FORESTS, FOREST TREES, AND AFFORESTATION IN CHOSEN. 47 



its size kept in bounds co-ordinate with the width of the streets 

 and the size of the houses. For avenues in parks and public 

 places in Chosen, there is no more handsome tree than the 

 Ginnan {Ginkgo biloba). 



The area of mountain-land in Chosen utterly deforested and 

 covered with coarse grasses and low shrubs is enormous, and 

 to clothe this with trees, though a pressing, is a most formidable, 

 task. Planting it by hand with trees is almost out of the 

 question, for such work would be so enormously costly both in 

 time and in money, and some speedier and less expensive 

 method must be sought. I suggest that these waste mountain 

 areas be severely burnt over and afterwards thickly sown with 

 the seeds of Shira-kamba {Be tula japonica), Ko-onore-kamba 

 (Betula dahurica), Jezo-no-take-kamba {Betula Eri/ianii), To- 

 kamba {Betula costata), and Chosen Kara-matsu {Larix dahurica, 

 var. Principis-Rupprechtii), all mixed together. The sowing of 

 these mixed seeds should be done broadcast in the late autumn, 

 in order that the seeds may enjoy the benefit of the winter 

 snows. These Kambas (birches) and the Chosen Kara-matsu 

 (larch) will grow together harmoniously for twenty or thirty 

 years, the Kambas at first the faster, but ultimately the 

 Chosen Kara-matsu will overtop and kill them, and pure forests 

 of Chosen Kara-matsu will remain. The wood of these Kambas 

 is of little value except for fuel, but the trees afford just the 

 requisite amount of shade that seedlings of the Chosen Kara- 

 matsu demand. This experiment is both novel and drastic, 

 but I am convinced that it can be safely conducted and with 

 much promise of success. 



Before commencing the re-afforestation of these waste mountain 

 areas, and, for that matter, of any part of Chosen, the land 

 required for purposes of agriculture should be clearly delineated, 

 and the indiscriminate burning of the vegetation on the moun- 

 tain sides, now so commonly done by irresponsible farmers 

 (squatters), rigorously suppressed. 



Throughout the deforested regions of Chosen insect pests 

 injurious to trees and vegetation generally are lamentably 

 abundant, and, whilst predatory birds (magpies, shrikes, cuckoos, 

 crows, etc.) are plentiful in these regions, there is a marked 

 absence of insect-eating birds. The latter should be closely 

 protected, and the predatory birds greatly reduced in number, 

 in order that the balance of nature may have a chance of 



