THE STATE REVIEW. 



FORESTRY IN JAPAN. 



The Excellent Paper Prepared by 



W. C. Winchester for the 



Meeting. 



Mr. Winchester's paper wa- road by Mr. 

 ; field, and was as follow-: 



Tlic forests nl' Japan, her natural ornament, 

 which occupy more than one-half the an 

 the Fmpire. appear to have exerted an inspir- 

 ing inlluencc upon the minds of her inhabit - 

 fiir their love of forests and luxuriant 

 -.\l\an growth seems lo he intuitive. They are 

 re of their duties, so to speak, towards the 

 -is. as is indicated hy their endeavors to 

 meet the ever-increasing demand for forest 

 products, and still to preserve' lliein ior luture 



-rations. 



The fore-Is of Japan, while the country was 



,ided. maintained their primitive 'character. 



years during the Tokugawa regime t!ie 



lent of the forest- was stringent, and 



ol a military despotism en 



I hey were at that time divided into 



HI a lid protection tore-is. Protection 



rised forests at the head waters 



;; those piante<l to prevent snow- slides 



st he^\ y !;'ll- i .I snow : also 



helter to ;he water and invite the col- 



it Japan has to i 



i old ruler- f< ir n iw 



- t> 'day in he 



s under- 

 iion. 1 r,c tiin- 



eiiterpi 

 : apan opened tip I ' 



d hy 



Government Takes Hold. 



in ' 



ly. The ownership was in .' 



I, lihuddist and 

 rivale persons. It ' 

 id imperial ho 

 hirds of the entire 

 of tile temples and p 



ne-third. They appropriated half 

 illion dollar- for t: 



making accurate maps of i 

 lioundane-. with a the; 

 rat report of all the spe< ies and 

 i hi nd and tinnier. It iook ten ; 



al working pian. 



ion only ; 



i ho F.mpirc. 



i the 



non h \\ ith the . - i 'i'tion of a sina 



' there, j 

 m the i 



- running lengthwise ihrough the middle 

 in i i Mains 



i 



Japan lie mostly in ir 

 the hai 



ilain - alon 



us in 



ions of the north than in the 

 MS. which are naturally hotter for 

 ing pnrp 



Ths Imperial Lands. 



The Imperial lands are divided into two 

 -. hereditary and ordinary. The former 

 prise such .-;> thickly wooded 



and extensive as to furnish enough material, 



lor a regular working plan, and it is expected 



that the area of Mich kinds will not decrease. 



Japan has im le-s than son species and vari- 

 eties of trees, hut at the ]iresent time their 

 fores) management does not attach any .special 

 importance to more than ten or twelve species. 

 They are divided into four groups: tropical. 

 sub-tropical, temperate and arctic. The mo.-i 

 valuable of the tropical trees are the bamboos 

 and palms. In the sub-tropical and temp, 

 zones are found several kinds of conifers, of 

 which the 'cryptomaria, a straight-grained 

 cedar attaining a diameter of six feet and :.'(>,> 

 feel in height, and the red and black pine are 

 the most important. Bamboos also grow well 

 in the sub-tropical ?one. 



In the temperate zone are found about all 

 the varieties of hardwoods found in the United 

 Slates. The pines and cedar- also do well here. 

 It is estimated that about one-half the area 

 of the forest- are conifer- and one-half broad- 

 leal ed varieties: and as the demand is much in 

 excess for the conifers, or softwoods, they are 

 planting on the land- owned by the state about 

 ten of these varieties to one of the hardwood-. 

 In this way they expect to keep up the ratio. 







J. J. HUBBELL, 



Treasurer Michigan Forestry Association. 



The Working Plan. 



The working plan of the government em 

 MI cutting and partly clean cut- 

 ting, partly coppice and selection cutting . 



1. In cutting state lands on the selection 

 they calculate to not cut a tree less than 

 5 they ar .king 



id have only the 

 e generations ir, view. Th.-rcfoiv 

 iliat it is dangerous to the 

 of any country to have th< 

 iids of anyone except th nent. 



-;mple reason that the government is 

 the best interests of all in 

 . while the private individual has, and 

 c!i exalted id; 



i r y and t ! 

 obtain the best 



(1 in the 

 i to four years, acc'irdii 



and for protection fore-t- the old method of 



nd naturM i lion is in 



Furthermore, they have established fi 



rtments in their scho >!s and have <i'.' ii 

 Unions where that science is I aught. Thr, 

 them ha\ irse, le;i 



course in f iro.-'.ry. and the balai.. 1 in- 



struction along this line. They are constantly 

 "irning out men of practical knowledge on this 

 subject, and the government is encouraging it 



by offering graduates good positions. Further- 

 more, they have a training school at their ex- 

 perimental station. 



So, they have it practically settled that the 

 state and Imperial lands will be handled in a 

 business-like manner conserving the interests 

 of future generations. Xow, in order to reach 

 the other third ownership of the fore-t- vested 

 in private persons and temples, thev have 

 :ed stringent laws patterned ' after those 

 urope. These law.- contain provision 

 garding the control of both utilization and pro- 

 nests, and provision made for policing 

 the same and providing penalties for damage- 

 to either class. A register of the state lands 

 is kept al the head forest office, and another 

 register of all private forests is kept at 

 respective local offices. The following is an 

 extract from some of their laws: 



What the Laws Provide. 



I'irst: The term forests include those be- 

 longing to the Imperial household, the state, 

 Shinto and Mhuddist temples and to pri\ 

 individuals. 



When it is likely that a public or private 

 forest or one belonging to the temples is to 

 cut inconsistent with forest economy, the min- 

 ister supervising the district shall direct the 

 management of the same. 



If trees are cut in contravention of the direc- 

 tion mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the 

 minister may cause him to stop the cutting 

 and re-plant the spot where the cutting has 

 been carried on. 



When the re-planting provided in the pre- 

 ragraph has been neglected by the 

 ill be carried on by the govern- 

 ment. In thi ithor the in- 

 1 shall be imposed ,,M the obligor or the 

 MI re-planted may be made a semi--. 

 Anyone who desires to onlliva 1 

 : must lirst obtain permission of the local 

 nor. 



The government may constitute a protec- 

 tion forest when it appears necessary for the 

 following purp 



rvation of 'the soil on the si" 

 and protection of the land against ero 



ir protection against sand-drifts, storms, 

 winds,' floods, tidal-waves, rolling stones and 

 avalanches. 



For the maintenance of a water supply in 

 springs and river-. 



ir the crowding of fish. 



For the preservation of the public health. 

 For th. temples, celebrated places 



>ld ruins, 



In a protection forest digging of soil, re- 

 moval of 'Meeting- of grass, extraction 

 n" the roots i f trees, or free breeding 



ittle shall not be allowed, unless pcrmis- 

 ias be< n obtained from the local governor. 



Power of Government. 



! Only direct 



of its plan of 



-i ion. but may restrict 



him of its use and nld enlti- 



Mivalion is prohibited, the minis- 

 ter in ch;.-. I'der him to restore the for- 

 e-t t "inal condition. If 

 are not obeyed, the government may accom- 

 the work and collect the expense of the 



When the government desires to purchase 

 a protection forest its owner shall not be al- 

 lowed to complain, except that he, may put 

 in a claim to cover the direct lo I by 



rohibition of cutting t;-. 



i to set fire in timber lands 



M\ purpose without the permission of a 



eial or polio; Any person 



-t- lire to a plain adjoining a forest shall 



lable precaution to pn 



e also prohibited to kindle. 

 .TV any lire in such manner 



-.her. An. finding a lire 



broken out or damage caused by insects in a 



forest or its vicinity is required to inform the 



rs oi the city, town or village without 



delay 



