December, 1911.] 



547 



Miscellaneous. 



pulses are grown. Certain parts of this 

 division are suitable for cotton cultiv- 

 ation and tobacco. I gave full instruc- 

 tions to those who undertook to cultivate 

 cotton and tobacco. 



6. There is no garden cultivation in 

 Viyaluva to speak of. Most kinds of 

 native vegetables, aud in seme localities 

 also foreign vegetables, can be success- 

 fully grown. At Tennepanguva School, 

 at the time of my visit, vegetables were 

 thriving well. In the near future suffi- 

 cient land is to be given to Soranatota 

 and Beramada schools. With these 

 school gardens as models, to show the 

 villagers how to cultivate marketable 

 products, and with the assistance of 

 Agricultural Instructors, I think the dis- 

 trict should be able to produce sufficient 

 vegetables for local consumption. 



7. There are no permanent cultiv- 

 ations carried on by the natives. Coco- 

 nut and arecanut do well in some parts. 

 There are Tea and Rubber estates 

 belonging to European Companies. At 

 Beramada there is a rubber estate of 

 over 1,000 acres. 



8. The chief hindrances to progress 

 are the laziness and conservatism of the 

 people. It is well known that, if the 

 villager has sufficient to eat, he is not 

 inclined to stir. And the villagers of 

 Viyaluva are no exceptions. They are 

 conservative to a degree and sceptical 

 in the face of convincing proof that new 

 methods are an improvement on their 

 own. 



9. Water Supply. — The present state 

 of the irrigation channels is satisfactory, 

 and the irrigation rules do not permit 

 of any wastage of water. The water 

 supply is limited and the rainfall low. 



10. There is only one school garden, 

 viz., Tennepanguwa. When land is ac- 

 quired for other school gardens, and 

 a fair water supply made available on 

 the premises, there should be good 

 work done. The garden at Tenne- 

 panguwa is in a sorry state just now, 

 as the drought has killed all vegetation. 



11. I have every reason to hope that 

 the agricultural conditiou of Viyaluva 

 will continue to improve with the help 

 of Bibile Ratemahatmaya, who greatly 

 facilitated my work in that district. His 

 headmen met me with the villagers 

 whenever I had aranged to hold confer- 

 ences and give demonstrations. 



WALTER MOLEGODE, 

 Agricultural Instructor. 



NEW FOREST LEGISLATION IN 

 ITALY. 



In the last two numbers (July and 

 August) of the Bulletin of Social and 

 Economic Institutions, published by the 

 International Institute of Agriculture, 

 there is a special study on the above 

 subject, from which we derive the 

 following details ; — 



Previous to June, 1910, when the law 

 on the State Forest Lands was promul- 

 gated, Italian Forestry questions were 

 regulated by the law of 20th June, 1877, 

 and some others of less importance. 

 The law of 1877, with a view to ensuring 

 the stability of the soil, a good water 

 system, and, secondarily, good local 

 sanitary conditions, forbade all deforest- 

 ing and clearing of forestsoil, subjecting 

 to the vincoio forestale (forestry regime) 

 the woods and lands denuded of trees on 

 the summits and slopes of mountains, 

 down to the higher limit of the chestnut 

 zone, as well as those that by their 

 character and position, might, if 

 deforested or cleared, become a public 

 danger. 



The law further instituted, in every 

 province, a forestry committee, presided 

 over by the Prefect, to settle the rules 

 for forest cultivation, wood cutting and 

 other delicate matters. But, in spite of 

 these provisions, there was reascn to 

 lament an excessive and ill-regulated 

 deforesting, giving rise to landslips, 

 devastating torrents and Hoods, often 

 producing serious crises iu the economy 

 of the mountain regions. 



The necessity for special remedial 

 measures was then apparent. Some of 

 these were provided in the law of 2ud 

 June, 1910, " On the State Forest Domain 

 and the Protection and Encouragement of 

 the Forestry"; others are contained in 

 two bills (30th November, 1910) ; the first 

 on Modifications of the Forestry Law of 

 1877 and Provisions for Mountain Pas- 

 tures and Agriculture, the second on 

 "Forestry Training " 



The main article of the law of 2nd 

 June, 1910, is the formation of a State 

 Forest Administration as an independ- 

 ent institute, " to provide for the ex- 

 tension of forest cultivation and the 

 trade in national forestry produce by in- 

 creasing the State forest property and 

 rendering it inalienable and by the ex- 

 ample of a good industrial regime." 



The domain is formed : (a) of State 

 forests already declared inalienable ; (6) 

 of State forests at present administered 

 by the Finance Department ; (c) of State 

 lands held to be economically only 



