14 



area tli.-m is necessary t<> supply them with a sufficient quantity of forest produce 



,1,.. sallll . time, they are aJl sea-bound countries, and consequently subject to 



nditions, which diller altogether from those found in continental countries; 



ImM of them are under the intluence of moist sea winds, and all are favorably 



Htuat.-d in respect .if importation by sea, 



Intimately connected with the area under forest in a country is the state of 

 ownership-. Forest owners in Europe may be grouped into the following three 

 <\ classes: 



Tin- State or the Crown. 

 (!>) ('..!{ .orations, endowments, etc. 

 (o) Private persons. 



\Vhnv forests are not required on account of their indirect effects, and where 

 importation, from other countries is easy and assured, the government of a country 



,, 1 not, as a rule, trouble itself to maintain or acquire forests, but where the 



opposite conditions exist, that is to say, where forests are necessary to produce 

 climatic and mechanical effects, and where the cost of transport over long dis- 

 tances becomes prohibitive, a wise administration will take measures to assure 

 the maintenance of a certain proportion of the country under forest. This can 

 he done either by maintaining or constituting a certain area of State forests, or 

 by exercising a certain amount of control over private forests. In most of those 

 countries where corporation forests exist they are subject to the control of the 

 te, though the degree to which such control is exercised may differ. Private 

 forests are free from control in some European States, and subject to it in others. 

 In all such cases the State is only justified in interfering when the welfare of the 

 general community requires it. The extent to which interference may be carried 

 depends on the special conditions of each country, and on the proportions of the 

 forest area belonging to the State. Thus, of the Swiss forests only 4 per cent, 

 belong to the State, while 67 per cent, belong to corporations, and 29 per cent, to 

 private owners ; at the same time a large proportion of them are so-called pro- 

 tection forests, and in consequence the Government exercises an extensive control 

 over both corporation and private forests. Of the German forests, 33 per cent 

 belong to the State, 19 per cent, to corporations, and 48 per cent, to private per- 

 sons ; the corporation forests are under State control, making with the State 

 forests 52 per cent. This beiag more than one-half of the area, the control over 

 private forests has of late years been considerably reduced, and in some parts 

 abolished altogether. It is worthy of notice that only 20 per cent, of the Swedish 

 and 12 per cent, of the Norwegian forests belong to the State, while the bulk are 

 private forests, over which little or no control is exercised by the State. Large 

 quantities of timber are exported annually from these countries to Great Britain 

 and other countries, and it may safely be expected that these supplies will con- 

 siderably decrease in the course of time. 



DEFORESTATION IN RUSSIA. 



The following article appeared in a recent number of the Literary Digest. 

 It was translated from Preussiche Jahrbucher for July. 



When treating of the Russian famine of 1891-92 in the April number of 

 this magazine, we remarked that this was not to be regarded as a passing incident, 

 but rather as the inauguration of a chronic condition of affairs traceable to 



