130 



FOREST VALUATION 



than ever before. Lands worth up to fifty dollars an acre are today 

 being converted from field into forest in southern Germany. 



England has had a special commission to work on this problem. 

 In its report this body cites the case of a tract of land of twelve 

 thousand acres, bought at ten dollars an acre, which for years had 

 brought only about thirty cents per acre rental, and it recommends 

 extensive purchase of lands and reforestation in densely populated 

 England. 



d. The countries of the Old World are interesting in this 

 connection: of Scandinavia less than 8% is tilled, about 50% is 

 waste land; Spain and Italy are about 33% tilled and more than 

 2 5% is g a t an d sheep range which will be regarded waste land as 

 soon as industrial conditions are such as to give the people a 50 cent 

 per day wage. 



Russia in Europe is claimed to be about 26% tilled and 37% 

 forest, leaving 37% as waste land, with an uncertain portion of 

 range lands. 



Turkey in Asia tills about 3% of its 580 million acres, the rest 

 being mostly waste land with various combinations of rock waste, 

 desert and range lands. 



India, China and Japan, with about half the human race as 

 population, till probably less than 20% of their land. 



Use of land in highly developed states : 



Both in France and Germany the tilled land is not on the in- 

 crease. Prices of land are not advancing and the rents or income 

 from farms is not materially better than fifty years ago. 



* Includes considerable heather land. 



