i8 7 
The Karst was a stretch of barren lands in the hilly country 
of Istria, Trieste, Dalmatia, Montenegro, and neighboring ter- 
ritory along the shores of the Adriatic Sea. It comprised some 
600,000 acres. For centuries it had furnished the ship timbers 
and other wood supplies of Venice, but excessive cutting, to- 
gether with burning and pasturing, the evil results of clearing, 
and the natural condition of the land, had left it a waste 
almost beyond recover)*. Many laws had been passed from 
time to time to stop the forest havoc, but without real effect 
till 1865. In that year the Government, persuaded by the 
forestry association, began to offer help to landowners who 
would undertake forest planting. Taxes were remitted for 
periods of years, technical advice was given, and plant mate- 
rial as well as money was supplied. Further laws were found 
necessary in 1882 and 1887 to meet the objections of stock- 
men. At the present time over 400,000 acres, or two-thirds of 
the Karst, have been brought under forest, in part by plant- 
ing, at a cost of from $8 to $10 an acre, in part by protection 
and the natural recuperation so made possible. 
This work has been carried on under the direction of the 
''forest protective service," which was first created for Tyrol 
in 1856 as a result of floods in the Tyrolese Alps in 185 1 and 
was later (1871-1874) extended to the rest of the Empire. 
This service, which is distinct from the State forest adminis- 
tration, has also been especially helpful in encouraging private 
forestry. Though at first regarded with hostility, it is now 
held in high regard on the strength of the work it has done 
and is doing. 
Harmony of interest between the State and private forest 
owners, which the whole Austrian forest policy favors, is not- 
ably secured by the encouragement of the wood export trade 
through such provisions as reduced freight rates, the absence 
of export duties, and moderate forest taxation. 
A "reboisement" or reforestation law, based on that of 
France, was passed in 1884, to control torrents. This law 
carries an annual appropriation of $100,000, and the planting 
work, like that on the lands of the Karst, is carried on under 
the direction of the "protective service." For the regulation of 
the lower rivers $1,350,000 was appropriated at the same time, 
and of this sum $400,000 has been successfully expended on 
reforestation. 
HUNGARY. 
Hungary has 23,000,000 acres of forest, of which the State 
owns 16 per cent.; corporations, 20 per cent.; churches, 
cloisters, and other institutions, 7.5 per cent. ; and private per- 
sons the remainder. From $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 worth of 
wood is annually exported. 
