298 Spain. 



America, the prosperity of the country was destroyed, 

 the population reduced to 10 million in 1800, and the 

 conditions of character and government created which, 

 are the cause of its present desolation. Since the be- 

 ginning of the century, the population has increased to 

 near 18 million, but financial bankruptcy keeps the 

 government inefficient and unable to accomplish re- 

 forms even if the people would let it have its way. 



1. Forest Oonditions. 



It has been a matter of speculation whether Spain 

 was, or was not, once heavily wooded (see page 11). In 

 Eoman times only the Province of La Manca is re- 

 ported as being unforested, and in the 13th and 14th 

 centuries extensive forest zones are still recorded. The 

 character of the country at present, and the climate, 

 both resembling so much our own arid plains, make it 

 questionable to what extent the forest descended from 

 the mountain ranges, which were undoubtedly well 

 wooded. 



At present the forest is mainly confined to the higher 

 mountains. The best is to be found in the Pyrenees 

 and their continuation, the Cantabrian mountains. 



The area of actual forest {hosques) is not known 

 with precision, since in the official figures mere poten- 

 tial forest, i. e., brush and waste land, is included 

 (montes), and the area var;ies, i. e., diminishes through 

 new clearings, of which the statistics do not keep ac- 

 count. Moreover, the statistics refer only to the "public 

 forests," leaving out the statement of private forest 

 areas, if any. 



In 1859, this area was reported as over 25 million 



