Forest Conditions. 285 



1897 again caused damage in excess of one million 

 dollars, are dreaded. 



1. Forest Conditions. 



Situated similarly to Greece as regards accessibility 

 and climate, and similarly torn by wars and political 

 strife, and in unstable conditions for centuries, Italy has 

 in proportion to population, if not to area, reduced her 

 forest resources even more than Greece: less than one- 

 third of an acre per capita remains, with a total of 

 about ten million acres, or 14 to 16 per cent, of the land 

 area, and this includes much useless brushland. Ap- 

 parently, if the uncertain statistics may be relied upon, 

 a reduction of several million acres has taken place even 

 since 1870. Some 15 million acres of waste land and 

 swamps offer ample opportunity for increasing this for- 

 est area without infringing on the 22 million acres of 

 "usefully employed agricultural soil. 



Of the forest area, 25 per cent, is to be found in the 

 Alps, about 50 per cent, on the Apennines, the one 

 mountain range which forms the backbone of Italy; 

 less than one-third is distributed over the plains, and 

 the balance is found on the islands, especially Sicily, 

 which is a hill and mountain country, once magnifi- 

 cently wooded, now largely denuded (4 per cent, 

 wooded) and Sardinia, which, with nearly 45 per cent, 

 under forest, is the best wooded part of Italy, although 

 the condition of the forest is here no better than else- 

 where. 



With the exception of the slopes of the Alps (2.5 mil- 

 lion acres of spruce, fir, beech, larch), and the tops of 

 the Apennines and remote plateaus (4.5 million acres). 



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