FORESTRY OF JAPAN. 9 



shifting of the economic relations. The decrease of the 

 areas of forests subsequent to the Restoration must be attri- 

 buted to the devastation of the forests owned by the people. 

 While we have no statistics directly to show in reference to 

 these changes, yet the increase of farms newly exploited and 

 pastures is an evidence of this fact. The balance in the areas 

 of forests owned by the people is maintained through the 

 purchase made by the people of the State and the Imperial 

 forests. 



Eesides those which bear the name of forests, there are 

 found genya or wild lands everywhere covering vast areas, the 

 use of which is unsettled. The genya was a newly created 

 class of land when the revision of the land tax was made. 

 There exists a very close affinity between the forests and 

 genya (wild lands) so that they were only differentiated by the 

 fact whether there are found trees standing or not. The work 

 of the revision of the land tax was concluded in so short a 

 space of time and the classification of lands had to be made 

 according to their condition at the time, and as to their 

 positions, topographical conditions, and external relations, no 

 investigation seems to have been made. It is worthy of our 

 notice that the lands covering an area of 2,229,390 clto under 

 the name genya are destined to become forests in the near 

 future with the exception of those portions, which owing to 

 their geographical relations, will be turned into pasture and 

 other smaller parts to be turned into farming lands. These 

 lands are most extensively found in Hokkaido and the 

 northern parts of Honshu. 



These genya owned by the State cover an area of 402,918 



