730 



CONSERVATION 



(i) Private, (2) imperial, and (3) 

 state. The proportionate of these in 

 round numbers are : Private, 23,000,- 

 ooo acres ; Imperial, 6,000,000 acres ; 

 State, 29,000,000 acres. 



II PRIVATE FORESTS 



The most important of these are in 

 what is called the Yoshino region 

 (named from the Yoshino River), in 

 Yamato Province. This region pre- 

 sents a spectacle absolutely without par- 

 allel anywhere in the world. It is a 

 rugged and hilly country with but an 

 insignificant amount of land on which 

 farm crops can be raised, and yet it 

 supports a large and extremely prosper- 

 ous population because every inch of 

 these slopes is covered with trees. The 

 remarkable feature of the region is that 

 the whole area is divided up into small 

 pieces each owned by a different man. It 

 is an ideal community of prosperous 

 small owners (an excellent example of 

 what our own western communities 

 can be made into by the continuance 

 of the present policy of the Forest Serv- 

 ice to favor the small owner and to de- 

 velop as large a number of small home- 

 steads as possible in and around the 

 National Forests). 



It is said that 500 years ago there was 

 absolutely no timber in the region, so 

 that the people were forced to plant 

 enough for their own use. They hap- 

 pened to grow a little more than they 

 actually needed and threw the surplus 

 into the river to be sold down below. 

 This was found to be very profitable, so 

 that everybody started planting trees. 

 The result is that growing trees is to- 

 day the main industry of the region. 

 There are practically only two species 

 used, the Cryptomeria (Cryptomeria 

 Japonica) and Shinoki (Chanuccypris 

 obtusa*), both conifers. The Crypto- 

 meria does not resemble any tree in the 

 L T nited States, but the Shinoki is very 

 much like our northern white cedar or 

 Arbor Vita; (Chamcscypris thy aides) 

 except that it produces a much finer and 

 stronger wood. The Cryptomeria 

 grows on the moister sites, and the 

 Shinoki on the drier. The system of 

 sylviculture is entirely clear cutting 



and planting, using three-year-old Cryp- 

 tomeria plants and four-year-old Shi- 

 noki, spacing as close as three by three 

 feet. Thinnings begin at twelve years 

 and are repeated every three or four 

 years till the stand is twenty-four years 

 old. After that they are repeated at 

 intervals of five years till the stand is 

 forty-five years old, then at less frequent 

 intervals till the final cutting, at 100 

 years. These thinnings are possible 

 on account of the excellent market, 

 which makes even the smallest sizes 

 salable, and the easy water transpor- 

 tation. They are clone with such ex- 

 treme care and such a high degree of 

 skill that they are even better than a 

 great many of the thinnings in the well- 

 managed forests of Germany. 



There are not many elaborate theories 

 in Yoshino, and there is no cumbersome 

 mass of office work, on account of the 

 peculiar condition of ownership ; but 

 the actual practise of forestry in the 

 field is more intensive than anything to 

 be found in Europe, strange as this may 

 sound to foresters accustomed to look- 

 up to Germany as the home of all in- 

 tensive forestry. For example, in stands 

 forty to fifty feet high, which had been 

 somewhat bent by the snow, the trees 

 were tied back with ropes fastened to 

 the tops of the trees forty feet from the 

 ground. The amount of labor in car- 

 rying out such an operation can easily 

 be imagined. Also, some high, rocky 

 slopes were planted which were so bare 

 that even the soil had to be carried up 

 there to plant the trees in. Another 

 site was seen which was so steep that 

 men had to be actually lozvered by ropes 

 down the face of the cliff to do the 

 planting. It is claimed by one of the 

 owners that the returns are higher than 

 anywhere in the world, being $17 per 

 annum per acre, compared with $5.30 

 for Saxony. This is too high, because 

 he failed to figure in the interest on his 

 investment. I hit even so the returns 

 are remarkable because of the almost 

 perfect combination of favorable condi- 

 tions, fairly fertile soil, abundant mois- 

 ture, a ready market, and cheap trans- 

 portation, together with very cheap la- 

 bor. Another noteworthy feature of 



