30 



Woodlands. 



Woodlands produce four million metric tons of wood for 

 the export trade, but they do not meet the ht>me market demand. 

 The import of staves from the United States, for instance, 

 averages 37,728,000 pieces, and the quantity of pitch-pine wood 

 for building purposes is 3,000 cubic metres. 



The wood for charcoal and burning purposes is estimated 

 at 5,000,000 cubic metres per annum produced and consumed in 

 the country. Joinery wood and resins, dyewoods and turpentine 

 oils are imported each year from abroad ; but the resins and 

 turpentine produced in the country in 1920 were valued by the 

 Chambers of Industry at over 1,000,000. The home production 

 is, however, 20 per cent, of the to*al consumption. Only one- third 

 of the pine forests are being tapped. A peculiar branch of the 

 wood industry consists in the manufacturing of toothpicks, 

 'occupying 4,298 labourers and consuming 1,462 tons of wood of 

 Populus Alba, a kind of beech. The woodlands cover an area 

 of 1,500,000 hectares, of which 85,000 h. are chestnut trees, 

 68,000 h. are oak trees, and 780,000 h. are pine trees, the 

 remainder being planted with evergreen oaks and cork trees. 

 This branch of agriculture is far from having reached a progressive 

 stage of development. It is estimated that 5,000 h. of land are 

 planted with trees per annum. The slopes of Serra da Estrella, 

 for instance, are still denuded to a great extent. The State gives 

 some assistance to forests. 



Chamber of Agriculture. 



An impetus has been given recently to> co-operative societies 

 and farmers' unions. The number of such unions is already 200, 

 and the amount of credit granted is daily increasing. 



Education has been reformed and a few agricultural colleges 

 have been created. There are experimental gardens spread about 

 the country, and it may be expected that new methods of food 

 husbandry will be introduced. However, the amount spent in 

 agricultural education is not even one-fifth of the total budget 

 of the Ministry of Public Instruction. 



Tractors are very few. It is reported that only about 60 

 are in working, the majority being kept idle for some reason 

 or other. 



Fisheries. 



With 900 kilometres of sea coast it is only natural that part of 

 the Portuguese population should be engaged in fishing. Accord- 

 ing to the last figures published the number of fishers is 50,000, 



