386 Japan. 



boundaries of State property and adjustment of property 

 rights, as well as segregation of the State lands to be dis- 

 posed of, namely small lots and others not needed, was 

 ordered in 1890. 



It was then also that the first provisional working plan 

 for the fellings on State lands was elaborated, and grad- 

 ually with the progress of the survey, more permanent 

 plans were adopted for district after district. 



By 1899, the adjustment had progressed far enough 

 to begin the restoration of properties, which the State 

 had improperly claimed, to their proper owners. It was 

 then also that the Imperial forests, intended for the 

 support of the Imperial household, were increased to 

 about 5 million acres. 



Meanwhile the personnel had increased in numbers 

 and improved in character. In 1904, the organization 

 of the forestry bureau under the Minister of Agriculture 

 and Commerce, arranged somewhat after German 

 models, consisted of one director and four forest com- 

 missioners with ten clerks, forming the head office; the 

 sixteen districts into which the State forests were divided 

 were presided over by 32 conservators and 80 inspectors, 

 while 325 district officers with 880 assistants and 626 

 guards, altogether over 1,800 employes, formed the field 

 force. This organization applies to the State forests 

 under control of the Department of Agriculture. 

 Strangely enough, those in Hokkaido and Formosa are 

 not under that department, but under the supervision of 

 the Minister of Home Affairs, while the Imperial for- 

 ests are under the Household Department. 



The need of supervision of the ill-managed private 

 and communal forests, mostly located near the settled 



