FORESTRY OF JAPAN. 1$ 



condition injurious to the preservation of the land and which 

 have been converted in accordance with the Forest Law to the 

 protection forests, are mostly owned by the people thus 

 subjected to the limitation in their work. These forests cover 

 a disproportionately large area in various districts but as a result 

 of the random felling of trees which continued for many years, 

 the stock of forests has been greatly reduced and the products 

 being insufficient to meet the general demand, the supplies 

 were looked for elsewhere. In the southern part of Honshu 

 and in Kyushu these phenomena are being observed. The 

 progress of the technical and mining industries has recently 

 increased the demand of timber to such a degree that imports 

 of timber in a large quantity had to be made yearly from other 

 districts, with the exception of daily fuel. The northern 

 part of Honshu and Hokkaido possess vast areas and rich 

 growth of forests, some of which have not been as yet utilized 

 and many of these forests are found in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of villages so that the products from these forests 

 not only satisfy the daily demand of local districts but it is ap- 

 propriated for technical and mining industries as well as for 

 other purpose of consumption, besides their being exported 

 in large quantities. Thus surplus timber in Hokkaido is 

 exported as building materials or railway sleepers to Honshu, 

 China, and Korea. With the exception of making the supply 

 for a few local demands, the entire portion of forests in Kara- 

 futo has not been utilized while in Formosa it is only whithin 

 the last few years that the measures for the utilization of 

 forests have been adopted. 



In short, with regard to the condition of the distribution 



