A regular forest organization was first attempted in the forests attached to iron furnace properties in 1840. By this time some 100 million acres have come under regulated management, half of the area being government forests. The method of regulation employed is that of area division and sometimes area allotment according to Cotta. In some regions a division by rides into compartments, ranging from 60 to 4,000 acres each, according to intensity of exploitation, has been effected. It is estimated that at the present rate of progress it would take 300 years to complete the work of organization. The selection method is still largely employed, a felling budget by number of trees and volume being determined in the incompletely organized areas; while a clearing system with artificial reforestation is used in most cases where a complete yield calculation has been made. The rotations employed are from 60 to 100 years for timber forest, 30 to 60 years for coppice. In the pineries, the strip system in echelons is mostly in vogue, the strips being made 108 feet wide, leaving four seed trees per acre, and on the last strip, which is left standing for five years, this number is increased to eight which are left as overholders. This method, according to some, seems to secure satisfactory reproduction. To get rid of undesirable species, especially aspen and birch, these are girdled. In spruce forest, 50 to 60 per cent. of the trees are left in the fellings, when after three to four years the natural regeneration requires often repair, which is done if at all by bunch planting; after eight to ten years the balance of the old growth is removed. While for a long time natural regeneration was alone relied upon, now, at least, artificial assistance is more and more frequently practiced. Yet, although over 2 million acres were under clearing system, not more than 5% of the revenue, or $100,000, was in 1898 allowed for planting as against 7.5% in Prussia; the total budget of expenses then remaining below 3 million dollars. But, ten years later, over half a million dollars was employed by the government in planting, the planting fund contributed by the lumberman (see p. 269) furnishing the means. * * * * *