152 FORESTRY 



sellers be willing to part with the land, otherwise expropria- 

 tion must be resorted to. The acquisition of such lands by 

 Government has been largely adopted in France the country 

 most famous for its successful works of land protection by 

 means of forest growth. 



In some countries it is found necessary to have laws com- 

 pelling private owners to restock land that has been cleared 

 of trees. Compulsory afforestation of areas not previously 

 wooded is never attempted, however, except when the areas 

 are put under charge of the State. Indeed, the usual pre- 

 liminary action in such cases is the purchase of the land 

 by Government. 



Government Supervision of Private and 

 Communal Forests 



As regards the method of management adopted in private 

 woods, the State is chiefly concerned with protection forests. 

 So long as the public interest does not suffer by the action of 

 the private owner, State intervention is unwarranted. In 

 Germany Government supervision of private forests is practi- 

 cally confined to the south and central districts, where the 

 character of the country demands that precautions be taken. 

 Seventy per cent, of Germany's private forests are entirely 

 free from interference by the State. 



The success of restrictive measures is not very marked, 

 due partly to the fact that the staff provided is generally 

 inadequate for the quantity of work to be done, and partly be- 

 cause, on the other hand, means of circumventing the law are 

 readily found and taken advantage of. Modern forest policy, 

 as adopted in several countries, tends therefore to confine 

 interference on the part of the State to those woods whose 

 existence is of actual necessity to the public good or safety. 



Measures for the encouragement of forestry have proved 

 much more effective. These consist mainly in providing for 

 land-owners and their agents opportunities for technical in- 

 struction in forest treatment, in giving advisory assistance, or 



