WORLD'S TIMBER RESOURCES .191 



sterling. The forests are divided into two 

 classes, those belonging to the State embracing 

 nearly 426,000 acres, and those belonging to com- 

 munes, corporations and private owners to the 

 extent of 9,705,000 acres. Barely half of the 

 forest is subject to the general provisions of the 

 forest laws. In the communal reserves the 

 inhabitants have in nearly all cases the right 

 of pasture and of getting wood for domestic 

 purposes, but grazing is only allowed when the 

 trees are of sufficient height to be free from 

 the danger of injury by tramphng or browsing. 



The Department of Agriculture, Industry and 

 Commerce supervises the general forest manage- 

 ment, but the immediate supervision is in the 

 hands of the provincial forest committees. Each 

 of these bodies comprises a prefect, who acts as 

 president, a forest inspector of the province, an 

 engineer and three other members. These com- 

 mittees make regulations for the protection and 

 working of the forests in their pTovince, and 

 deal with all apphcations for the conversion of 

 forest into cultivated land. 



The State forestry school is situated at 

 Vallambrosa in Tuscany, and is under the 

 direct control of the Minister of Agriculture. 

 The entrance examination to this school com- 

 prises Italian, French, German, natural science, 

 geography, arithmetic and algebra. There are 



