212 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



It follows from this that the forests of Japan Proper form 41 per 

 cent, of its entire area ; in Honshiu, 44 per cent. ; in Shikoku, 64 

 per cent. ; and in Kiushiu, 17 per cent. The relative proportion is 

 still further reckoned, in the work cited, per capita, e.g. to every 

 inhabitant of Japan, 3-25 tan of woodland ; in Honshiu, 3*529 tan 

 to each person ; in Shikoku, 4*4 tan ; and in Kiushiu, 1*32 tan. 

 As a tan may be estimated at about 10 Ares, the proportions may 

 be carried out at 32-5, 35-25, 44, and 13-2 Ares respectively. In 

 Honshiu, the principal island, the south-western portion, or Chiu- 

 goku (Sanyodo and Sanindo), is the least wooded. There are no 

 high mountains in this part of the island, and mining has in many 

 places, especially in the country surrounding Ikuno in Mimasaka, 

 wrought such desolation of the timber lands as to cause a dearth 

 of wood. 



The following more exact classification of the acreage of Japan 

 is made up from facts given in the before-mentioned report, pp. 

 II, 12. 



p, A Per cent of 



^^°' total area. 



id) Desert land 10,730,890 or 37 



ip) Mountain forests 6,626,050 „ 23 



\c) Cultivated forests 5,240,570 „ 18 



(^) Farming land (Ta and Hata) . . 4,280,000 „ 15 

 \e) Other Cultivation, including im- 

 proved Hara, about .... 1,364,900 „ 5 

 (/) Building ground and roads . . 600,000 „ 2 



In all . . . 28,842,410 100 



Of these figures only those under {e) and (/) rest upon taxation 

 and are uncertain, but these, as well as those under (c/), regarding 

 agricultural lands, do not concern the present topic. 



The desert lands consist for the most part of the almost worth- 

 less Hara, grassy surfaces which spread around the base of high 

 volcanoes, and, as a rule, surround the mountain timber lands. I 

 have treated of the particular character of these forms of vegeta- 

 tion in vol. i. of this work. It is almost beyond doubt that the 

 Hara would be for the most part gradually transformed into forest, 

 if it were not for the devastating autumn fires, which not only 

 eat up dried and dead vegetation, but the self-sown seedlings of 

 wood-growth as well. It is only in ravines and other protected 

 places where it is possible for such plantations to grow and 

 flourish. 



A larger portion of desert land consists of bare ridges of hill 

 country and mountain sides which often alternate with the wooded 

 slopes, and justify the opinion that they, too, were once covered 

 with forests. After they were denuded of these, — whether to satisfy 

 the demands of mining carried on in the neighbourhood, or to 



