 



Area the federal bureau, it would appear that in the 



period from 1878 to 19 16 the forest area of 

 Switzerland has increased from 19 to 23.8 per cent, an increase of 

 nearly 500,000 acres in 38 years. But this increase is only fictitious, 

 for actual forest planting for protective purposes, with subventions by 

 the federal government, in the 40 years from 1872 to 191 2, increased 

 the forest area hardly by 28,000 acres. The large increase in the figures 

 is due to the inclusion of pastures and brushwood, which formerly 

 were excluded, and in part, to be sure, due to closer survey. This sta- 

 tistical change accounted in the last year alone for over 150,000 acres. 

 All the detail statistics are changed accordingly, and we find now 4.3 

 per cent of State forest, 67.1 per cent of communal and corporation 

 forest, and 28.6 per cent in private forest. 



Journal Forestier Suisse, May, June, 1918, pp. 81-84. 



POLITICS, EDUCATION, AND LEGISLATION 



Pleading for the need of keeping the technical 

 Practical stafif of a State Forester's department in contact 



Forest with practical commercial operations, the State 



Management Forester of Massachusetts, Mr. F. W. Rane, re- 

 cites his method pursued in this respect in the 

 last four years. It consisted in stirring up owners of woodlands that 



