224 Russia. 
Fokel, the increase of forest area in the poorly wooded 
districts by sowing oak, etc., was also inaugurated; and 
this planting was made obligatory, not only on the 
administration of crown forests, but also upon private 
owners, who in case of default were to lose their land and 
have it reforested by the forest administration. 
These restrictions of private rights and the tutelage 
under the forest administration were abolished in 
toto by Catherine II, in 1788, and although it was 
reported by the admiralty, concerned in shipbuilding 
materials, that as a consequence the cutting, especially 
of oak timber, was proceeding rapidly, no new restrictive, 
but rather an ameliorative policy was attempted, as, 
for instance, prizes for plantations were offered in cer- 
tain localities by provincial governors. 
With the abolishment of the serfdom of the peasants 
in 1861, under Alexander II, these had lands allotted 
to them, and in the partition in some parts as much as 
25 to 50% of the forest property was handed over to 
them. Immediately a general slaughtering, both by 
peasants and by the private owners, who had suffered by 
losing the services of the serfs, was inaugurated, leading 
to wholesale devastation. 
Servitudes or rights of user also prevailed in some 
districts and proved destructive. 
By 1864 complaints in regard to forest devastation had 
become so frequent that a movement for reform was 
begun by the Czar which led to the promulgation of a 
law in 1867, followed by a number of others during the 
next decade, designed to remedy the evils. This was 
to be done by restricting the acreage that might be felled, 
forbidding clearings and giving premiums for good 
