Property Conditions. 293 



These communal and institute forests of various 

 description comprise somewhat over 2.6 million acres, 

 or 5.5%, and are placed under management of local 

 committees,, with the governor of the province as 

 chairman. The management consists in selling stump- 

 age of all trees over 13 inches in diameter 5 feet above 

 ground, to be cut by the purchaser under regulations. 



In the years from 1840 to 1850, the government 

 sold to English wood merchants considerable tracts 

 of timberland, and in the latter part of the 19th 

 century, as the sawmill industry expanded, many 

 mill firms acquired wood-cutting leases for 50 year 

 terms for prices which were often realized from the 

 forest in the first winter. At present longer leases 

 than for 20 years are prohibited by law. The diameter 

 limit of 12 inches, 18 or 20 feet above ground, was 

 usually the basis of the leases; and as the owners 

 could then lease away other sizes, it might happen 

 that 2 or 3 persons besides the original owner would 

 have property rights in the same forest. Of late 

 years many of the mill owners have endeavored to 

 get rid of the resulting inconvenience by buying the 

 fee-simple of the land. This movement has resulted 

 in the aggregation of large areas in single hands or 

 more often in the hands of large mill companies. 



By the acquisition of these properties a certain 

 amount of cultivated land is usually included, which 

 is then left to the former owner at a nominal rent, 

 provided that he pays the taxes on the whole ; thereby 

 creating a class of renters in lieu of owners of farms. 

 The area thus privately owned, mostly by sawmill 

 companies, must be over 25 million acres; the total 



