446 Japan. 



Fire, which, until lately, ran over 5 or 6 million 

 acres annually, and ruthless cutting, have in the past 

 and are still deteriorating the forest area. 



Grassy prairie and barrens due to natural conditions 

 are not absent, and are due to excessive drainage 

 through loose coarse-grained rock soil; they are found, 

 not extensively, at the foot of volcanoes, and on highest 

 elevations. The differentiation of land areas is not 

 quite certain. In 1894, there was still 30.5% of 

 grassy prairie reported, but some of this, no doubt, 

 was forested, probably one-half. 



The bulk of the forest area is owned by the State and 

 the Imperial Household. Communal forests are esti- 

 mated to aggregate,in 1904,somewhat over four million 

 acres (7.5%), in 1910 reported as 11%, and private 

 property some 18 million (26%; in 1910, 22%) leav- 

 ing 30 million for the State and for Imperial or Crown 

 forest (66%), the latter comprising some 5.5 million 

 acres. 



These figures are liable to variation, due to sales of 

 the latter class, and to adjustments of the somewhat 

 obscure property rights. 



The ownership by the State and a conservative 

 use of the mountain forest is necessitated by the 

 protective value of the forest cover, the cultivation 

 of the extensive rice fields being dependent upon ir- 

 rigation. 



2. Development of Forest Policy. 



The history of Japan dates back to 660 B.C., when 

 the empire was founded on the island of Kiushiu by 

 the warrior king Jimmuteno. He established a kind 



