400 



GENERAL AGRICULTURAL NOTES. 



[March 1897. 



only 12 J per cent, of the aggregate forest area of the country, 

 which may be computed at nearly 20,000,000 acres. In Sweden 

 the public forests amount to 16 per cent, of the total forest land ; 

 in Bavaria to 51 per cent. ; in Baden to 70 per cent. ; in 

 Prussia to 68 per cent. ; and in France to per cent. 



In 1874 a Royal Commission was appointed to examine the 

 condition of private forests and the general wood supply of 

 Norway. In the report of this body it was estimated that the 

 five southern " stifts," or provinces, of Norway, which together 

 embrace about 17,000,000 acres, consumed 401,000,000 cubic 

 feet of wood in 1875, while the reproduction did not exceed 

 293,000,000 cubic feet, which gave a year's deficit of 108,000,000 

 cubic feet. Forty years earlier forestry statistics recorded a fair 

 surplus of production over consumption, and in 1855 there was 

 nearly a balance. The Commissioners stated that the yearly 

 loss, already so large, must increase every year. Extensive 

 purchases of private forests by the Government were recom- 

 mended, although great results were not expected from the 

 adoption of this measure. The spread of knowledge on rational 

 forestry can, it is thought, have but a limited influence, although 

 the Government has established a few forestry schools in 

 different parts of the country. It is held that the only means 

 of protection now remaining is the introduction of legislation 

 restricting the disposal of forest property by the private owners, 

 and forbidding the destruction of young forest trees. Such 

 legislation already exists in France, Italy, Germany, and 

 Switzerland, and to a certain extent in Sweden. Its adoption 

 in Norway was proposed by the Government in 1882, but since 

 then little progress has apparently been made in the matter, 

 public opinion being hostile to the proposed restriction. 



Norwegian forests have lately suffered the loss of many young 

 trees of small dimensions, cut down either for exportation or 

 for pulp manufacture. The so-called cellulose wood, prepared 

 from small trees, and cut very short to escape the export duty 

 on wood, is at present in great demand in foreign markets. 



Dairying in Nebraska and the Dakotas. 



In a bulletin lately published by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture it is stated that the dairy industry in 

 Nebraska, South Dakota, aud North Dakota is a comparatively 

 new industry ; but that agencies have already been created for 

 assisting in the development and improvement of dairying, and 

 each of the three States has its organisation for joint effort by 

 those engaged in this branch of farming. 



In Nebraska dairy farming has been well established in the 

 eastern half of the State, and especially in the south-eastern 



