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GEEMANY AND BRITISI-I INDIA.

By B. E. FERNOTSr, r.L. Z).,

DIRECTOS, NEW TORK STATE VOLLEOE OF EORESIJCY, CORNELL VXIVERSITT.

Reprinted from H. Doc. No. 181, 55th Coiia:., 3»1 Scss,

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1899

WASHINGTON:

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1899.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

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FOliEST POLICIES AND FOIIEi^T IIANAIIEINT

IN

GEEMANY AWD BEITISH INDIA.

By B. E. FERlSrO'W, I>L. D.,

DIRECTOR NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY, CORNELL UNIVEBSITT.

Reprinted from H. Doc. No. 181, 55tli Cong., 3d Sess.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1899.

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D. FOREST POLICIES OF EUROPEAN NATIONS.

The conditions which a hundred years ago influenced the policies of the European nations —
namely, the necessity of looking out for continuance of domestic supplies — are at present well
overcome, provided the supplies in other countries last and can readily be secured.

In regard to supplies, the European countries may be grouped into those which produce as
yet more than they need, namely: Eussia, Austria-Hungary, Servia, Sweden and Xorway, which
are, therefore, exporters; those which produce large quantities of forest products, but not
sufficient for their needs, Germany, France, Switzerland; those which depend largely or almost
entirely on importation, England, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece,
and Turkey.

Nevertheless, at least in Germany, the desirability of fostering home production and advan-
tages of a general economic character, especially emjiloyment of labor in winter time which the
forest industries insure, have still an influence upon the policy of the Government, even with
supply forests.

In this way may be explained the protective tariff against wood imports, which was enacted
in 1885 and increased later, especially to keep out competition from the virgin woods of Austria-
Hungary and Russia. The last revision of 1892 has for its object not the discouragement of
importation, but the inducing of importation of only raw material to be manufactured at Ijome, by
imposing a duty five times as high ou lumber as on logs.

The result, however, has been more satisfactory from the revenue point of view than in
l)rotecting the forest owners, the AustroHungariau railroads equalizing the duty charges by
lower rates.

The existence of a State forest policy, such as most European States have adopted, is based
at present mainly on the protective value of the forest cover and the I'ecognitiou that private
interest can not be expected, or is insufficeut, to give proper regard to this feature in its treatment
of the forest areas.

It can not be said that a finally settled policy exists in any of the States, not even in Germany,
but only that it is in a highly advanced stage of formation, with the tendencj' of increasing
governmental activity and interference.

Such a policy is expressed in various ways, State ownership. State supervision of communal
and private forests, restriction of clearing and enforced reforesting, establishment of forestry
schools, and experiment stations.

State ownership of forest areas, which in the beginning of the century began to decrease
under the influence and misapplication of Adam Smith's teaching, and the doctrine of individual
rights urged to its extreme consequences, is now ou the increase in most States. Thus France,
which during and after the Eevolution, took the lead in this dismemberment of the forest property
which the monarchy had maintained, sold during the years 1791 to 1795 nearly one-half of the
State forests and continued to retluce the area until there remained in 1874 but one-fifth of the
original holdings. Since then a reversal of the policy has been in practice, the area not only
being increased but financial assistance in reforesting on a large scale being given to private
owners and communities.

Thus in the budget for 1895 of $2,500,000 appropriated for the State forest department,
$l,0(tO,000 is set aside for the extension of the State forests and necessary improvement of the
existing ones. The State owns about 2,000,000 acres — somewhat over 10 oer cent of the total

205

200 FORKSTUY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE.

area. In aiUlitiuu the private inoperty is coutrolled entirely as regards elearing; that is to
say, uo clearing may be done without notice to the Goverunieut authorities, or, in the mountain
districts, without sanction of the same.

This control is especially stringent with reference to the holdings of village and city corpora-
tions, which represent over 21 per cent of the forest area. These imist subnnt their plans of
management to the State forest department for approval, and are debarred from dividing their
proiierty, thus insuring continuity of ownership and conservative management.

The neeessity for such control became api)arent in the first (juarter of the century, when as a
conse(iuence of reckless denudation in tlie Ali)s, Ccvennes, and Pyrenees, whole communities
became impoverished by the torrents which destroyed and silted over the fertile lands at the foot
of the mountains. Some 8,000,000 acres of mountain forest iu twenty departments were involved
in these disastrous couseiiuences of forest destruction, with 1,000,000 acres of once fertile soil made
useless. The work of recovery was begun under laws of 1800 and 1804, and a revised law, the
reboisement act, of 1882. Under this law the State buys and recuperates the land, or else forces
communities or private owners to do so with financial aid from the Government.

Since the operation of this law the State has spent in purchases of worn out lands and in works
to check the torrents and in reforesting, nearly 812,000,000, not including subventions to commu-
nities and private owners. It is estimated that $28,000,000 more will have to be expended before
the area which the State does or is to possess, some 800,000 acres iu all, will be restored.

A forestry school at Nancy educates the otBcers, and is among the best on the Continent.

ICngland, iu the home country, has had little need of a forest policy on account of its insular
position and topography. Of the 3,000,000 acres of woodlands, mostly devoted to purposes of the
chase or parks, 2 per cent are State forests, and so encumbered with rights of a<ljoining commoners
as pasture or for wood supplies that no rational management is possible. But in India there is
a well organized forest administration with a very extensive area, namely, 00,000 square miles
reserved and 3-1,590 square miles protected and under active control of the Government. The
organization of the forestry service was begun in 1805 by German foresters. (See pages 259-2G3.)
At present special schools of forestry, one in l']uglaud and one in India, supply the technical
education of the oiHcers.

Italy has long suflered from the etfects of forest devastation by droughts and Hoods, but the
Government was always too weak to secure etfective remedies. The State owns only 1.0 per cent
of 110,000 acres of forest, the balance of 7,000,000 acres belonging to communities and corporations
or individuals. Yet by the laws of 1877, revised iu 1888, the policy of State interference is clearly
defined. Excellent though the law appears on paper, it has probably not yielded any significant
results or even general enlbrcement, owing to the financial disability of the Govei-nment. This
law placed nearly half the area not owned by the State under Government control, namely, all
woods anil lands cleared of wood on the summits and slopes of the mountains above the upper
limit of chestnut growth, and those that from their character and situation may, in conseciuence
of being cleared or tilled, give rise to landslijjs, caving, or gullying, avalanches and snowslides,
and may to the public injury interfere witli water courses or change the character of the soil or
injure local hygienic conditions. Government aid is to be extended where reforestation appeared
necessary.

Of the 70,000 acres which required immediate reforestation, for reasons of public safety, only
22,000 were reforested iu twenty years up to 1886, the Government contributing $85,000 toward
the cost.

In the revised law of 1888, as a result of the vast experiences preceding, a further elabora-
tion of the same plan was attempted by creating further authority to enforce action. It is now
estimateil that 534,000 acres need reforesting at a cost of -^12,000,000, of which two-fifths is to be
contributed by the State.

Expropriation proceedings may be instituted where owners refuse to reforest, with permission
to reclaim in five years by leaving the cost of work, with interest, incurred by the State.

In xVustria, the disastrous consequences which the reckless devastation and abuse of her
mountain forests by their owners has brought upon whole communities have led to a more stringent
and geueral supervision of private and communal forests than anywhere else. Since 1883 there

EUROPEAN FOREST POLICIES. 207

bas been also iu progress a work of recuperation similar to the French rcboisement work, in which,
up to 1894, nearly $1,500,000 bad been spent, the State contributing variously from 25 to 100 per
cent toward covering tbe expense. A fully organized forest department manages the Government
forests, 2,000,000 acres, which are gradually being increased by purchase, or 73 per cent of the
whole forest area. One higher, and several lower schools provide instruction.

Some 150,000 acres of waste land were reforested by tbe State between 1881 and 1890.

Even Eussia, although one of the export countries, with $30,000,000 to $35,000,000, and
largely in tbe pioneering stage, has a well-devised forest policy, developed within tbe last thirty
or fifty years, which consists not only in maintaining Government forests to tbe extent of about
280,000,000 acres under tolerably good management, and 30,000,000 of Crown forests, personal
property of the royal family, but in restricting private owners from abuse of their property, where
the public welfare demands, while in tbe prairie country in southern llussia large amounts of
money are spent by the Government in planting forests and assisting private enterprise iu tbe
same direction.

With the Siberian forests and those of the Caucasus added, the area of Government forest
may reach the large figure of 000,000,000 acres, which, though not yet all placed under manage
ment, is sooner or later to come under tbe existing forest administration.

The restrictive policy dates from a very elaborate law passed in 1888, in which tbe democratic
spirit iu tbe constitution of tbe body controlling the exercise of property rights is interesting.
The approval of working plans or of clearings on private property is placed in tbe bauds of a
specially constituted committee for each county, whicli includes tbe governor, justices of tbe
peace, tbe county council, and several forest owners, and the Government itself must secure the
approval of this committee for its operatious.

By this law, throughout European Russia, woodlands may be declared " preserved forests" on
the following grounds : That they serve as preventives against tbe formation of barrens and
shifting sands, and tbe encroachment of dunes along seashores or tbe banks of navigable rivers,
canals, and artificial reservoirs; that they protect from sand drifts towns, villages, cultivated
land, roads, and the like; that they protect tbe banks of navigable rivers and canals from land-
slides, overflows, or injuries by the breaking up or passing of ice; when growing on hills, steep
places, or declines, they serve to check land or rock slides, avalanches, and sudden freshets,
and all forests that protect the springs and sources of tbe rivers aud their tributaries.

In these preserved forests, working plans are made at tbe expense of the Government, and
iu tbe uupreserved forests at the expense of the owners. In each province the Government
maintains an inspector-instructor, whose duty is to advise those who apply to him iu forest
niatters, and as far as possible be is to superintend ou tbe spot all forestry work. Tbe Government
has established nurseries from which private owners can obtain young trees and seeds at a low
price. The owners are allowed to employ as managers of their forests the trained officials of tbe
forest administration, while medals and prizes are given yearly to private owners for excellency
in forest culture aud management. Two higher and thirteen lower schools of forestry are also
maintained by the Government.

The country which bas attracted most interest in all matters pertaining to forestry, because
the science of forestry is there most developed and most closely applied, is Germany. Tbe policies
prevailing aud methods employed are fully described in another part of this report.

It may, however, be interesting to trace somewhat the historical development both of tbe
application of forestry principles and of tbe existing forest policy.

Although as early as Charlemagne's time a conception of tbe value of a forest as a piece of
property was well recognized by that monarch himself, aud crude prescriptions as to tbe proper
use of the same are extant, a general really well-ordered system of forest management hardly
existed until tbe beginning of tbe eighteenth century. Sporadically, to be sure, systematic care
and regular methods of reproduction were employed even in the tbirteeutb and fourteenth centu-
ries.

To understand the developmeut of the present forest policy in Germany one must study tbe
peculiar conditions and development of property rights that led to it. Germany was originally
settled by warriors, who had to keep together in order to resist enemies and conquerors ou every

20S FOHESTKY IXVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

side, ready to move aud cbauge domicile at any moment. The soil wliicli was conquered, conse-
quently, was not divided, but owned as a whole, managed by and for the whole ti'ibe. It is only
in the sixth century that signs of private property in woodlands are discernible. Before that
time it was res nullius, or, as it is exjiressed in legal manuscripts, " quia non res possessa sed de
Vigno agitur.''''

Wood being i)lentiful and yet needed by everybody, it appeared a crime only to take wood
which had been already appropriated or bore unmistakable signs of ownership, such as being
cut or shaped. But severe punishments were in earliest times inflicted for inceudiarisni and
for damage to mast trees, since the seed mast for the fattening of swine was one of tlie most
important uses of the forest.

There was not much need of partition, especiallj' of the forests. The community, to which all
the laud of a district belonged, and which was managed by and for the aggregate of society, was
called the '-mark," a communistic institution of most express character, and every "marker"' or
shareholder was allowed to get the timber needed by him for his own use without control.

This early communal ownership of forest land undoubtedly explains the fact that even to day
over 5 per cent of the forest is owned by communities, cities, or villages. Gradually the necessity
of regulating the cutting of the wood became apparent, as the best timber in the neighborhood
of the villages was removed, and we find quite early mention of officials whose duty it was to
superintend the Idling, removing, and even the use of the timber. By and by even the firewood
was designated by officials. Manufacturers I'eceived their material free of charge, but only as
mucli as was needed to supjily the community. Occasionally there were rules that each man had
to plant trees in proportion to his consumption. So that by the end of the fourteenth century
(juite a system of forest management had been developed.

Meanwhile the l\oman doctrine of the regal right to the chase had also begun to assert itself
by the declaration of certain districts as ban forests or simply forests, in which the King exclu-
sively reserved the right to chase. The Kings again invested their trusted followers and nobles
with this right to the chase in various districts, thus gradually dividing the control of the same.

While at first these reservations did not bring with them restrictions in the use of the timber
or pasture or other products of the forest, gradually these uses were construed as exercised only
by permission, and the former owners were reduced to holders of " servitudes," i. e.. holders of
certain rights in the substance of the forests. The fact that the feudal lords frequently became
the obemiarkers or burgomasters of the mark community lent color of right to these restrictions
in the use of the property, besides the assertion that the needs of maintaining the chase required
and entitled them to such control.

It is interesting to note that through all the changes of centuries, these so called servitudes
have lasted until our own times, much changed, to be sure, in character, and extending by new
grants especially to churches, charitable institutions, cities, villages, and colonists. Such rights,
to satisfy certain requirements from the substance of an adjoining forest, were then usually
attached to the ownership of certain farms, and involved counter service of some sort, usually in
hauling wood or doing other forestry work.

Sometimes when the lordly owners of large properties exercised only certain jirerogatives to
show ownership, these, in the course of time, lapsed into the character of servitudes, the forest
itself by occupation becoming the property of the community. With changes in value and other
changes in economic conditions, these rights often became disadvantageous aud more and more
cumbersome to either or both sides.

The present century has been occupied with the difficult labor of relieving tliis state of things
aud making e(iuitable arrangements by which the forests become unencumbered and the bene-
ficiaries properly satisfied by cession of land or a money equivalent.

This chapter of the history of forest policy is especially interesting to us as a tendency, nay
the practice exists of granting such rights to the public timber to the settlers in the Western
States, which by and by will be just as difficult to eradicate when rational forest management is
to be inaugurated.

Over 5,000,000 marks and several hundred acres of land were required in the little Kingdom
of Saxony to get rid of the servitudes in the State forests. The Prussian budget contains still an

EUROPEAN FOREST POLICIES. 209

item of 1,000,000 marks annually for tbis purpose; and altbougb over 22,000,000 marks and nearly
20,000 acres of land bave been spent for tbis purpose in Bavaria, tbe State forests tbere are still
most beavily burdened witb servitudes.

Tbe doctrine of tbe regal rigbt to the chase, as we have seen, led to tbe gradual assertion of
all property rights to the forest itself, or at least to tbe exclusive control of its use. This right
found expression in a legion of forest ordinances in tbe lifteentb and sixteenth centuries, which
aimed at tbe conservation and improvement of forest areas, abounding in detailed technical
precepts.

At first treating tbe private interest with some consideration, they gradually more and more
restrict free management. Prohibition of absolute clearing, or at least only witb the permission
of the government; the command to reforest cleared and waste places; to foster the young
growth; limiting tbe quality of timber to be felled; preventing devastation by prohibiting tbe
pasturing of cattle in the young growth, of tbe removal of tbe forest litter, of pitch gathering,
etc., were among these prescriptions, and many others, such as prescribing the manner and time
of felling, the division into regular felling lots, determination as to what is to be cut as firewood
and what as building timber. Then, witb tbe increasing fear of a reduction in supplies, followed
prohibitions against exportation, against sale of woodlands to foreigners, against speculation iu
timber by providing schedules of prices, and from time to time entire exclusion from sale of some
valuable species. Even the consumer was restricted and controlled in tbe manner of using wood.

In mediieval times, besides private forests of tbe King and lords, only tbe comraunul forest
(allmeude) was known, and small holdings of farmers were comparatively rare until the end of
tbe Middle Ages.

The thirty years' war and the following troublesome times gave rise not only to extended
forest devastation, but also to many changes in ownership of woodlands. With tbe growing
instability of communal organization of tbe " mark," division of the common property took place,
and thus private ownership by small farmers came about, reducing the communal holdings.
Colonization schemes by holders of large estates also led to dismemberment.

A very large amount of tbe mark forest came into possesssion of the iirinces and noblemen
by force, and later possessions of the princes were increased by the secularization of the property
of monasteries and churches. Until tbe end of the last century these domains belonged to the
family of tbe prince, Just as tbe right to the throne or the governing of tbe little dukedom,
contributing toward tbe expenses of government.

But when, as a consequence of tbe French Revolution and tbe Napoleonic wars and
subsequent changes, the conception of the rights of the governing classes changed, and in some
States like Prussia much earlier, a division of domains into those which belonged to the prince's
family as private property and those which were State forests was eiiected, so that now the
following classes of forest property may be distinguished:

(1) State forests, which are administered by tbe government for tbe benefit of tbe common-
wealth, each State of the Confederation owning and administering its own.

(2) Imperial forests, belonging to and administered for tbe benefit of the Empire, situated in
the newly acquired province of Alsace-Lorraine.

(3) Crown forests (Fidei-bommiss), the ownership of which remains in tbe reigning family,
administered by State government, but the revenues of which are in part applicable to government
expenses.

(i) Princely domains, which are the exclusive and private iiroperty of the pi'ince.

(5) Communal forests possessed by and administered by and for tbe benefit of village and
city communities, or even ])rovinces as a whole.

(G) Association forests, tbe owners of tbe old " mark " forests, possessed by a number of
owners, the State sometimes being part owner.

(7) Institute and corporation, school or becpiest forests, which belong to incorporated institu-
tions, like churches, hospitals, and other charitable institutions.

(8) Private forests, of larger or smaller extent, tbe exclusive ])roperty of private owners.
The proportions of these classes of property which existed iu tbe beginning of the century

H. Doc. 181 U

210 FORESTUY INVESTIGATIONS V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

experienced considerable cliaufres by tlie sale of State forests, tlie sales being due partly to
financial distress, jiartly to a uiistakeu application of Adam Smith's theories, Avhich supposed that
free competition would lead to a better management and highest development of the forest
industry as well as of other industries.

This tendency, however, was checked when the fallacy of the theory became apparent,
especially with reference to a property that demands conservative treatment and involves such
time element as we have seen.

The hopes which were based on the success of individualistic eftbrts were not realized, and
although control of private action had been retained by the State authorities, this could not
always be exercised, and the necessity of strengthening the State forest administration became
apparent. The present tendency, therefore, is not only to maintain the State forests, but to
extend their area by ])urchase, Tuostly of devastated or deforested areas and by exchange for
agricultural lands from the pul)lic domain. Thus, in Prussia, the increase of State forest area has
been at the rate of 1-J,()0t) acres i)er year since 1807.

In districts where small farmers own extensive aieas of barrens a consolidation is effected,
the parcels of remaitiiug forest and the barrens are put together, the State acfjuires these and
pays the owners cither in money or other property.

In I'russia, during the decade l.SSL'-l.S'Jl, ;{tl,()UO acres were in this way exchanged for 17,000
acres, and in addition some 200,000 acres, waste or poorly wooded, ])urchased at an exjjense of
.»i;5,500,000, round nundjers. During the same decade the reforestation of 80,000 acres of waste
lands was ettcctcd, while nearly 7r),(IOO acres in the State's possession remained to be reforested.

The annual budget for these reforestations of waste lands has been 8r)00,(l(lO for several years.

The area of barrens and poor soils, only fit for forest purposes in Prussia, is estimated at over
0,000,000 acres.

The present distribution of the property classes for the whole l<'mpire of the 3.1,000,000 acres
of forest is about as follows, varying, to be sure, very considerably in the States of the Confed-
eration :

Per cont.

State and Crowu forests (of wlii<b the Crown owus less tlian 2 per cent) 32. 7

Tni)>ei'ia1 forests 1

Communal forests (5,0110,000 iicros) 15.2

Association forests 2.5

Institute forests 1.3

Privati- forests 4^.3

The State and Crown forests are all under well-organized forest administrations, sometimes
accredited to the minister of finance, sometimes to the minister of agriculture. These yui\d an
annual net revenue of from ■''l to *.■) and •'?C per acre of forest area, with a constant inciease from
year to year, which will ])resently be very greatly advanced when the expenditures for road build-
ing and other improvements cease.

In the State management the constant care is not to sacrifice the economic significance of the
forest to the financial benefits that can be derived, and the amount cut is most conservative.

The Imperial forests are of course managed in the same spirit as the seveial State forests.

While the present communities, villages, towns, and cities are only political corporations, they
still retain in some cases in part the character of the "mark," which was based upon the holding
of property.

The supervision which the princes exercised in their capacity of Obermarker or as possessor
of the right to the chase, remained, although based on other principles, as a function of the State
when the ''mark"' communities colbqised, the principles being that the State was bound to i)rotect
the interest of the eternal juristical person of the community against the present tru.stees, that it
had to guard against conflicts between the interest of the individual and that of the community in
this property, and .secure permanency of a piece of property which insured a continued and
increasing revenue. The principle upon which the control of these communal holdings rests is
then mainly a fiscal one.

The degree of control and restriction varies in different localities. Sale and partition and

EUROPEAN FOREST POLICIES. 211

clearing can mostly take place only by permission of the State authorities, and is usually discoun-
tenanced except for good reasons (too much woods on agricultural soil).

With reference to 5.6 per cent of communal forest property, this is the only control which is of
a fiscal nature. The rest is more or less closely intluenced in the character of its management,
either by control of its technicalities or else by direct management and administration on the part
of the Government.

Technical control makes it necessary that the plans of management be submitted to the
Government for sanction, and that proper officers or managers be employed who are inspected by
Government foresters. This is the most general system, under which i'JA per cent of communal
forests are managed (as well in Austria and Switzerland), giving greatest latitude and yet securing
conservative management. To facilitate the management of snuiller areas several properties may
be combined under one manager, or else a neighboring government or private forest manager
may be employed to look after the technical management.

Where direct management by the State exists, the State performs the management by its own
agents with only advisory power of the communal authorities, a system under which 45 per cent
of the communal forests are managed (also in Austria and France).

In Prussia this system exists only in a few localities, but it is since 1876 provided as penalty
for improper management or attempts to avoid the State control.

This system curtails, to be sure, comnuinal liberty and possibly financial results to some
extent, but it has proved itself the most satisfactory from the standpoint of conservative forest
management and in the interest of present and future welfare of the communities. Its extension
is planned both in Prussia and Bavaria.

Sometimes the State contributes toward the cost of the management on the ground that
it is carried on in the interests of the whole commonwealth. A voluntary cooperation of the
communities with the State in regard to forest protection by the State forest guards is in
vogue in Wurttemberg, and also in France. Institute forests are usually under similar control as
the communities.

The control of private forests is extremely varying. A direct State control of some kind is
exercised over only 2',). 7 per cent of the private forest, or 14.6 per cent of the total area, mostly
in southern and middle Germany, wliile 70.3 per cent of the private property, or 34.5 per cent of
the total forest area, is entirely without control, a condition existing in Prussia and Saxony.

As far as the large land owners are concerned, this has mostly been of no detriment, as they
are usually taking advantage of rational management; but the small peasant holdings show the
bad eftects of this liberty quite frequently in the devastated condition of the woods and waste
places. As a recent writer puts it: "The freedom of private forest ownership has in Prussia led
not only to forest dismemberment and devastation, but often to change of forest into field. On
good soils the result is something permanently better; on medium and poor soils the result has
been that agriculture, after the fertility stored up by the forest has beeu exhausted, has become
unprofitable. These soils are now utterly ruined and must be reforested as waste lands.

Need, avarice, si)eculation, and penury were developed into forest destruction when in the
beginning of this century the individualistic theories led to an abandonment of the control
hitherto existing, and it was found out that the principle so salutary in agriculture and other
industries wiis a fateful error in forestry.

Where control of private forests exists it takes various forms:

(1) Prohibition to clear permanently or at least necessity to ask permission exists in Wurttem-
berg, Baden, and p;irtially in Bavaria. (Protection of adjoiners.)

(2) Enforced reforestation within a given time after removal of the old growth and occasionally
on open ground where public safety requires.

(3) Prohibition of devastation or detei-ioration — a vague and undeflnable provision.

(1) Definite prescription as to the manner of cutting (especially on sand dunes, river
courses, etc.).

(5) Enforced employment of qualified personnel.

In addition to all these measures of restriction, control and police, and enforcement, there

212 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

should be iiieiitioned the measures of encouragement, which consist in the opportunity for the
education of foresters, dissemination of information, and linaucial aid.

In the latter respect Prussia, in the decade 1SS1'-1S92, contributed fur reforestation of waste
places by i)rivate owners 8.'535,00(», besides large amounts of seeds and i)Iants from its State
nurseries. Instruction in forestry to farmers is given at twelve agricultural schools in Prussia.
In nearly all States permission is given to (iovernment officers for compensation, to undertake at
the reipiest of the owners the regulation or even nmuagement of private forest property.

For the education of the lower class of foresters there may be some twenty special schools in
Germany ami Austria, while for the higher classes not only ten special forest academies are
available, but three universities and two polytechnic institutes have forestry faculties.

BcsiiU'S, all States have lately inaugurated systems of forest experiment stations; and
forestry associations, not of propagandists but of practitioners, abound. As a result of all this
activity in forestry science and practice, not less than twenty forestry journals in the German
language exist, besides many official and association reports and a most prolific book literature.

FOREST CONDITIONS AND METHODS OF FOREST MANAGE-
MENT IN GERMANY, WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF FOREST
MANAGEMENT IN BRITISH INDIA.

Forest Area, Extent and Ownership.

Germany, as constituted at present, lias an area of 133,000,000 acres — about one-flfteentli of
oar country — a population of about 47,000,000, or less than 3 acres per capita, or only one-tenth of
our per capita average. Its forests cover 34,700,000 acres, or 20 per cent of tlie entire land surface.
A large portion of the forests cover the poorer, chiefly sandy, soils of the North German plains, or
occupy the rough, hilly, and steeper mountain lands of the numerous smaller mountain systems,
and a small portion of the northern slopes of the Alps. They are distributed rather evenly over
the entire Empire. Prussia, with 06 per cent of the entire land area, possesses 23.5 per cent of
forest land, while the rest of the larger States have each over 30 per cent, except small, indus-
trious Saxony, which lies intermediate, with 27 per cent of forest cover.

Considering the smaller districts of Prussia, Bavaria, and the smaller States, it is found tliat
out of 04 provinces and districts, IS have less than 20 per cent forest; IS have from 20 to 29 per
cent; 23, including the greater part of the country, have from 30 to 39 per cent, and 5 of the
smaller districts have from 40 to 4 i per cent of forest. The districts containing less than 20 per
cent of forests are, as might be supposed, mostly fertile farming districts in which the plow land
forms over 40 per cent of the land, but they also include neglected districts like Hanover and
Luneburg, where a former shortsighted, seltish, and improvident policy has led to the deforesta-
tion of poor, flat lands, which have gradually been transformed into heaths, where an accumulation
of bog-iron ore, and other obstacles render the attempts at reforestation difficult, ex]>ensive, and
unsatisfactory. Left to forests, these same lands, wliich now are unable to furnisli support to
farmers or to produce a revenue to their owner, could easily pay the taxes and interest on a
capital of $50 to $100 per acre. To reforest them now costs $10 to $50 per acre and requires a
lifetime before any returns can be expected.

Since it is one of the common claims in the eastern United States that the land is all needed
for agriculture, and since it will be conceded that in hardly any State east of the Mississippi
much land necessarily remains untilled, it may be of interest to note that in this densely populated
Empire of Germany out of (>7 districts and provinces the plow land forms less than 20 per cent in
4 districts, 30 to 39 per cent in 10 districts, 40 to 49 per cent in 26 districts, .50 to 59 per cent
in 20 districts, and 00 to 69 per cent in 7 districts, in spite of the fact that a large part of the
forests are in private hands and would be cleared if the owners saw tit to do so.

In our country the total area in farms is only IS percent at present.

Of the total of 34,700,000 acres of forest land (an area about as large as the State of Wis-
consin) 32.7 per cent belongs to the several States as State property; 19 per cent belongs to
villages, towns, and other corporations, and 50 per cent to private ovrners, a considerable part of
this being in large estates of the nobility.

213

214

FORESTRY INVESTIOATION'S V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Tbe following; figures show these owiiersbip relations for the eight larger States, which
involve 96 per ceut of the total area of the empire:

Fopnlation

Germany

Prussia

Bavaria

"WurHeniberK

Saxon V

Badin'

Alsace-Lorraine

Hfssc

MeckU-nburj!-Sehwfrin

Millions,
47

29.9
5.6
1.9
3.2
1.6
1.5
.9
.5

Total land
surface.

Jf acres.
133. 302

88.000
18, 800
4,800
3 7U0
3 730
3, 000
1,900
3, 290

Forests.

Total.

M acres.
34,750

Per cent.

Owned by the

S'»te. Corpora p^^^^,^.

Jf acres.
11, 360

0. 240

58

6,200

18

1,470

4.2

1, 020

3

1.360

4

1,100

3.1

590

1.7

560

1.6

6.100
2,160
480
430
237
360
170
255

M acres.
6,710

470
60
867
520
220
85

M acres.
16, B80

10,900
3,150
530
530
447
220
200
220

This same relation, expressetl in per cent, becomes:

Forest
cover of
total area.

Forests owned by —

Stite.

States.

Corpora-
tions.

Private.

Per cent.
25.7

Per cent.
32.7

Per cent.
19

Per cent.
48.3

23.5

35

31

27

37

30

31

17

30
34
32
43

in

33
29
46

17
14
32
6
49
47
37
15

5:t

.12

36

51

33

20

]|t..,se

34

39

The condition of the forests to a great extent depends on tlie degree of supervision or control
exercised by the State authorities. It is best in all cases in the State forests, is equally good in
the corporation fon^srs under State control, and is poorest in the private forests, particularly those
of small holders.

STATE CONTROL.

The amount of State intiiience or control varies in the several States, and varies in some cases
even in one and the same State for diHerent districts. Of the State forests, without exception, it
can be said that they are nearly in that form which, according to present knowledge and with
reasonable eflfort, is able to produce the greatest quantities of wood material in those dimensions
and of such kinds as best to satisfy the demands of the markets and at the same time render the
management as profitable as possible. This does not mean that they are not improving, for as
forestry knowledge increases and the methods are jierfected the results are better. From what
follows it also appears that all State forests as a whole pay, and pay handsomely, when the low
intrinsic value of the land on which the forest stocks is considered.

The control of the corporation forests is perfect only in a few of the smaller States, notably
Baden, Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine; also in some districts in Prussia where the corporation forests
are managed by the State authorities, the wishes of the villagers or corporate owners being, however,
always duly considered. In a large portion of Prussia, in Wurttemberg, and in Bavaria the corpora-
tion provides its own foresters; but these must be approved, as well as their plans of operations, by
the State authorities, so that here the management is under strict control of the State, and favora-
ble forest conditions at least partially assured. In Wurttemberg the corporation is given the choice
of supplying its own foresters or else joining their forests to those of the State. This has led to
State management of near 70 per cent of all corporation forests. Only the corporation forests of
Saxony and those of a small part of Prussia are without any supervision. Of the private forests,
those of Prussia and Saxonj-, involving (iO per cent of all private forests of the Empire, are entirely
free from interference. They can be managed as the owner sees fit, and there is no obstacle to their
devastation or entire clearing and conversion into field or i^asture. The remainder of the private
forests are under more or less supervision. In mo.st districts a State permit is required before

GERMAN FOREST CONDITIONS. 215

land can be cleared. Devastation is an oifense, and in some States, notably Wurttemberg, a badly
neglected forest jnoperty may be reforested and managed by State autiiorities. In nearly all
States laws exist with regard to so-called "protective forests" i. e., forests needed to prevent floods,
sand blowing, laud and snow slides, or to insure regularity of water supply, etc. Forests proved
to fall under this category are under special control, hut as it is not easy in most cases to prove
the protective importance of a forest, the laws are difticult to apply and rarely enforced.

A partial return to the State supervision of private forests has been attempted in Prussia by
the establishment of a law which renders the owner of a forest liable for the damage which the
devastation or clearing of his forest property causes to his neighbor. This law, however, like the
former, is so diflScult to apply, and puts the plaintiff to great expense, so that so far it has not
been enforced to any extent except where the Government itself is the injured party.

In the following statement the areas of forest are grouped according to the degree of State
supervision and manner of management:

Of the entire 34, TOO, 000 acres of forest land, there are approximately —

(1) Managed by State authorities as State property, 11,300,000 acres, which is 32.7 per cent.

(ii) Managed by the State authorities, but the property of corporations, villages, towns, etc.,
a little over 2,213,000 acres, which is 0.3 per ceut.

(3) Under strict Government control, the plans of management and the permissible cut having
to be aijproved by State authorities (corporation property), 3,875,000 acres, wliich is 11. 1 per cent.

(4) Under supervision of the State, not only as common property but as special property,
subject to inspection and, in i>art, to control of State forest authorities; nearly all private prop-
erty and i)artly belonging to large estates, 4,707,000 acres, which is 13.7 per ceut.

(5) Without any Government control or supervision beyond that of common property. These
forests may be divided, sold, cleared, and mismanaged, except under the certain cases before men-
tioned. Here belong all private forests of Saxony and Prussia and part of the corporation forests
of Prussia and all those of Saxony, 11,490,000 acres, which is 33 per cent.

CHARACTER OF FOREST GROWTH.

The greater part of the German forests is stocked with conifers, chiefly x^ine (the Scotch pine,
a pine similar to our red or Norway pine) and spruce. The pine jirevails on the sandy areas of
North Gernnxny, and occujiies about (!0 per cent of the Prussian and 30 per cent of the Bavarian
forests. Tlie spruce is tije chief conifer and principal timber tree of Saxony and southern Ger-
many. The hard woods, chiefly beech, some oaks, with small amounts of ash, maple, elm, etc.,
are most abundant in the valley of the Rhine, Lorraine, and Wurttemberg, but good beech forests
occur in nearly all parts of the Empire.

The greater part of all forests of Germany are " timber forests," where the trees are cut at an
ageof over 80 years (generally 90 to 120 years).' Timber forests form over 90 per cent of the State
forests of all larger States, are the prevalent form in t'he forests of corporations, and are common
in those of private owners. The other two common forms, the "coppice" and "standard coppice,"
where the trees are cut at an age of less than 30 years (usually 15 to 25 years, and in the standard
coppice a small part only is allowed to reach better age and size), are most abundant in private
forests and to a less extent in corporation properties, but form only a very small part of the
State woods, where they are steadily diminishing in importance. The coppice is a hard-wood
forest, depends on the sprouting capacity of the trees, and furnishes small poles, firewood, and
tanbark. Both forms of the coppice and standard coppice require a smaller amount of standing
timber, furnish quicker returns, but do not furnish those kinds of products which the market
demands in largest quantity.

In the timber forest the trees of any particular tract or division are supposed to be of about
the same age, (littering not over 20 years in the extreme, so that for a rotation of one hundred
years, i. e., a management where the crop is harvested at the age of 100 years, one fifth, or 20 per
cent, of all the forests should be 1 to 20 years old ; another 20 per cent, 21 to 40 years old, etc.
In spite of the great difficulty of attaining this regularity of distribution in the forests of an
entire State without disturbing the yearly cut of timber, this regularity is already attained very
closely in most of the State forests. Thus in the State forests of Prussia, of the total area of

For fuller description of the systems of managemout, see pp. 225 to 259 of this report.

FORESTRY INVKSTIGATTONS IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

216

timber forest (90 per cent of all State forests), the age of the timber is as follows: On 13 per cent
of tbe area, over 100 years old; on 13 per cent, 81 to 100 years old; on 14 per cent, CI to 80 years
old; on 18 i)er cent. -11 to GO years old; on 1!) per cent, 21 to 40 years old; on 19 per cent.
1 to 20 years old. and about 4 per cent are cleariiij>s, where the timber has been cut lately. In all
forests tbe ground is at once reforested, if cut clean, or else the cut is so arranged that a natural
seeding goes on as tbe barvest progresses, this latter consisting of several fellings, separated by a
muuber of years.

EXPLOITATION.

The cutting in all State forests is generally done by the cord or by tbe crnbic foot (really by
the stere, festnieter, or cubic meter). In rare cases the timber is cut and moved by tbe purchaser;
nearly always it is cut and moved by the forest authorities and sold and delivered at the main
roads. The logs are not cut to uniform lengths, but care is had in the forest to cut to best advan-
tage. Long, straight timbeis are lett long, if possible, and sold as long, round, or sometimes hewn
pieces; saw timber is cut in even lengths; ])oles are cut to suit local markets; wagon and coopers'
stock, etc., are cut to suit, or left in round timbers, while pulp wood, cord wood, and branches, and
sometimes even stumps, are worked up in customary manner, graded, and sold by the cord
(really " stere'' or " raummeter").

Ill the conversion of the logs into lumber there are more complications in dimensions than
with us. The measure is generally the meter and centimeter; edging is not done by even numbers.
Lumber is sold by cubic measure, and the handling is thus generally not so simple as in America.

As far as practical means and methods in Idling and logging operations go we can learn but
little from Germany, except that more care in the utilization of the timber would be profitable
here as it is abroad. Yet it may be of interest, and not entirely devoid of suggestive value, to
briefly recite the practices followed in most Government forests.

The location of lelliugs for the year having been determined with due consideration, the
rangers engage and control, under sujjervision of the district manager, the crew of wood choppers
under a foreman, who are mostly men living in the neighborhood of the range or district and
accustomed to all kinds of foi-est work.' A contract, which contains conditions, regulations, and
a scale of prices, is made with them, which they sign. The men are paid by the .job, the prices
per unit difl'ering, of course, in ditterent localities and being graded according to the kinds of
timber, size, etc.

To cite one example we may take the schedule prices paid at the forest belonging to the city
of Goslar, as this will interest us, further on. There are 40 men nearly permanently employed
either in wood chopping, ]>lanting, or otherwise, and their average earnings during three years
have been about 80 cents iier working day. The prices for cutting spruce, including moving to
roads and barking, and the average prices obtained for ten years were as follows:

Coflt of cutting.

Averaj;e price ob-
tained in tlio
woods.

Lowest
class.

Hidhest
class.

Saw timbor, ahore 5 inches in iliamrtcr (5 cl.issos), 85 cents per 100 cubic feet-
Lonfi puleH C.i elasseB). from H4 cents ti» $1.(!8 per lUU cubic feet

$9.50
5.90
3.60
3.60

$»6. 20
7.90
5.80
4.30
1.60

Sin.-lTl poh-s (4 classes), from $l.a7 to $:i.07 per lUU cubic feet

Firewood, brnsii, $1.10 per cord

In Prussia the average cost of lumbering (wood cutting and bringing to roads) for all kinds
and dimensions is 65 cents per 100 cubic feet; that is to say, the wood-choppers' bill on the
300,000,000 solid cubic feet of wood harvested annually in the Prussian Government forests
amounts to $l,!»rj(»,(t()0. It will appear from the prices for wood cited that often the harvesting is
more expensive than the price obtained, as, for instance, for brushwood, which will hardly .sell for
half the cost of cutting, but its removal is necessary from cultural considerations. The wood
choppers are also sometimes expected to move the cordwood at least to the neighboring roads, so
as to obviate the driving of teams through the woods or young growth.

' In the census ol" flennany foi- 1881-82 llieio were reporteil as cMifjaj^c d in forestry, liiintiug, and lishing 384,637
persous. Unfortunately, no division of the tlireo occiipatious was made.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT.

217

If the felling is to be a clearing, a strip i.s a.sslgued to each gang of 3 meu, 1 with an ax and 2
with saws (felling with the saw, of course, is the rule); if a regeneration cutting or thinning, the
trees to be taken are carefully selected by the ranger or manager and marked with a marking
hammer. As a rule, all fellings are done during winter, and all trees, except in the coppice and
small poles, are felled with the saw close to the ground. In the pineries of the North German
plain, where the root wood is salable, they are even dug out an<l then sawed oft' close to the root,
thus saving a good piece of log timber, which in Saxony increases the wood value of the harvest
by fully 3 per cent. Which parts of the log are to be cut into firewood and which into lumber
wood or special timbers, and the length of the same according to the best use that can be made
of the stick, are determined by the foreman, or in valuable timber by the ranger or manager
himself. A scale of sizes and classes of timber (sortiment) exists; in general, all wood over 3
inches diameter is called Derbholz (coarse wood or lumber wood), all below 3 inches is brushwood
(Reisholz), with which root wood (Stockholz) is classed. The.se last two grades are used as fire-
wood, with which is also classed body wood or split wood (Scheitholz), split from pieces over 6
inches diameter at the small end, and round billet wood (Kniippelholz) of 3 to 0 inches diameter.

The wood to be used in the arts, called timber wood (Nutzholz), may appear either in bolts,
corded, or in logs. The diameter measurement of logs is made by the ranger, with calipers, at
the middle of the log. Every cord and every log is numbered and the diameter and length noted
on the log, and a list prepared in which the cubic contents are calculated. From this list the
manager checks off the result of the felling, marking each piece or cord with the marking hammer,
and after advertisement sells at public auction, in the woods or at some public place, the single
pieces or cords to the highest bidder over and above the Government rate, which for the dift'erent
grades is established every three years on the basis of, but below current market prices. The
sale of logs is made per cubic foot, and the size of the log influences the rate or price, heavier logs
being disproportionately higher in price.

PRICE OF WOOP IN THE FOREST.

During the years 1884-1887 the following prices were obtained by the Prussian forest adminis-
tration for wood in the foi-est. This is practically for stumpage, cut and marked, the buyer hauling
it from the woods:

Price per 100 cubic fret of wood in Pnisxia.

Pieces coDtaintng 18-36 cubic feet.

Timber:

Oak

Beech, ash, elm, maple.

Spruce

Pine

Firewood :

lieech, ash, elm, maple

Sprnco

Pine

Lowest

Highest

price.

price.

$8.50
5. .50
4.75
4.75

$17. 30
12.25
11.05
11.00

.75
.40
.45

1.75
1.50
1.30

Average
price.

$12.00-14.00
7. 50- 8. 50
7.00- 8.00
6. 25- 6. 35

1. 00- 1. 20
.70- .85
.80- .90

To gain an idea of the appreciation of the wood product, without reference to kind, size, and
quality, the following series of figures will serve:

Average price per 100 cubic feet of wood realized hij tin- I'runsidn Goreriimcnt for iln entire crop (about 300,000,000

cubic feet).
Year. Price.

1850 $3.27

1855 3.66

1860 3.69

1865 J-71

1870 1.35

1875 5.21

1880 4.47

1885 4.30

18U0 * '1-40

The highest price for any district was obtained in 1S88, being .'iiS.49, while the lowest was
$2.82. The lower prices in later years are explained by the large importations of wood, especially
from Hungary, Russia, and Sweden; for while our misinformed forestry friends point to (Germany
as the Eldorado of forestry and proclaim the proportion of forest area there maintained, namely,

218 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

about 25 per cent, as the ideal and necessary for self-support, and therefore to be maintained also
in this country, they overlook the lact that (iermany imports not less than 6()(t,(lOO,()00 wortli of
wood and wood manufactures, mostly of the sauie kind as grown or iiianutactured m that country.
This rejtresents about 10 per cent of the total consumption of Germany, while the importations
of the United States, which imports from Canada only comjieting classes of forest products,
represent not more than 1 per cent of our probable consumption.

The exports of forest products from Germany, on the other hand, are, to be sure, nearly 50
per cent of her imports, but they represent mostly manufactures, while in the United State's the
reverse is the case; that is to say, the United States exports twice as much as it imi)orts, and that
mostly raw material, namely, twice as umch in value of raw material as of manufactures.

The countries from which Germany imports raw or partly manufactured wood are mainly
Russia, Austria Hungary, and Sweden, which furnish nearly live sixths of the total importation,
while Ilollaiid, England, Denmark, Uelgium, France, aiul Switzerland draw about $14,000,000
worth of raw material from Germany. (See tables further on.)

To protect the forest owners of Germany, a tariff on importations was imposed in 1885 and
increased later. Of the effects of this last measure a government rcjxjpt says that as a tinanciai
measure these taritts have had excellent success, for the revenue from these duties increased from
.■?ti46,000 iu 1880 to $1,732,000 in ISS(>. But for the forest owner the hoped-for results did not
become apparent; the Austro-Hungarian railroads and shipping interests lowered their rates so as
to largely equalize the duty charges. The duties on unmanntactured materials being very low, the
lack of results in the market of these is still more noticeable. Yet a salutary eft'ect is stated to
be a prevention of still lower ])rices, and because otherwise there would have been a lack of useful
occupation for labor finding remunerative emjiloyment in the manulacture of the raw material,
which, without the increase in duties, would have been imported in manufactured condition.

PRICE OF MANUFACTURED LUMBER.

The following samples of schedules for manufacture<l lumber, always delivered at the railroad
station, may serve to give an idea to our lumbermen how nearly prices compare with those
prevalent in our country. We choose those of eastern provinces, which are iu shariiest comiietition
with liussian and Hungarian imports:

rroriiice of Posen.
Timber (7-8.5 inch 8<iuare):

Fixe per cubic foot.. $0.20 to $0. L'l'

Spruce do.... .16

Pine (.Scotch):

I'l.-iiilv (2-4 inch), 3 cl.issos per 1,000 feet H. M.. 27.00 38.00

Pl.'iiik (l.i-li inch), 3 classes do 26. Of) 31.00

Flooring (1-inch), 3 classes do. .. 17.00 22.00

Flooring (11-inch), 3 classes do 20.00 2(i. 00

Spruce, rough boards, not edged (4-5 inch) do 12. 00

Spruce (li-inch), edged, 12-18 feet do 20.00 22.00

Delivered at Berlin.

Oak (clear), 82 cents per cubic foot, or $68 per 1,000 feet B. M.

Elm, 78 cents per cubic foot.

Railroad ties — pine, 45 cents; oak, 90-95 cents.

It will be seen that prices for some grades are as high as and higher than in New York. The
manager is expected to secure at least the government rate, and has discretion in conducting the
sales to the best advantage of the government. Under certain circum.stances sales by contract
without auctioneering, and, lately, selling on the stump, are permitted.

The transi)ortatioii from the woods, as stated before, is usually left to the buyer; rarely does
the administration float the timber or (;ord wood out, or carry it to a depot or wood yard to be sold
from there, or engage in milling or other operations. On the other hand, it has been recognized
during the last twenty-flv^ years that good roads and other ready means of transportation increase
the price of the wood disproportionately. A good road system is, therefore, considered the most
necessary equii)meut of the administration, and an extension of permanent and movable logging
railroads is one of the directions of modern improvement. The interesting, important, and
practical features to us in the logging railroads are their movable character, being divided into

KOADS IN GERMAN FORESTS.

219

sets of pairs of short (2 to 5 yard) rails (12 to 16 pounds per yard) attached to from two to four
cross-ties, wood or metal, the light sets weighing 75 to 100 pounds (heavy sets up to l(i(5 pounds),
so that one workman can readily carry them; the ready connection of sets, one hooking at once
into the other without separate mechanism, forming a sufficiently satisfactory Joint; the simple
"climbing switch," which is applied on top of the track, permitting ready transfer from side track
to main track and ready relocation. These roads can be readily laid down without much or any
substructure and readily relocated. The cost is shown in the following statement:

Tor a fully e(|ui]ipe(l road, 24 to 28 inches width, 6 miles length, for rails and ties $it, 000

For earthwork, if any, and laying 50 to 500

For rollinj; stock and apparatus 2, 500

12, 000
Or $2,000 per mile, at the highest.

Upon a basis of 800,000 cubic feet (about 7,000,000 feet B. M.) to be transported, it is calculated
that the cost of transportation by railroad, stone road, and dirt road will be about as 1:2; (J, the
cost on the first being about 3 cents per 1,000 feet B. M. per mile as against 18 cents on dirt roads.

Comparing the cost of construction it is stated that the ratio between corduroy, gravel road
(13 feet wide), macadam, and movable track is as 1 : 1.25 : 2.35 : 1.17, placing the last among the
cheapest.

A most instructive exhibit at the World's Fair, in many ways, especially at the present time,
since the movement for better roads in this country has begun, was the model of the city forest of
Goslar, a small town (13,300 inhabitants) in the Harz JMountains, whose citizens, from this piece
of property, a spruce forest of 7,308 acres extent, derive not only their jmre drinking water,
healthful enjoyment in hunting, and refreshing coolness in summer, but also a net income,
amounting in round nntiibers to -$25,000 (.'$.'5.40 per acre), toward payment of city taxes. This
is the result of careful management, which permits an annual cut of 350,000 cubic feet of wood.
Of this only 50,000 cubic feet goes into firewood, and 40 per cent, or 100,000 cubic feet, is saw
timber, which sells at 10 to 10 cents per cubic foot; while smaller dimensions, poles, etc., sell all
the way down to below 1 cents, and firewood at 81.00 for brush to .'S4..30 for split; or round wood
per cord. Until 1875 the district was without proper roads. By an eftbrt of the competent
manager the city fathers were persuaded to locate and build a rational system of roads on which
altogether, until 1891, there was spent for building and maintenance about $25,000. The greatest
interest attac^hes to the statistics carefully gathered by the district manager, Mr. Reuss, since it
is always difficult to determine the money value of such an expenditure in dollars and cents.

The proper location of the roads is the most important feature. The roads are ranked
according to their importance; the width and manner of finish depend on their rank. Main roads
are macadamized ; roads of third rank, which are used for occasional hauling of wood, are dirt roads.

These statistics were exhibited in a neat table, as follows:

STATISTICS OF ROAD SYSTEM IN FORE.ST DISTRICT OF CITY OF GOSLAR (hARZ MOUNTAINS, GERMANY).

Properly located, graded, and built roads reduce cost of logging and hauling, and advance the price for wood.
Area, 7,3I)X acres spruce forest; annual cut, 350,000 cuhic feet; road building begun in 1875; total mileage of
improved roads in 1891, 141 miles; cost of road system and maintenance until 1891, $25,000.

Cost of loijijing reduced hij good logging roads.
[Daily wages remaining constant at 60 cents ]

Tear,

Length of

ivell-lmilt

logging

roads.

Cost of

logging per

lou cubic

feet.

1877

Milet.
7.5
12
27
37
46
50
52
54

$1.93
1.61 1
1.54
1.45
1.15
1.23
1.15
1.23

1878 .. .

1879

1880 .

1881

1882

1883 , ,

1884

Saving per 100 cubic feet *0. 70

Saving on annual coat of 350,000 cubic feet 2, 450 00

220

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Cost of liuulatif rtdiiced h\j ijood wagon roads.
[Price per lo»il remainins ouiistaiit at $3.60. Full load, before improvement, 85-100 cubic feet; after imiinivenuint, 175-250 cubic feet.)

Teai

1871-1877, before road improvenienta .

1878-1884

1885-1891

Cost of

haulage

per 100

cubic feet.

$1.52
.98
.80

Savin}: per 100 cubic feet $0.72.0 1

Savinj; on annual cut of 350,000 cubic feel 2,520.00

Price of iniod iiiftiienced 1nj road imiiroreminis.
[Coiuparisoii of prices paid at (loslar ami at ntlier liar'/, districts.]

Tear.

Length of

improved

wagon

roads.

Prices for wood per 100 cubic foet.

At Cioslar.

At otiicr
Harz dis-
tricts.

Didcrenrc

in fa\'<)r of

Goslar.

1877

iirt{«<.
23
34
42
55
64
08
71

78
79
81
82
83
85
87

$8.25
8.6.3
9.59
9 79
9.05
8.45
8.65
10, 17
8. 8H
9.59
11.12
11.12
11.39
11.72
13.13

$8.18
8.04
8.44
8.44
7.78
7.43

7. 03

8. 18
8.24
9.39
9.71
9.98

10.58
10.92
11.80

$0.07

.01

1.15

1.35

l.l'T

1.02

1,02

1 99

.ti4

.20

1.41

1.14

.81

.82

1.33

1878

1879

1880

1881

1K82

1883

1881

18S5

18S0

1887. ...

1888

188'l

1890

1891

9.91 8 98

.93

Increase in ]»rice on total cut of 350,000 cubic feet _ $3, 25.'i

Total profit, from improved ro.id system in reduced cost of logging and liauling, and in advance of price received for wood, per annum. 8, 225

Or nearly 33 per cent on investment.

Savint/ flieir cost in two iftars.

Cost of ro.id, iii:i(:nliimi/C(l in 18S,5, $(;,!l(il>; ni.aintonance for one year, $IKO; total, $7,440. Diiriiif; 1,S8.'')-S(! liaiiliiif;
470,000 onliic feet riMniiriiiij on old loail 4.273 loa<l,'4 of 110 cubic feet aveia'4:<', at $3, GO, $15,282.80 (or $3.70 per l,Oli(l
feet I!. M.); mi improveil road, 2,i;,">2 loads of 177 iiiliic feet average, at $;'..tiO, $9,r)47.20 (or $1.70 per l,0(l01_,t IS. M.),
saviug of $1 for every 1,000 feet B. 11. Total saving in haulage, $5,733.00, or 77 per cent on cost of toad in one year.

YIELD PER ACRE.

Tlif amount of timber cut per acre is very large, a.s compared with average yields in wild woods.
Of late the average yield has varied from about r),,500 cubic feet per acre in Prussia to 9,<I00 cubic
feet for the Saxon State forests. The yield has been steadily increasing since the beginning of
this century, anil in most States it has been nearly doubled through better inanagement. At that
earlier time much land was badly stocked or devoid of any cover, much timber was injured and
stunted by contimial removal of the litter and consequent impoverishment of the soil, and in most
forests the young tim)>er occujucmI much more than its share of ground, and thus less timber grew.
In every one of the States and districts these conditions have been changed materially for the
better, the cut was inc'reased from year to year, the wood capital or standing timber grew in total
amount, and the iirodiictive capacity of the forest soils has generally improved. The cut for any
given province or State is generally given as so much per acre of total area. Thus the cut for
Saxony is placed at 90 cubic feet per acre of total forest area, though, of course, the yield of those
tracts actually cut was about 0,000 cubic feet per acre cut. In the following table the figures
relating to the State forests are from recent ollit-ial records, also those of the corporation forests
of Baden, Alsace-Lorraine, 15avaria, and i>arts of Wnrttemberg, while the figures for private
forests and most of the corporation forests are estimates based on the experience of former years
and of only part of the provinces.

YIELD OF GERMAN FORESTS.

221

YearUj cut per acre in thv State and other forents of Germani/ {in jniUion ciihic feet.)

For the entire Empire ,

State forests of—

Prussia

Bavaria

Wurtlemberg

Saxony

liaden

Alsace-Lorraine

Hesse ,

Mecklenlmrg Sch werin

The entire Eni]Hre

Corpuration forests of tlie entire Empire a.
Private forests of the entire Em])ire h

Cut per acre <>f ibrested area.

Total (in- I
*=*"<''°g.lWoo(lover

Btump and
branch
wood
where
used).

55

54
72
81
1)0
74
57
75
61
63
56
50

3 iiiclicifi

(no atump

wood).

42
5.=>
67
68
59
46
52
50
43
41
30

Titnlier
:Lud bolt-
HJze mate-

rinl (not
liriwood).

19

24

36

54

24

22

16

11.6

22. 5

10.6

12

a Partly from nflBcial records, part estimate-

b Generally estimated, as no accurate data are available for any entire State.

Using the above basis, tlie total animal cut of the country (in million cubic feet) is about as
follows :

state.

Entire Empire 1,910

Total
cut.

In the forests belonging te-

states. Co'-pora- Individ-
^ «"^^ tions. uals.

710

Prussia i 1.054

Bavaria.

Wurtteraberg

Saxony

Baden

Alsace-Lorraine

Hesse

Meclilenburg-Schweriu .

354.5
89. S
67.3
85.9
65.3
34.8
30.7

331

153
38

37-5
16.6
21.3
12.7
15

370

178
44.5
25

3.3
47
33
12.1

4.7

830

545

157
26.5
26.5
22.3
11
lU
11

CONSUMPTION OF WOOD MATERIALS.

Thus Germany has a steady and increasing supply of over 1,900 million cubic feet of timber
per year (about one-tenth of our consumption) from the lands which in most other countries reniaiu
barren wastes. Of these 1,900,000,000 there are near fiOO,000,000 cubic feet of saw timber and the
like, tlie rest being cord wood and mostly firewood. From this it would appear that Germany
produces about 40 cubic feet of wood per bead of poimlation, and that of this about 12 cubic feet
are saw timber, etc., as against 350 and 50 cubic feel, for our consumption. But in spite of the
great economy of wood this amount of home-raised material does not satisfy the demand of the
home markets, and Germany with its 1,900,000,000 cubic feet is to-day the second greatest importer
of wood, particularly of saw timber, in the world.

The impoit in this case means the excess of import over export, since naturally in all countries
an e.\port of some timber takes place.

Conaumption of wood (million cubic feet).

Country.

Total.

Produced
at home,

Germany
England
France - .

2,090

591

1,175

1.910

140
1,075

Imported.

180
451
100

Log limber, etc-

Produced

at home.

570

42

200

Imported

180
451
100

Per cent
imported.

Relative
impor-
tance as
import-
ers.

40
100
22

222

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AtiKKULTURE.

IVt bead of iiopiilatioii, ami couipaiiiig with tlie cousuiuptiou in the Uuited States, this
becomes :

ConDiimplion of irood per capita of population {cubic feet).

Country.

Grrmany

Euglaiiu

Francij ,

Uuitod States

'"-■ i'rsss: H

44

40.5

15

3.6

32

30

350

349.7

3.8
11.5
2
0.3

Relative
Lo^ tim- ' "wood coii-
bor. smuptiou
per head.

15
13
8.3
a 50

Fer cent.
12.7
4.3
9
100

a This refers to lumber or suwe<l material alone.

Since the cnnsnniption by sawmills of large timber, i)artifiil;irly coniferous material, is still
increasing, it is clear that Germany has not nearly as much forest land as it needs, or else must
still improve greatly its methods of production. At preseut 2C per cent of its saw timber, etc.,
is iniiiorteil.

The following figures give an idea of the extent and distribution of the German trade in
woods and wood manufactures :

Germany's trade in wood and wood maniifactiirts, 1892.

Countrv.

United States

Kiissia

Austria-Uungary —

Swedun

France ,

England

Holland

Korway

Belgium

Denmark ,

H.imburg

Switzerland

Ea.st India

Spain

Ar<;en tina

Brazil

Porto Kieo and Cuba

Total

Imports.

o$2,

cI6,

d5.

1,

1,

el,

/I.

U

h

418, 000
908. 000
363. 000
222. Olio
796, OUO

13, 000
822, 000
849, 000
730, 000

56,000
124, 000
220, 000
114, 00"
302, 000
359,000

68,000
352, 000

I

60, 016, 000

Esporta.

$1, 504, GOO
741. 000

1, 946, OOO
305. 000

3, 405, 000
13. 449. 000

2, 546, 000
176, 000

1, 469. 000
967, 000
1,551,000
1,822,000
174, 000
354, 000
129. 000
384, 000

30, 922, 000

a Lumber.
b Pine lojis.

cOak. etc., logs.
d Sawed lumber.

e Largely rattan.
/Nearly all cork.

ft Largely quebracho.
h Mahogany, etc.

The prices paid by Germany have so far been very reasonable. Thus her imported lumber
cost in 1892 only .§18.30 per thousand feet; firewood only SG.50 per cord; tine he>vn timber
(mostly hard pine in long pieces) .$30 per thousand feet, etc.

With the enormous resources in European Russia and Sweden, part of which are not even
organized as yet, there is no apprehension of rapid advances in prices and no likelihood of
scarcity of supply.

FINANCIAL RESULTS OF FOREST MANAGEMENT.

Concerning the financial results of forest management only the records of the State forests
are accessible. It is clear that the income depends on the amount of timber cut and the prices
obtained. If, therefore, the yearly cut has been increased, in some cases doubled, by good man-
agement since the beginning of this century, the income naturally is doubled. To this increase in
amount of salable material there was added a general advance in prices, partly due to the
depreciation of money in general, but vastly increa.sed by the improvements in transportation, for
which large sums have been expended, especially during the last fifty years.

The financial results of the various Government forest administrations vary considerably, as
is natural, since market conditions vary much. It is believed that all these administrations are
less profitable than they might be, being managed with great conservatism, and less for greatest
financial re.sult than for desirable economic results.

The following table exhibits in a brief manner the results of this kind of management, the
figures referring to conditions in 1890 or thereabout. The record for the city of Zurich is added

FINANCIAL RESULTS OF GERJIAN FORESTS.

223

to show how im intensively inauaged small forest property under favorable conditions of market
compares with the more extensively managed larger forest areas:

Forestrji statiaiicK of certain German forest adminhtratioiifi, showing areraye cost of adminislralion, gross and net income

per acre, 1S90.

States.

Pnissi.i

Bavaria

WurttfiubtTg .

Saxony

Baden

City of Zurich -

Forest
area.

Acres,

6. 000, 000

2, 300, 000

470, 000

416, UOO

235. 000

2,760

Total ex-
penditure.

$8. 000, 000 %U. 000, 000

3, 150, 000

1, 025, 000

1, 040, 000

404, 000

14, 000

5, 880, OUO
2, 260. 000
2, 750, 000
1, 090, 000
26, 000

Net.

$6, 000, 000

2, 730, 000

1, 235, 000

1, 710, .500

086, 000

12, 000

Expenditures and revenues per acre of forest.

Expenditures.

%\. 33
1.37
2.17
2.50
1.54
5.00

•^ a

go

.gg,

<J 01

$0.48
.64

.87

.m

.32
1.14

M

a

$0.14
.11
.22
.11
.15
.16

$0.06
.11
.33
.21
.12
1.14

$0.96
1.19
2.63
4.11
2.90
4.40

The latest figures (1897) show a considerable increase in all directions, expenditures, gross,
and net iucoiue, over those prevailiug ten years ago, and, as we will see further on iu the discussion
of the conditions in the single States, these increases have been steady for a long period.

The following figures represent the income and expense for State forests of the entire Empire
and for the principal States as at present :

Financial results, 1S07.
[Million dollars.]

State forests.

Germany^

Prussia

Bavaria

Wurtteraberg

Saxony

Baden

Alsace-Lorraine

Hesse

Mccklenburg-Schwerin .

Gross
income.

Total
expenses.

39, 361

17,445

8.100

3, 019

2,865

1,337

1,522

840

609

18, 833

9,079

3.881

1,224

1,032

618

752

405

356

Net
revenue.

20, 528

8,366

4,219

1,795

1, 8.13

719

770

435

253

rtTbis item is a trilie below the truth, as the small principalities arc hero assumed to have no larger income than the average ot the
larger States.

From this statement it appears that Germany has a yearly gross income of nearly $40,000,000
from its State forests, i. e., from one-thiid of its total forest area alone, while the value of its forest
products from the entire forest area (35,000,000 acres) may be estimated to sum up the handsome
total of over •'$107,000,000, or rouud $3 gross income for every acre under forest cover.

The following table illustrates the results of forest management in the several States. For
comparison the figures represent the yearly income and outlay per acre of total forest area, so that
for instance the gross income of $3.47 per acre for (iermany means that the German State forests
yield each year about that sum for every acre of State forest, or $39,300,000 on the whole.

Yearly income and expenses per acre of forested area.

state forests. '

Cut of

wood per

acre.

Culnc/eet.
62

04
72
81
911
73

75
61

Gross
income.

$3.47
2.66
3.71
6.50
6. ilO
5.82
4.24
4.95
2.52

Expenses.

Net
revenue.

Total.

As a per

cent of

gross

income.

$1. 66
1.38
1.78
2.64
2.36
2.69
2.09
2.37
1.47

48

52

48

4U.5

34

46.2

49.4

48

58

$1.81
1.28
1.93
3.86
4.54
3.13
2.12
2.58
1.05

Hesse

MHC.kleTilirirw.fieltwer'n

a This figure represents the average for 90 per cent of all State forests, and would bo little changed if data for the other 10 per
cent were accessible.

224

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

From these figures it appears that the several governments expend on an average about
$1.GG per acre per year on their forest property, and that they obtain thereby a gross iucoine of
^oAl per acre and a net rovi'nue of $1.81, or 52 per coiit of the gross income per acre jier year.
Considering the •■^1.81 as the interest on the value of tlie forest lands, and using the 15 jjcr cent
interest rate as customary for large investments, these ligures show that by projier inanagement
the German States keei) their poorest lands at a cajiital value of over $60 per acre; in otiier
words, that the (Jermaii State forests pay $l!l,0()0,00(i for labor and taxes, and in addition pay
interest at 3 per cent on a capital of *(>(» per acre. A large part of this land if (lelbrestc<l would
not support a farmer and would rapidly degenerate into mountain pasture and heath, which at
best could not be sold at over $5 per acre, and even then would jirove more a detriment than
advantage to the community. It also appears from thi? above figures that the revenue is largely
in proportion to the expenses, that the forest which is best cared for also pays the best. The
same conclusion is reached by a study of the past. In 1850, when the total expenses per acre in
the Prussian forests were only o7 cents, the net income was only 40 cents; today it is )5!1.;!S and
the net income $1.1.'S, and the same holds for other States. Thus Saxony expended 80 cents
an acre per year in the beginning of this century and received 95 cents net income; today she
spends s2.30 and receives $4.54, or nearly fivefold. That these advances are not merely the
exi)ression of higher prices for wood is clear from the fact that the average price of wood for the
Prussian cut (o()0,()0(),0(K> cubic feet) has advanced since 1850 from $3.27 per 100 cubic feet to only
$4.40, or 37 per cent, while the net income rose from 40 cents to $1.28, or 17G per cent.

Since so much has been argued as to the impossibilities and impracticability of emjiloying
these better forestry methods elsewhere, and especially since the idea of sowing or planting forests
has at all times been ridiculed in the United States, it may beof interest to note just how Germany
expends her money in the woods.

The following figures present the various large items as per cent of the gross income. Thus
the total expenses in the Prussian forest use up 50 per cent of the gross income, the logging alone
14.8 per cent, etc.

The expenses represented the following proportions of the total income in per cent:

state forBSt of-

Total ex-
penses.

Adniiiiis-

t ration and

protection

(mostly

salaries).

Cuttingan(i

moving the

timber.

I'lanting,

sowing,

drainage

work, wood

roads, etc.

Per cent.
52-
48
40.5
34

46.2
49.4
48
47

Per cent.
21
24

12
12
fl.4
17
19
17

Per cent.
14.8
20
14.6
14.5
17.7
15.2
21
17.5

Per cent.

7.5
6.6
8.6
0.4
10.4
8.4
9.7
9.2

S,TXOIlV

Heaae

The above figures are doubly interesting, since they show that in Saxony, the very State where
the timber is usually cut clean and the land restocked entirely by planting it with nursery stock,
the item of planting, etc., uses up the smallest per cent of the total income — 0.4 per cent.

From this brief outline it will be apparent that forestry in its modern sen.se is not a new,
untried experiment in Germany; that the accurate oflicial records of several States for the last
one hundred years prove conclusively that wherever a systematic, continuous efibrt has been made,
as in the ca.se of all State forests, whether of large or small territories, the enterprise was successful ;
that it proved of great advantage to the country, furnished a handsome revenue where otherwise
no returns could be expected, led to the establishment of peniianent woodworking industries, and
thus gave opportunity for labor and capital to be active, not spasmodically, not speculative, but
continuous and with assurance of success. This rule has, fortunately, not a single exception. To
be sure, isolated tracts away from railroad or water, sand dunes, and rocky promontories exist in
every State, and the management of these poor forest areas costs all the tract can bring and often
more; but the wood is needed, the dune or waste is a nuisance, and the State has found it profit-
able to convert it into forest, even though the direct revenue falls short of the expense.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — PRUSSIA. 225

FOREST ADMINISTRATION.

The care tiud active legislative consideration of the forest wealth dates back fully three cen-
turies. The so called "Forstordiiuugen" (forest ordinances) of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries laid the foundation lor the present system, and iu some States, like Wartteinberg, were
uever repealed, but merely modified to adapt them to modern views of political economy. The
end of the seventeenth century brought much discussion into the subject of forest legislation, as
in all other public aft'airs, and even conservative Germany was led beyond the point of equilibrium,
and in most States the State supervision, especially of private forests, was abandoned. This led
to the division and parceling of forest properties, and with the diminutive holding came misman-
agement and to considerable extent the complete devastation. This condition never affected any
of the State forests nor the majority of corporation forests, so that these properties continued on
their way to improvement. The wretched condition of many of the private forests is deplored,
exposed, discussed, but so far those States which gave the ])rivate forest free have been unable to
do more than to teach by example and to encourage, both means entirely ineffective when, as is
usually the case, the owner is too poor to handle a forest. What remains to be done is being done
as fast as means and opportunity offer. The State buys these half wastes, restocks them at great
expense, and thus public money pays for public folly.

To provide for a suitable and efficient forest service Germany has expended large sums in
promoting forestry education. At nine separate colleges men are prepared for this work, and the
forest manager ("Oberfoerster," "Eevierfoerster") in any of the State forests is a college-bred
man with a general education about equivalent and similar to that leading to a degree of bachelor
of science iu our better universities. The organization in all German States is similar — a central
office at the seat of government, manned by experienced foresters, acts as advisor to the govern-
ment, shapes the forest policy of the State, introduces all large measures of reform, etc., and acts
as court of appeal in important forest cases. In each province, if the State is large (if not, the
central office acts), a provincial forest office sees after the work of the province. This office
cooperates with the forest managers in preparing plans for every piece of forest laud, iu deter-
mining the cut of the year, and it also examines the work as well as the records of every district,
and acts as tribunal for the province in forest matters. But tiie real managers of the forests are
the "Oberfoerster" or " lievierfoerster," each of whom has on an average about 10,000 acres of
forest land for which he acts as responsible director. He lives in the forest, keeps himself
informed as to all details, plans for every piece of ground (his plans must be approved by his
superiors), and executes all plans. He determines where and when to cut, to plant, to build roads,
and it is he who sells the forest products. In all cases he has a number of assistants and guards
who act as police, and at the same time as foremen to the laborers, directing their work and
keeping their time, or measuring their cut or work. The district which the Oberfoerster manages
forms the unit in all records and transactions. All forest officials of any responsibility are
employed for life or good behavior, their requirements, duties and rights, rates of pay, pension,
etc., are all clearly set forth iu the forest laws of every State.

In the lollowing pages the conditions and results of forest management in the leading States
are fully set forth, based upon the latest official data available.

Forest Management of Leading States.

PRUSSIA.

The Kingdom of Trussia, with its 30,000,000 people and an area of nearly 90,000,000 acres of
land, representing all natural conditions from the low coast plain to the i)recipitous mountain
system, with its busy centers of manufacture and commerce and its distant rural provinces,
stands out today as the strongest example of the great benefits of scientific forestry.

The forests of Prussia cover 8,192,505 hectares (about 20,300,000 acres), or 23.5 per cent of the
total area. This proportion of foiest varies for different parts of the Kingdom from IG per cent to
39 per cent; it is below the average of 23 per cent in seven provinces, of which only Schleswig-
Holsteiu falls below 16 per cent, and is above the average iu six provinces, some of whicli, like
Brandenburg, belong to the densely populated portions of the Kingdom. The area relations
H. Doc. 181 15

226 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. .S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Lave remaiueil practically constant for about thirty years, there beiug theu as now iu forest
20,000,000 acres; cultivated 42,000,000 acres, or about twice as much cultivated laud as forest.

Of the forest area, 8 per ceut belongs to the crowu, 30 to the state, 12.5 to villages or
municipalities, 1 to Stiftuugeu (Fouds), 2.7 to corporations, and 52.1) to private owners. This
ownership relation has changed a tritlc during the last twenty years, the state and municipal
forests having gained a little over 1 per cent at the expense of the private and corporation Ibrests.

Situated between latitude 40^ to 55^ N. aud longitude 23^ to 40° E. and occupying portions of
the extensive coast plain along Ikvltic aud North seas, as well as covering parts of nine separate
mountain chains, the forests of I'lnssia naturally display considerable variety. Of the total
20,000,000 acres, about half falls to the plain, one-fourth to the hilly, and one-fourth to the regular
mountain districts. The climate is moderately cold ; the mean or average temperature for summer
is about tJO- to Go^ F., varying but little for the dilierent parts of the Kingdom, and being (luite
uniform for all three summer months. Spring and fall, the latter a trifle warmer aud more even
than the former, have a mean temperature of about 45" F., while that of the winter months is
generally near the freezing poiut, the coldest weather for any one place and month beiug rarely
below 25° F,

Prussia is a moderately humid country. The records from thirty to seventy years indicate an
even distribution of precipitation, varying generally between 22 aud 28 inches, reaching a height
of over 32 inches, and only 3 out of about 40 stations. With regard to the manner of management,
the kind of timber raised, aud the financial results of the work, the State forests, for which alone
exact statistics exist, may serve us examples, though the results are somewhat better iu these
than iu the forests of municipalities and private owners.

The total area of State forest in 1893 was 2,404,757 hectares, or about 0,750,000 acres. This
total area has i-emained almost unchanged for over thirty years. During this time many large
and small tracts have been sold or exchanged to round off the State holdings and to satisfy
l)rivate rights, many of which had become extremely troublesome and proven a great hindrance
in the proper management of the woods. These sales and exchanges were fully balanced by
purchases, especiallj' of jioor, unproductive private forests and heath lands, for whi<;h purpose
of late the State appropriates annually the large sum of 1,000,000 marks ($250,000), the jjolicy of
increasing the State holdings having been steadily pursued for more than fifty years. About two-
thirds of the State forests are situated in the North German plain, though some occur ju every
province of the Kingdom.

Of these State forests 97 i)er cent are regular timber forest, mostly pine aud spruce, where
the final crop is intended to furnish saw timber, and every particular parcel is supposed to be
stocked with trees of nearly the same age. Only one-half of 1 per cent is managed as "Plenter-
wald" with the method of selection where trees of all sizes and age mingle together ou the same
parcel and the logging merely involves the selection of suitable sizes. One-half of 1 per ceut is
standard coppice, where the bulk of the trees, commonly hard woods, are cut oft' while still small,
15 to 30 years old, while a small portion is left over to grow into larger sizes; aud 1.7 per cent is
managed as coppice, largely oak coppice for taubark, where the trees (ouly the sprouting hard
woods) are cut down every ten to twenty-five years, the wood being utilized chiefly as poles and
fiiel. Of the timber forests, 02 per cent is stocked with pine, almost eutirely Scotch pine (Pinus
sylvcstfin), furnishing hard pine similar to our red or Norway pine, IG per cent is beecli, 12 per cent
spruce, and nearly 6 per cent oak forest. Thus about 75 per cent of all Prussian State forests are
coniferous woods aud ouly about 25 per cent stocked with hard woods, principally oak and beech.

In general the trees of the timber forests are cut at au age of about 100 years (a 100-year
rotation). At present 13 per cent of the area is stocked with trees over 100 years old; 13 per
ceut, 81 to 100 years old; 14 per cent, Gl to 80 years old; 18 per ceut, 41 to 00 years old; 19 per
cent, 21 to 40 years old ; 19 per cent, 1 to 20 years old, and about 4 per cent are cut clean (recent
fellings) to be reforested at once.

SAXONY.

If Prussia may be regardetl the best example of the success of rational forestry in a large
country, and Wurttemberg can be cited as proving the great value of a very conservative, almost
paternal, attitude of the State with regard to its forests, surely Saxony deserves the credit of
leading all other countries iu the intensity of its forest management.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT SAXONY.

227

The total area of the State is 3,700,000 acres, and its population 3,182,000, and its total forest
area about 1,020,000 acres, or 27 per cent. Of this forest area, 173,889 hectares, or nearly 430,000
acres, equal to about 43 per cent of all forests of the couutrj', belong to the State. The accurate
records for these State forests have been kept for more than eighty years, and fully illustrate the
developuieut and growth of forestry in the Kingdom. The bulk of the forests are mountain forest;
91 per cent in conifers, mostly spruce, and only 9 per cent in hard woods, most of which is beech;
while only about 4 per cent is nonproductive rock and water area.

As early as 1704 the State of Saxony began the improvement of the then rather dilapidated
forest ijroperties. The real systematic work of forest survey and management, however, did not
begin until Heinrich Gotta (often called the father of modern forestry) began his noteworthy
ettbrts in 1811. Though the Government never appropriated special funds for the increase of its
forest holdings, the money which accrued from the sales of other State lands, as well as roadways,
building sites, etc., sufficed to increase the area during the past eighty years by fully 16 per cent,
the growth being a slow, steady one, fully illustrating the policy of the Government.

Thus the growth was: 1836 to 1846, 5,000 acres; 1846 to 1853, 5,000 acres; 1853 to 1803, 5,000
acres; 1863 to 1873, 17,200 acres; 1873 to 1883, 17,200 acres; 1883 to 1893, 12,500 acres.

As in all German States, nearly every piece of State forest was burdened by rights of private
persons aiul corporations, for which Saxony has paid, almost entirely in cash, the handsome price
of $1,300,000.

During the last sixty years the area stocked with conifers has steadily grown from about
310,000 to over 385,000 acres, and the area of beech and other hard woods except oak has been
proportionately diminished, the hard woods all told covering at present only about 14,000 acres, or
a little over 3 per cent of the forest area. The condition of the forests, though, of course, very
good at the start, if compared to ordinary wild woods, has steadily improved since 1817, in spite
of the fact that each decade a larger amount of wood was cut.

The following tigures serve to illustrate this important fact and at the same time show that
there has not only been a steady increase in the total amount of wood standing and the amount
cut, but that the larger sizes form to-day a much greater per cent than formerly:

Years.

1817-1826
1827-1836
1837-1846
1847-1833
1854-1863
1864-1873
1874-1883
1884-1833

Total
amount of
wood cut
each year
(average
for eacll
decade).

M. cub. ft.
21, 400
21, 800
20, 400
23, ,100
26, 000
31, 600

36, 600

37, 400

Per acre of forested area.

Amount cut.

Total.

Cttbic/eet.
60
61
56
64
70
82
90

Wood over

3 inches

thick (cord

wood and

timber) .

Cubic/eet.
40
39
36

44
48
60

Timber

(not cord

wood).

Cubic/eet.
7
10
11
14
23
37
47
54

Amount

standing
per acre on
total area.

Cubic/eet.

2,120
2,280
2,480
2,650
2,620

From these iigures it appears that the cut on the whole has increased from 21,000,000 cubic
feet to 37,000,000, or by fully 57 per cent, and the cut per acre and year of total forest area from 60
cubic feet to 90 cubic feet, or exactly 50 per cent. Moreover, of the 90 cubic feet per acre in 1893
there were 68 cubic feet, or 75 per cent, wood over 3 inches (excluding stump wood), while from 1817
to 1820 only 66 per cent was over 3-inch stuff. But what indicates even more strongly the eftect
of better management is the fact that more than half of the cut of 1893 was sold, not as cord wood,
but as timber (saw timber, etc.), while even as late as 1865 only a fourth could thus be utilized,
though the manner of selection (inspection) has changed but little since that time. That with all
this intense utilization of the forest the standing timber should increase instead of becoming
exhausted is perhaps tlie strongest example of the success of scientific forestry and one which in
this country would scarcely be believed possible by most of the lumbermen and woodsmen.

Practically, all State forests are timber forests and the prevalent method of treatment has for
a long time been the " kahlschlag " method of cutting, where all trees are cut at the harvest and
the bare area is at once planted with nursery stock. The expenses for cultural work all told,

228

KOUESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEI'AUTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

iucludiiijj maiiitonauco of imrsoiies, seed and ithint jiurebases, as well as plautinj;-, amount to only
12 cents ail acre jier year, or l.S jier cent of the gross income, while for the last twenty years more
than twice this .sum lias been expended for coustruetion and imi)iovemeut of roads, the great
value of which are nowhere more fully recognized than in busy isaxony.
The financial results are exhibited in the following table:

General financial yeaults in the Staic forests of Saxony.

Years.

1817-1826.
1827-1836.
1837-1846.
1847-l«.'i3.
1854-1803.
1804-1873.
1874-1883
1884-1893.

Anutinl
iucoiiiu
(gross).

$649. 000
692, 000
761,000
970. 000

1, 3li8. 000
1,980,000

2, 624, 000
2, 890, 000

Anutml
L'xpuuse.

$297, 000
321, 000
342, 000
388. 000
443. 000
503, 000
87.">, 000
996, 100

Auniiul

net in-
come.

$3.^)2, 000
371,000
419.1100
58K. 000

fl'jr>. 000

1,421,000
1,749,000
1,894,000

Per acre ami year of total forest
ari'a.

Tncoine
(gross).

$1.75
1.86
2 02
2.50
3.53
4.91
6.23
6.66

Expeuse.

$0.80
.80
.90
1.02
1.14
1.39
2.08
2.29

Net in-

$0.95
1.00
1.12
1.54
2.39
3. 52
4.15
4.37

The extraordinary results indicated in the above table can not entirely be credited to the
increase of wood prices and the general depreciation of money during this century; tliey are
juiniarily the monetary expression of the imiirovements indicated in the previous tables; they
mean increa.sed sales, and sales of older, larger, and better material.

When it is considered that Saxony has taken in about 819(),00(»,000 during the last fifty years
from a small area of rough lands (left waste in many countries, even in Europe), a tract of land
half the size of a good couuty in Wisconsin, the great advantage of a careful treatment of forest
areas mu.'-t become clear to everyone. Considering the net income as the interest of the value of
the forest lauds at the prevailing 3 per cent rate, the table shows that scientific care has increased
the value of these poor mountain lands from $100 to $150, whereas their deforestation would (juickly
convert them into poor alpine pastures which would bankrupt their owners at -"jflO an acre. The
table al.so shows clearly that it is not accident, not merely a general improvement of the country,
but that it is careful, systematic work which has led to these improvements. Wheu Saxony spent
only 81 on each acre of forest land she received only $1.5J: net income; when she spent $2.3!», her
net income was more than doubled, reaching during the ten years ending 1S!I3 .¥4.37.

The following figures illustrate the nature and relative importance of the expenses per acre
as compared with the income, as well as the prices obtained for the material:

Ducadi' eodiu^—

Price per

cubic loot

of wood

over 3

inclics.

Wood
cut.

Gross
iucome.

Total.

For ad-
nnnistra
tiou and

protfC-
tion.

Felling

and
moving
timber,

etc.

Planting

and other

cultural

work.

Koads.

18*>(j

Cent:
4.2
4.7
5.6
6.0
7.4
8.1
9.4
9.9

Oubic/eet.
60
61
50
64
70
82
90
90

$1.75
1.86
2.02
2.56
3.53
4.91
6.23
6.66

$0.80
86
90
1 02
1.14
1.39
2.08
2.29

Cents.

38
40
44
47
49
64
77
93

Cents.
30
31
31
37
45
62
92
95

Cents.

8
8
10
11
13
10
13
14

Cents.

2

5

4

5

6

11

24

26

1836

1853

1863

1873

1883

1893

From the above it appears that the prices of wood have doubled sint^e 1S17, but that during
the last tweuty-five years they have remained i)ractically constant. Part of this advance is due
to the general advance of prices, but part also to the imiiroveinent of the material sold. The
advance in the expenditure for administration since 1846 is due both to the advance in wages and
salaries generally (seen also in the advance of cutting exi)euses), but is also due to the greater
competence of the administration. Saxony, unlike Michigan and other States of this Unoiu,
prefers to spend the money in jnotecting its forest rather than saving the expense and losing the
property. Of special interest is also tlie fact that even in this iiiten.sive management, where
-almost every acre is reforested by planting with nursery stock, the cultural operations, including
drainage and kindred expenses have varied only within a few cents per acre, involving during

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT I'.AVARIA.

229

the last tliiity years generally less tban 2 per cent of the gross income. To many in this land of
forest fires it may perhaps be remarkable that this general enemy and its destructions have not
been of snfficicnt consequence to deserve compilation for this general statement. These mountain
forests of spruce and pine are simply not allowed to burn up.

The management of the forests of Saxony is similar to those of Prussia. While those of the
State are under conservative and most erticient care, those of private jiersons and corporations
are practically tree; the only thing the State authorities do is to give good example, assist i)rivate
individuals, etc., by furnishing cheap plant material from the forest nurseries and to prepare plans
for the management of forests if such plans are asked and paid for.

I5AVARIA.

The kingdom of Bavaria has a total area of abont 1S.8 million acres, or little more than half
that of the State of Wisconsin, suppoitiiig a population of about 5,.^89,000 peojile. It comprised
about 10,500,000 acres, or 5G per cent, of fields and gardens ; 7oO,000 acres, or 4 per cent, of pasture
lands; G, 3.'>(>, (100 acres, or ;54 per cent, of forest; 1,200,000 acres, or G per cent, of unproductive
land, largely mountains, roads, and water surfaces.

On the whole, this relation of areas has not changed materially in over thirty-five years, so
that in IS93 the total area of forest lands is given at about G, 200,000 acres, or at 3.").1 per cent of
the entire land surface.

Of these 0,200,000 acres there are : State forests, 2, 1GO,000 acres, or 34.8 per cent; corpora-
tion forests, 780,000 acres, or 12.G per cent; pond forests, 110,000 acres, or 1.7 per cent; private
forests, .1,150,000 acres, or 50.9 per cent.

Tiie forest laws and forest organization resemble those of Baden and Wurttemberg. The
private forests are under State supervision, clearing of forest lands requires a permit, the mis-
management or devastation of a forest property is forbidden, and devastated forest areas are to
be reforested by the State and the expense charged to the forest. All corporation and Fonds
forests are under direct control of or are managed uiuler control of the State forest authorities,
so that fully one-half the forest area of Bavaria is under careful treatment. As with all German
States, Bavaria constantly endeavors to increase the State holdings, and deterioiated and other
forest properties are bought up as opi)ortunity offers. During the fifty years ending 1894, the
State purchased abont 144,000 acres, at a cost of $5,577,000, or about $38 per acre. Besides this
increase of territory, the State has, during this same period, expended about $3,800,000 in the
purchase of easements or servitude, involving 10,71G separate cases of privileges to timber and
firewood. Nevertheless, there are still many of these privileges or servitudes, which require an
annual outlay of over $100,000 and thus represent a capital value of over $10,000,000.

The distribution of the forests over the kingdom is rather an even one. Six of the eight
provinces have over 30 per cent, the lowest 22 per cent of forest area, while the higliest .38 per
cent. Of the entire forests area about 90 per cent is covered by timber forest, where the timber
is cut usually at about 100 to 120 years, and only 9.4 per cent as coppice and standard coppice.

Forty years ago the same was stocked as follows:

I Coppice
Timber : and
forests, standard

j coppice.

Selection
timber
fores ta.

Stat© forests

Corporation forests .
Private forests

Per cent,
02
02

Per cent
5

35
12

Per cent.
3

True average for the wbole area.

78.5

12.7

8.4

The principal forest trees are the conifers, chiefly spruce. Of the total, about 4G.2 per cent is
spruce and fir, 30 per cent pine, 9.7 per cent beech, 4 per cent oak (two-thirds oak-bark coppice),
2.3 per cent other hard wood timber, G.8 per cent other hard-wood coppice.

Thus, coinfers represent about 77 per cent, the hard woods 23 per cent. The conifers are
primarily the trees of the mountains, the hard woods, beech particularly, being most abundant in

230 FORESTRY INA'ESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUI.UURE.

the valley of the Rliine. the Palatinate, and Lower Francouia, where the beech forests cover as
high as >sO jier cent of the forest area.

lu 18G0 the total cut for the kingdom was 275 million cubic feet of stem wood, .'15 million cubic
feet of branch wood, 3(i million cubic feet of stump wood, making a total of 340 million cubic feet,
and was divided as follows:

cut, ""™-

Stat© for(»st8

CoriK>ration forests
l*rivat« foi-o:*ts

Total

Ctibie/t.

39

58

14

46

4G.5

47

100

51

For the State forests alone the cut iu 1894 of wood over 3 inches, excluding branch and stump
wood, was 55 cubic feet per acre, and included saw and other timber, 55 million cubic feet; cord
wood (exclusive of branches and stumps). (i4 million cubic feet.

The financial results for the 2.16 million acres of State lorests were, in 1894: Total income,
)?S,10(>,000. or $3.71 per acre; total expense, $3,881,000, or 81.78 per acre: net income, .«4,219,000,
or $1.93 per acre.

Compared to otlier small States of Germany, particularly Saxony and Wurttemberg, the net
revenue per acre of forest is decidedly low; but it must not be forgotten that a considerable i)art
of these State forests is situated in the high Alps, where the difficulties of removing the timber
have so far been very great, and the value of timber consequently very small. Thus, fine timber
trees, worth $50 to $100 on the markets of the lower Rhine, are worth little over $1 apiece in these
Alpine districts.

As might be expected, the permanent improvements of the forests, particularly the construc-
tion of highways and roads, still reijiiire large sums every year. Thus, in 1894, Bavaria spent
over 1,000,000 marks ($250,000) on road construction.

The management of the forests is quite similar to that of the other German States. The
llevicrfiirster, corresponding to the Prussian ( )berfijrster, is the responsible manager of each
district. The districts are quite large; they include usually about 5,000 acres of State forest, so
that one Eevierfcirster is usually 6 to 10 miles from his neighbor.

For all State and corporation forests, an area of a little over 3 million acres, there are 009
Revierforster or managers, 1,589 guards and assistants, besides 175 accountants and 107 superior
officials. The manager or Revierforster makes and executes the plans and keeps the records for
the woods of his district.

As in Wurttemberg, rational measures for the proper use and treatment of forests of Bavaria
date back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. As early as IGIO a forest law was
passed which embodied all that seemed at that time desirable. This law was modified, some
complications arising from the change of size and form of the kingdom, and also through the
radical views promulgated during the second half of the eighteenth century. On the whole,
however, Bavaria remained conservative, which in view of its large mountain forests must be
regarded as particularly fortunate.

The establishment of the forest .school at Munich took place about 1789, when a general
reorganization occurred, and the functions of the forester changed from those of a hunter to those
of a producer of timber.

WTTKTTEMBERG.

This little State, with an area of about 4,820,000 acres, or about one-seventh that of
Wisconsin, and a i)opulation of little over 2,000,000 people, ranks among the most conservative as
well as the most successful among the commonwealths of Europe. In matters of forestry this
State began proper measures as early as 1614, -when laws were inaugurated for the proper
treatment of forest properties, which remain fundamental to this day. These early laws, which
made the proper care of forests obligatory to all and forbade both forest devastation and clearing
(the latter possible only on permit), were properly enforced and maintained even through the

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — WURTTEMBERG 231

troublesome times of the end of the eijihteeiith century. They were remodeled and perfected to
suit modern conditions in 1875 and 1870 the law of the former date dealing with the forests of
public coi-poratious, the latter with State and private forests in general.

The " forest jiolice law" of 1879 requires :

(«) Clearing of forest requires a State permit; illegal clearing is punished with a tine.

{h) A neglected piece of forest shall not become waste land; the State authority sees to its
reforestation, with or without help of owner, the expenses to be charged to the forest.

(f) If the forester is convinced that a private owner cuts too much wood or otherwise
mismanages his forest, he is to warn the owner, and if this warning is not heeded the forest
authority may take in hand and manage the particular tract.

(d) Owners of small tracts of forest can combine into associations and can place their
properties with municipal or even State forests for protection and management. In the latter
case they share the advantages of part of the municipal or communal forests which are managed
by State authorities.

The law of 1875 relating to the management and supervision of forests belonging to villages,
towns, and other public corporations places the forests under this category all under direct State
supervision ; there being a sjiecial division of corporation or municipal forests in connection with
the State forest bureau. The law demands that all corporation forests be managed in accordance
with the principles of a continued supply, the same as the State forests. The corporation may
employ its own foresters, but these must be approved by the forest bureau and are responsible for
the proper execution of the plans of management. These plans are prepared by the foresters and
must be approved by the State forest authorities. If preferred, the corporation may leave the
management of its forests entirely to the State authorities. This is always done if a corporation
neglects to fill the iiosition of its forester within a certain period after it becomes vacant. Where
the State forest authorities manage either corporation or private forest, the forest is charged with
8 cents per acre and year for this administration. This fee is generally less than it costs, so that
the State really has been making a sacrifice so far in providing a satisfactory management for
these forests.

As in all other German States, nearly every piece of forest land was formerly encumbered
with certain rights which entitled the holders to certain fixed amounts of firewood, timber, to
pasture live stock, etc. The law of 1848 obliges the holders of these rights to part with them if
the proprietor pays the value of the rights, the manner of ascertaining the value being set forth
in the law itself. Thus, for the right of cutting his supply of firewood in a forest the holder of
the right is paid a sum which if placed at 1 per cent interest will purchase as much wood as the
holder of the right used per year, the average of twelve seasons being the criterion. Of the
different rights or privileges, those concerning pasturage and the cutting of hay in the forests
are practically settled, and the State i)aid between 1873 and 1880 about 2,415,000 marks, or
$611,000, for these rights. For privileges of cutting wood and timber the State has expended
large sums. Even prior to 1848, between 1825 and 1850, forest land valued in the aggregate at
about $3,000,000, and between 1850 and 1880 over $500,000 more have been paid out to rid the
woods of these pestiferous rights, and yet as late as 1873 these rights were worth $32,000 per
year, or a capital (at 4 jier cent interest) of $800,000.

In matters of taxation all forests are assessed according to the net revenue which they
produce. Of the total .area of the land, about 42 per cent is plow land, IS per cent meadows and
pastures, 31 per cent forest, 3 per cent gardens and vineyards, and 2 per cent road.s. In its
distribution over the State the forest forms 27 per cent of the area of the Nekar Kreis, 39 per
cent of the area of the Schwarzwald Kreis, 31 x)er cent of the area of the Jaxt Kreis, and 25 per
cent of the area of the Donau Kreis.

Of the total of about 1,470,000 acres of forest, 480,000, or 32 per cent, belong to the State;
470,000, or 32 per cent, to corporations, and .530,000, or 36 per cent, to individuals.

Of the corporation forests, nearly 360,000 acres are managed by State foresters; of the private
forests, 200,000 acres are held by the nobility, including the royal family.

Accurate statistics have been prepared so far only for the State forests <and of late also for the
corporation forest, so that a more detailed description of these classes must serve as illustration
for the whole.

232

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DKPARTMKNT OF AGRICULTURE.

The State forests of 480,000 acres occupj' parts of all four provinces of the country. About
92 per cent lie between 000 and 2,400 feet altitude; 42 per cent are stocked on level ground, 29 per
cent on gentle sloi>es. and about the same amount on steo]) declines. Over 40 per cent of these
forests are sitnated on sandy soils, and the rest are largely on tlie poor limestone soils of the Jura,
and only a small part on the drift formation skirting the north side of the Alps.

Of the State forest area there is covered by a pine growth of spruce, 28 per cent; beech. 20
percent; fir, 0 per cent; pine, 7 per cent; mixed growth of conifers, 14 per cent; conifers and
hardwoods, n per cent; mixed hardwoods with oak, 7 per cent; mixed hardwoods without oak, 2
per cent. Thus about (50 per cent is coniferous growth and only ;>0 per cent hardwoods, with about
9 per cent mixed timber.

Fully 97 per cent of the State forests are managed by the timber forest system. The rotation is
for timber forest, 100 years for 74 per cent of the area; 80 years for 24 per cent of the area, and
120 years for 2 per cent of the area.

At the ])rcsent (1894) the areas containing timber over 100 years old cover 11 per cent of the
area: 81 to 100 years old cover 15 per cent of the area; (Jl to 80 years old, 1.5 i)er cent; 41 to 00
years old, 17 per cent; 21 to 40 years old, 19 per cent; 1 to 20 years old, 23 per cent; so that a
fairly regular distribution for a 100-year rotation exists.

These timber forests yield about '>*>' cubic feet per acre of timber from the main cut or harvest
and 11 cubic feet per acre from thinnings, making in all 07 cubic feet per acre and year for the entire
area. The .'{ per cent manageil in coppice and standard cojipice cut only about 14 cubic feet per
acre and year.

The total cut for 1894 was. for wood over 3 inches thick: Oak, 1,200,000 cubic feet, or 3.9 per
cent; beech and some other hard woods, 7,900,000 cubic feet, or 20 per cent; conifers, 21,500,000
cubic feet, or 70 per cent.

This cut was composed of —

A. — Timber ijeneralhj over 0 inches at the top end.

Amount.

Per cent.

1 Oak

Cjibic feet.
560, 000
420, 000

13, 800, 000

3.8
2.8
94

Total

14,780,000

100

B. — Poles S-G inches, .T feet from hiilt end.

Amount.

Per cent.

Oak

Cubic feet.

1,500

6,400

C85, 000

0.2
.9
99

Biiecli anil other lianl wnoils

Total

092, 900

100

-Cordwood.

For

wooden

ware.

For firowood.

Oak ...

Cuhir.feet.
46, OUO
78, 000
296,000

(Jubie feet.

.lUO, 0(»0

7, 400, 000

6,450,000

Cecch and other hard woods

The above figures, especially those for the yield in saw and other timber, clearly point out the
great advantage of the conifers over the hard woods. The same is also clearly illustrated by
the fact that the material sold as firewood forms only 40 per cent in conifers, but 94 per cent in

' This means that if the timber is 100 years old, as most of it is, each acre of forest cuts 5,C00 cnbic feet of wood
at time of harvest.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT WURTTEMBEUG.

233

beecb and other hard woods, leaving out the oak. Moreover, the yields have been much greater
for conifers than beecb.

Tims the yield for material over 3 inches thicli in the hard woods was only 51 cubic feet per
acre and conifers 74 cubic feet per acre, while the average value of the two is about as 5 for beech
and other hard woods, leaving out oak, to 8 for coniferous wood, so that the yield in money per
acre for the two was more nearly 2.4 times as great for conifers as for hard woods.

The prices obtained for wood, generally deli veied at the main roads, was: Timber, oak (white
oak), 25 cents per cubic foot; conifers, 11.7 cents per cubic foot. Cord wood, beech, 4.9 cents per
cubic foot, or $0.30 per cord; conifers, 3.6 cents per cubic foot, or $4.00 per cord.

The money results were for 1894 as follows:

Gross income $3, 019, 000, or 100 per cent

Total expense : 1,224,000, or 40 per cent

Net income 1, 795, OOO, or 00 per cent

or per acre of forest area :

Gross income $3. 20

Expenses 2. ."il

Net iiicoirie 3. G9

this latter forming 59 per cent of the gross revenue.
Among the exiienses were conspicuous:

Felling of timlier $,397,000

Administration anrl protection 339, 000

Roads, new, and repair 163, 000

Taxes 103,000

Planting, sowing, etc 91, 000

The following figures illustrate the progress of the last eigiity years, and at the same time
indicate bow steadily this small area of otherwise almost valueless land has been made to furnish
an ample supply of timber and a handsome revenue:

Results of forest management in the State forests of JVurttemherg.

Tear.

Forest
area.

Wood over

3 inches

tliick cut

each year.

Price per
cubic foot

Per acre and year.o

Net
income.

Cut wood
over 3
inches.

1815

M acres.

Mcuhicfeet,

Cents.

$0.30

.42

.52

.64

.85

1.78

1.93

l.H

1.42

3.22

3.54

2.62

4.21

2.66

2.90

3.33

3.69

Cubic/eet.

1819

1823

472

15, 200
17, 200
17, 700
25, 000

25, 400
23, 800

26, 600
28, 400

25. 300

26, 600
28, 800

28, 700

29, 400

30, 200
30. 600

33
37
39
55
65
52
58
61
54
57
61
60
61
63
63

1828

469
445
447

452
452
455
457
460
465
467
471
474
476
480

1831

1841

1845

1850

1865

4.3
7.5
9.7
7.5
10.7
8.0
8.1
8.7
9.3

1860

1865

1870

1875

1880

1885 . .

1890

1894

a Refers to entire forest area — swamp, water, surfaces, and all.

Most of the logging is done by the cubic foot or cord, and the prices are about 60 to 65 cents
per 100 cubic feet of coniferous and 80 cents per 100 for hard-wood timber, while cord wood is
generally worked up for about $1 per cord, including piling at roadway. All cut-over land is
at once reforested. During 1894, 275 acres were thus recovered by seeding and about 6,000 acres
by planting, the latter being tliiis generally the rule, especially in the coniferous districts. The
total expenses of cultural work were $88,000, or less than 3 per cent of the gross income.

The thinnings of the dense sapling timber involved during the year about 20,000 acres and
furnished about 240 cubic feet of wood per acre. Most of this material in the hard-wood district
has to be cut into inferior firewood, but the spruce, fir, and pine can usually be sold as poles and
pulp stuff, etc.

234

FOUESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AURICUI.TURE.

Thonjrb largely stocked on saudy soils and composed of i)ine and other conifers, there are no
forest fires rei)orted for the year. The administration of forests is in the hands of " Revierfoerster,"
corresponding to the Prussian "Obcrfoerster," who prepare the plans and execute them, being
assisted by a body of subalterns. The district of a Itevierfoerster covers about 10,000 acres of
forest, while the range or "huf of the forest guard is generally about one-tenth of this. These
guards also serve as foremen in all cultural aiul felling operations, but the Revierfoerster is
supposed to keep fully informed on all details and preserve accurate record. Besides their duties
as State forest oflicers, it is expected that these men also keep themselves informed as to the
condition of private and other forests.

BADEN.

In this intensively cultivated little State, with a total area of only about 3,720,000 acres,
supporting a population of l,(!r)0,O0O, the forests occupy over 37 per cent of the entire land surface.
The forest area has increased between ISSO and ISO.") by over .jO.OOO acres, being in the latter
year 650,891 hectares, or about l,;>(iO,000 acres. These forests were owned as follows:

Owner.

1895.

St.ite

Villiises and towns .
Other rorporat ions .
Private pt-rsous:

Ki>l)ilitv

Others."

^l cres.
237. 000
620,000
47, 000

147. 000
310, 001)

Acres.
•S.K. 000
cm, 000
33, 000

147, 000
285. 000

The forest policy of Baden has been conservative and there is no State in Germany where the
general conditions of the forests are better. Since all inunicii)al and corporation forests are under
direct State control, being managed by the State forest authorities, about 910,000 acres, or over
CO i)er cent of all forests, enjoy a careful, conservative treatment, which insures to them the largest
possible return in wood and money. But even the private forests are under the supervision of
the State authorities, and though the private owner may use his forest very much as he pleases he
can in no way ilcvastate or seriously injure it. Clearing requires a permit, also a com])lete clear-
ing cut, which latter is permitted only if the owner guarantees the reforestation of the denuded
area within a given time. Bare and neglected spots in forests must be restocked, and failure of
private owners to comply with the forest rules and laws leads to temporary management of the
forest by the State authorities, such management never to continue less than ten years. Of the
State forests there are about 93 per cent tiniber forest with a rotation of eighty to one hundred
and twenty years and only 7 per cent coppice and standard coppice intended to produce tanbark
and firewood. Of the corporation forests about S3 per cent are timber forest, so that of all the
forests under State management about 85 per cent are timber forest managed on long rotations
and furnishing large returns.

Of the State forests, 21 ]>er cent are hardwoods, with little or no conifers; 30 per cent are
mixed forests, hardwoods, and conifers in about ecpial jiarts; 19 per cent are coniferous forests,
the bulk being stocked with spruce and fir, while onlj' about 1 per cent of the total is stocked with
pine alone.

Full and accurate statistics existing only for the State forests, and, as fiir as the annual cut
is concerned, for corporation forests, the following figures apply only to about GO per cent of the
forests of the country.

The cut for 1S94: was in —

A. From timber forests:

M.iiii crop

Th)iii>in<;8

Stuiiips

n. From coppice and standard coppice;

Main crop

Thinnings

Stumps

State forests.

Cathie feet.
11.100.000

4, r>oo, 000

150, 000

780. 000
30. 000

Corporation
forests.

Cubic feet.

29. 100, 000

9, 800. 000

330, 000

7, 600, 000
120, 000
50. 000

16,560,000 47,000,000

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — BADEN.

235

This same cut per acre of total forest area is —

Timber fojest : Cubic foot.

State 74

Corporation 71

Coppice and standard coppice:

State 53

Corporatiou 66

This enormous yield of nearly G4 million cubic feet of wood Baden has obtained from this
small area for many years without in the least decreasing- the amount of standing timber or wood
capital. In the State forest the cut per acre since 18G7 has never been less than 57 cubic feet per
yeai", or since 1885 has never fallen below 71 cubic feet, while twice since 1870 it has been over 85
cubic feet per acre and year.

Of the total of nearly 64 million cubic feet, 19,200,000 cubic feet arc timber and other wood
not sold as fire or cord wood, and 29,100,000 cubic feet are cord wood over 3 inches.

The forests of Baden are generally well located, and the State has long realized the great
importance of good highways, so that the prices for timber ai'e generally good and the income
from the woods correspondingly high.

The following prices in the woods were obtained in 1894 :

For round timl)er long lengths and saw logs (per cubic foot) :

Oak $0.16 to $0.39

Beech . l.'i

Ash and maple .24

Birch .08

Alder .23

Other hardwoods .16

Conifers, long stems 07 to .13

Conifers, saw logs 11 to .14

Conifers, railway ties .08

For cord wood (per cord) :

Beech fi.50to 8.40

Oalc ...--- .5. 80 to 10. 80

Other hardwoods .'...- 6. 30 to 7.80

Conifers 4. 00 to 4.80

The financial results in the State forests were as follows :

For the year 1894 —

Total income $1,337,000

Total expenses 618,000

Net income 719,000

Or per acre of forest-stocked arear—

Gross income .$.">. 82, or 100 per cent

Expenses 2. 69, or 46. 2 per cent

Net income 3. 13, or 53. 8 per cent

How steadily this handsome revenue has been received may be inferred from the fact that
during the twenty-eight years ending 1894 the gross income has never been below $4.24 per acre;
that for thirteen out of the twenty-eight years it varied between $4.24 and $5; that twelve years
it was between $5 and $G, and three years above $6 per acre.

The following figures show this relation for the period 1881 to 1894 :

Production and cost per acre of forested area.

Tear.

Cut.

Annual
income
(gross).

Annual
expense.

Annual

net
income.

The ex-
pense is
of the
income —

1881

CxibUfeet.
59
62
67
07
71
74
85
75
70
80
74
73
72
73

$4.08
4.41
4.80
4.87
5.15
5.23
5.33
5.16
5.48
5. 85
5.05
5.73
0.07
S. 82

$2.13
2.17
2.24
2.30
2.34
2.47
2.60
2 50
2.59
2.60
2.58
2.65
2.64
2.69

$1.94
2.24
2. 55
2.57
2.80
2.76
2.73
2.65
2.88
3.25
3.00
3.08
3.42
3.13

Per cent.
52
49
47
47
45
47
49
49
47
44
46
46
43
46

1882 .

1883

1884

1885

1886

1887

1888

1889

1890

1891 . .

1892

1893

1894 .. .

23n FORESTKY IXVESTIG.VTIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Considering the fact that these I'orests, in the afrgregate only about as large as ten townships,
are scattered over considerable area, and thus their protection and management is rendered much
more costly tlian if in more compact form, these results are certainly most remarkable.

Of the expenses, those of special interest are:

Lo<r<jin{j (generally) $221,000

Adiiiiuistratiou 132,000

Trotecfion 54,000

Roads, uew and repair "7' 000

Sowing, planting, etc 42.000

As stated before, wherever the forest is cut, reforestation is at once begun. As in other
States, part of this is carried on by the process of natural regeneration, where the old trees are
never entirely removed until they have been made to seed the ground, but part is also done by
artilicial .sowing and planting. In 1894 about ll.*5 acres were seeded anew; (!5 acres were seeded
to correct failures of former years; 700 acres were planted for the lirst time, and about 850 acres
of former failures were corrected.

The work of seeding costs sll.0.5 per acre, the planting $11.43 per acre, which shows that it
is not by a i>cnny-wise and i)ound foolish system of retrenchment that the most extraordinary
results of the Baden forest management are attained.

ALSACE AND LORRAINE.

These two small provinces, formerly under French rule, liave an area of about .".,000,000 acres
and a population of about 1,.'>(»0,000, and are under the Imperial Government. The existing forest
laws of these provinces were left in force on their transfer to (lerniany, so that now, as in former
times, the French "code forestier'" of 1827 and some subsc(inent dates decide in all affairs
concerning the forests. The laws in the main are like those of Baden; they restrict the right
of the private owner to a proper use of the forest and forbid all devastation; any clearing requires
a State permit, and with regard to protection again.st fire, insects, etc., they are subject to the
ordinary forest police regulations. As in Baden, the forests of corporations are managed by State
authorities, so that a well-planned forestry system applies to all forests except those of private
owners, and even these are under rigid supervision and partial control.

The total area covered by forest is 444,466 hectares, or about 1,100,000 acres, forming about
30 per cent of the entire land surface. Of this forest area there belong to the State 340,000
acres, or 31 per cent; villages and towns, 400,000 acres, or 45 per cent; private owners, 220,000
acres, or 20 per cent. Besides these there are about 40,000 acres of land belonging Jointly to the
State and villages and 6,000 acres belonging to corporations other than municipalities.

Since all forests, except those of private owners, are under the management of the State
forest authorities, fully 80 per cent of the forests of these provinces are in most excellent condition.
Though the exact proportion has not been ascertained, it may be said that about CO per cent of
the forests are hardwoods, largely beech and oak, and only 40 per cent conifers.

The total cut for 1891 was—

Cul>ic feet.

For State forests 21,400,000

For corpor.ation 33,000,000

Total 54,400,000

of which about 17,.TO0,000 cubic feet was nutzholz, or timber not sold as cord wood or firewood.
Of the 21,000,000 cubic feet of wood cut iu the State forests there were in 1891 :

Kind of wood.

Timber
(nutzliolz).

Conl aud

other
firewood.

Total of
wood.

Per cent

of tout

cut.

Onk

Cubic feet.
1 . boo'. OdO

mio 000

5. .iOO, 000

Cubic feet

2. lOlt, (too

g. :)»o, 000

2, 700, 000

Ouhicfeet.
:i, 70(1. 000

9. 100.000
8, 200, 000

1

18
4:i
39

Hcerli with otlier little hardwoods

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEME>'T — ALSACE-LORRAINE. 237

The average price per cubic foot was :

For timber or work wood — Cents.

Oak 17

Beech 11

Conifers , 8. 5

For lirewoocl —

Oak 5.5

Beech 6. 7

Conifers 4.2

Oil tlic whole the State received 7.2 ceuts pei" cubic foot for all its timber and firewood.
Among the improvements made during the year the items of roadmakiug aud reforestation are
most conspicuous.

In the State forests alone about 1,500 acres were seeded, generally at a cost of $2 to ^3 per
acre, the lowest being UO cents; while in few cases the cost exceeded $4 per acre. About 3,200
acres were planted, 1,280 acres for the first time, the rest being corrections of former failures.
Planting largely with hardwoods cost on an average about S.j.50 per acre. Roadmaking is
vigorously pursued, as much of the laiul is quite rough, and well-planned, permanent, macadamized
roads have proven to be among the best investments. lu some of the districts forest railways
have also been constructed.

The final results during 1891 were as follows:

Income from wood $1, 523, 000

Other iiroducts 22,000

Chase 15, 000

Total 1,. 560, 000

Of this $54,000 is figured for wood, which was given to persons holding servitude rights.
The expenses were :

Running expenses —

Central lorest bureau $20, 000

Oberfoersters 97, 000

Guards 116,000

Logging 231,000

Uoadmaking 47,000

Planting, sowing, drainage, etc 47, 000

Other running e.Kpenses 128,000

Permanent expenses 60,000

Total espeu,ses 752, 000

Real gross income 1, 522, 000

Net income 770,000

The following figures present the course of these relations for the decade ending 1891:

Financial results for the State forests in Alsace-Lorraine.

Year.

1882
1883
1S84
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891

Gross iu-
come.

$1. a.!?.

1 , 370.
1. 429,
l.:il)l.
1,'.;84.
1,308,
1.335,
1,371,
1.477,
1,522,

000
OUU
000
000
OOU
000
000
000
000
000

Cut per acre and
year.

Wood
over 3
inclies.

Total.

Cubic/eel} Cubicfeet.

Per acre of total area.

43
42
45
45
45
48
4S
46
49
46

55
55
Ul
59
59
G2
57
58
01
56

Gross in-

Ex-

Net in-

come.

penses.

come.

$3.7'

$2.20

$1.55

3.86

2.04

1.81

4.03

2.04

1.97

3 67

2. 05

1.61

3.0-2

2.01

1.50

3 67

2.00

1.59

3.74

1.98

1.74

3.84

2 08

1.74

4.12

2.06

2.04

4.24

2.09

2.12

Price of
^vood per

cubic

foot.

Cents.
6.1
6.5
6.2
5.8
5.7
5.5
6.0
6.2
6.5
7.1

238 FORESTKY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT t)F AGRICULTUKE.

The net iucome, iu spite of large yields in wood material and a fairly good market, is com-
paratively small, though slightly improving. In 18SC, when this income was still lower, a special
investigation was undertaken, to set forth the reasons of this small net revenue and to suggest
improvement. All oberfoersters of note contributed their opinions, and on the whole good results
seem to have come from their suggestions for im])rovement. The chief trouble evidently lies in
the great proportion of hardwoods, which leads to a large production of firewood and a small
proportion of timber or work wood. Thus (JO per cent of all oak, 01 per cent of all beech, and 83
per cent of all other hardwoods had to be sold as cord and lire wood, bringing generally about 5
cents per cubic foot solid, or about 85 per cord, while for the coniferous woods only 'Mi per cent
has to be sacrificed as cord wood, the rest being sold as timber for just twice the amount obtained
for firewood.

This condition of all'airs is materially aggravated by the general use of coal as fuel and the
rejection of beech as tie timber on railways, etc. This condition of affairs in Alsace-Lorraine is of
great interest in considering the forest conditions of the United States. It shows evidently that
it is the coniferous timbers which nuist be looked to as the important ones, and that even large
supplies of hardwoods can not be expected to replace such staples as white pine or spruce.

Methods of German Forest Mana-gement.

The following brief description of the methods of German forest management, by which the
results described have been attained, was originally prepared in connection with an exhibit at the
World's Fair, which the chief of the Division of Forestry collected and installed upon the invita-
tion and at the expense of the German Government, and is mainly reprinted with additions from
his annual report for 1893. The description having been based upon the objects exhibited no
attempt has been made to alter the form.

map work and forest districting.

The first requirement in the management of any property is that all its conditions should be
known and recorded; hence a topographic survey of the forest district to be placed uiuler man-
agement is the first reipiisite. Such survey refers not only to the boundaries r^ud topographical
features of the district itself. Imt also to the surroundings, especially with reference to connections
with markets. Finally, for government forests, the geographical position of the forest areas in
general should be grouped according to ownership. Maps of the latter description were exhibited
from the Governments of Bavaria and of Wurttemberg.

These show iu three different colors the forest areas belonging to the Goveinraent, to commu-
nities and institutions, and to private owners. From these it (;ould be seen not only that the three
classes of proprietors share about ecjually in the ownership of the forest area, but that tbe
Government owns maiidy the forests on the mountains, where forest management must be carried
on not for profit, but for indirect benefits in the ijreservation of favorable soil and water conditions,
which therefore makes the permanent, well-organized management "by and for the peoide"
necessary. Contrary to the notion to which currency is so often given in the United States, the
various governments of Germany do not own more than 35 per cent, exercising partial control (so
as to i)reveut destruction and waste) over only 15 per cent iu the hands of communities and
institutions, and leaving the balance of 50 per cent of the forest area in imvate hands almost
entirely without restriction.

Sometimes the contours of the country are also indicated on the maps, which serve the useful
economic i)uri)ose of permitting ready reference of the forest areas to the topogiaphy. As an
instance of such work there was shown a relief map of ilesse. On this the forest areas were
indicated iu green color.

For the sake of orderly administration, tlie whole country is seijaratcd into forest divisions or
inspections (sometimes bothi, each of which forms a sejjarate unit of adnainistratiou.

It is to be understood that we are now speaking only of the Government forests, which are
under a uniform general administration.

The administration of the Government forests is usually assigned either to the finance

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SURVEY. 239

department (as iu Bavaria) or to the department of agriculture and forestry (as in I'russia), with
one director and council directly in cliarge iiuder the supervision of tlie minister or secretary.
The position of the director (Oberlandforstmeister) corresponds somewliat to that of our Com-
missioner of the General Land Office, except that, an extensive technical knowledge being needed
in the position, the incumbent is promoted through all positions from the lower grades. Again,
each forest division is ijlaced under a separate administrative body consisting of an administrator
(Oberforstmeister) with a council of forest inspectors (Forstmeister), each of whom has supervision
of a number of the linal units of administration, the forest districts (Oberfoersterei, Forstamt).
The district officer (Oberfoerster, Eevierlberster, etc.), with a number of assistants, rangers
(Foerster), and guards (Schutzbeamte), is then the manager and executive officer iu the forest
itself, while the higher supervising and inspecting officials are located at the seats of government.

SURVEY OF THE FOREST DISTRICT.

The snrvey of each forest district is carried out to the utmost minutia'.

In Prussia the maps of the districts are made on the scale of 1 : 5,000 in j)ortfolio sheets, repre-
senting a careful survey by theodolite of the boundaries of the district, the iiermanent differences
of soil and occupancy (roads, waters, fields, meadows, moors, etc.), and the division of the district
into smaller units of management. This kind of map, of wliich only three copies are made, is
then, for purposes of use in daily routine, reduced to a scale of 1:25,000 on one sheet, and printed.
The first matter of interest that strikes us on these blank or base maps is the di^^sion lines by
which the district is divided into parcels or compartments. In the plain these lines divide the
district into regular oblong compartments (Jagen) of about GO to 75 acres each, with sides of 100
and 200 yards, respectively, separated by openings or avenues which we may call "rides" (Gestell,
Schneisse), so that the whole makes the appearance very much like the map of an American city
regularly divided iuto blocks. The rides (from 8 to 40 rods wide) running east and west and north
and south are lettered, the former, broader ones (main avenues) with capital letters, the latter
(side avenues) with small letters, while the compartments are numbered. In the forest itself at
each corner a monument of wood or stone indicates the letters of the rides and numbers of the
compartments, rendering it easy to find one's way or direct any laborer to any place iu the forest.
The rides are often used as roads and serve also the purirose of checking fires, etc.

In the hill and mountain districts this regular division becomes impracticable and the lines of
compartments conform to the contour, while the o]jening of the avenues is restricted to those
which can be readily transformed into roads; roads, indeed, determining the division lines
wherever practicable.

In hill or mountain districts topographic or contour maps become necessary, especially for the
puriiose of rational road construction, a matter on which in modern times great stress is laid and
to which we shall I'efer later on more in detail. Such contour maps are sometimes executed iu
papier-mache or gypsum models for readier reference.

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT.

The fundamental principles upon which the German Government forests and most of the
communal and jjrivate forests are managed is briefly expressed in the idea that the forest growth
is to be treated as a crop to be reproduced as soon as harvested, involving continuity of crops.
To carry this iirinciple into effect most advantageously the management must take care to husband
the natural forces and conditions ujion which thrifty forest growth relies, which leads to the
second principle, that of highest efliciency of crojjs, or the two leading principles combined, to
produce the largest amounts of material (or revenue) in the shortest time without impairing the
condition and capacity for reproduction of the forest, ijerpetuatiug valuable forest growth wher-
ever this is the best crop or where soil conditions make a forest cover desirable. In government
forests iu addition the financial principle prevails of treating the forest as a permanently invested
capital, from which ouly the interest is to be used, making the amount harvested or the revenue
derived to be as nearly alike from year to year or from period to period, and as nearly corresijond-
iug to the annual accretion, as it is possible to make them.

240 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The present Oberlaiidforstineister, or director, of the I'russiau forest department uses the
following language iu laying down the principles upon which the Government manages its forests:

The Prussian State I'ore.st adiuiiiistratiou does not aecede to the priuciples of a continuous hij;hest soil rent
based upou compound interest calculations, but believes, in cuntiadistiuctiim to private forest nianaL;enient, that it
can not avoid the obliji;ation iu the management of the State forests of keeping in view the welfare of the whohi
communit.v of citizens, and therein taking into consideration the need for continued supply of wood and other forest
products as well as the other objects to which in so many directions the forest is subservient. The administration
does not consider itself entitled to pursue a one-sided tinancial policy, least of all to submit the Government forests
to a pure money-making management strictly based on capital and interest calculations, but considers it its duty to
so manage the forests as a patrimony belonging to the whole nation that the present generation may bo beuelited by
the highest possible usufruct in satisfying its wants and deriving the protection which the forest renders, and that
to future generations may bo secured at least as large usufruct of the same kind.

To carry out these principles the intimate knowledge of the conditions of the property,
referred to above, is necessary and is obtained by a careful forest survey as a basis for a systematic
administration and forest regulation.

These data of this forest survey are not only recorded iu writing but such as can be readily
noted are tinally placed upon the blank maps described above, together with the results of the
forest regulation described further on, so that the manager can readily overlook the details of his
district and the propositions lor its uuinagement.' This information — after further subdivision of
the compartments where needed on account of differences in soil conditions or growth— is given by
means of different colors, diflerence in shade, numbers, figures, marks, and signs. These maps,
which are prci>ared after a most painstaking forest survey, and which we may call ''manager's
map" (Plate XXXII), show at a glance not only the nature of soil conditions and what the prin-
cipal kind of timber and its admixtures are in each compartment or subdivision, but also how old
the growth; whether it is to be treated as a coppice, standard coppice, or timber forest; at what
period iu the rotation it is to be cut, and such notes as the manager himself may add from year
to year, as, for instance, the yearly fellings, plantings, movable nurseries, new road projects, etc.

One of the most instructive exhibits in this direction was that showing the changes in Timlitz
forest, Saxony. The map of the district in 1822 presented about the condition of one of our
mismanaged Michigan forests of pine and hard woods mixed, from which all the good timber had
been culled, leaving it to inferior kinds with few groups of straggling pines and more valuable
hard woods, without symmetry or system in the distribution of kinds or age classes. At thi; same
time a map was constructed showing ideally how the forest was to look after eighty years' well-
planned management. We can then follow iu the maps made every ten or twenty years the
changes in appearance under the hand of the forester. During the management new information
and experience have dictated modilications of the original working i)lan, giving rise to a new
manager's map, the approach to which appearing in the timber map for 1SS5 leaves no doubt that
at the end of the period of regulation we will have a well-grown pine forest, with deciduous trees
mixed in or confined to the more suitable situations, so disposed over the area that annually or
periodically the same aniouut, or nearly so, of valuable material can be harvested.

The painstaking methods of surveying, describing, measuriug, calculating, planning, book-
keeping, and repeated revising of all the work from decade to decade were shown in the regulation
work of the district of Ilinternah, Prussia, contained iu six large folio volumes of manuscript,
continued from the year 1822 to the last revision in 1890. We can only bricfiy indicate what this
work involves, which was briefly summarized in the following exhibit :

Forest Kegulation.

I'ROGKESS OK WORK HEljUIKKU TO liRlNli FOREST AREAS IJNUKK l£ATIONAL J'OKE.ST MANA(ii:MKN T.
I. (leodelic and topugrnphic aairty and mappinij.
II. Forest aurveij in conuectiou with I, uotiug all areas distinguished by (juality of soil, composition, and age of
timber; general description of forest conditions, of climatic conditions, of surrounding conditions, of
possible dangers, of market conditions, means of transportation, etc.

'Each State government parsues somewhat diflferent methods of mapping. Sometimes two sots of maps are
made, one to show the conditions, which might then bo called a timber map, the other to show the working plan;
but these are now mostlv combined into one.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — FOREST REGULATION. 241

III. Forc-it diilricling. Division of forest iuto parcels or lots ami agjjregatioii of lots into Mocks aud rani'cs. In tliu

jilaiu, reotaiigiilar lots, divided liy cleared lines called rides ((iestell), are customary; in billy and monntainons
country division lines follow the coutiguration of soil. Diflerenccs of soil or character of gi owth within lots
give rise to formation of sublots.

IV. Forest yirhl raliialion (assessment). Ascertaining anuuints of timber standing, rate of growth on various sites,

determining capability of production and future yield in material and money.
V. Detcrmiiiiny jtlan of management (working plans). General plan for all time; special plans for period of ten to
twenty years. Determining length of rotation; amounts annually to be cut, designating lots to bo cut,
with a view to obtaining favorable distribution of age classes; thinnings to be made; methods to be used
in felling and cultures.

METHODS OK FOREST REGULATION.

lu Pru-ssia it wtis Frederick the Great who first ordered a regulated admiuistratioii of the
Government forests soon after the begiuiiing of his reign. The first simple preseriptioiis of
dividing the forests into equal areas and cutting every year a proportionate area were followed up
with more elaborate ordinances, having in view a closer ecjualization of the amounts of material
harvested :ind revenues obtained, besides other considerations of management for continuity, until
flually the basis for present methods of regulation was reached in the ordinance of 1830, since
modified in its details, under which " the preservation, revision, and iierfection of the work of
forest valuation and regulation " is carried on.

The modus operandi, similar in principle in all Government furest administrations, is about as
follows:

Let us a.ssume that the Government has purchased' a new forest district, compiising, say,
10,000 acres, the average size of the existing districts. The necessary surveys and blank maps
as explained, have been made and the boundaries carefully established in the field, the division
into compartments or parcels, larger or smaller according to the need of a more or less intensive
uiiinagement, liave been noted on the maps and marked on the ground (the avenues perhaps
partially opened), :ind for the sake of satisfactory administration a number of the parcels have

been combined into subdistricts, "blocks," or ranges; and thus the first — purely geometrical

basis for a rational administration has been established. Now the aritlimetical btisis is to be
ascertained. For this, in the first place, a general description of the district in its present
condition is desirable, parts of which, however, can be furnished only after the more thorough
measurements described later. Such a description recites all needful knowledge regarding the
extent, the manner of division, the boundaries, and the legal rights. Next Ibllows a description
in general terms of topography, climate, and soil conditions, and of the forest growth, being a
condensation of the.special descriirtion by parcels. The manner of treatment hitherto, the market
conditions, current market prices, and usual wages are noted. Then, after recital of the processes
and methods by which the information in the following detail work has been obtained, the princi[)les
adopted for the management and its motivation are stated, forming a general guide for the manager
for all time.

These principles are formulated by a commission after sufficient general knowledge of the
condition of the district is obtained. In this important part of the general description not only
the territorial partition of the district iuto compartments and blo(!ks or ranges is determined, and
reasons given for it, but also the system of management for each block or parts of blocks, whether

' Prices for forest soil vary, of course, according to their location and condition, just as in our country. In 1849
Bavaria sold 27,000 acres of her State forests at $(58 per acre. In Prussia the (io\ ernment has lately ( 1S81-1887) paid
prices ranging from $5 to $60 per acre, and for a ronnd 70,000 .acres the price per acre was $21 average. These were
mostly dcA'astated waste lauds in the nortliern plain. In Thuringia, where jirio^s for wood and land are lusher the
price lor forest land is from $20 to $1)0 and as high as $80. These prices do not, of course, include any timljer growth,
the value of which, if present, is calculated according to well-known careful mctliods of detejniiiiing "expectation
values." According to a calculation by Dr. .1. Lehr, based on the net income as n^preseuting interest at a 3 jier cent
rate, and assuming a ninety-year rotation of the forest growth for the entire German Empire, the forest land was
worth $25 per acre and the wood on it $156 per acre.

H. Doc. 181 IG

242 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAUTMENT OP AGRICULTURE.

cojti)ice, standard coppice, timber forest, etc.,' and the leiijith of rotation — i. e., the time within
which a bhjck is to be cut over and reproduced; furthermore, the priiici]tles accordiiiu,- to wliich
the feUiugs are to progress, reproduction is to be secured, thinnings are to be made, the annual
yiehl U> be expected, and tiie time within which the forest is to be brought into a regular system-
atic order of management — in sliort, all the general framework of the management as far as
determining a set policy into which the special working i)lans should lit. Before this report can
be made tiual, however, the work of the valuator or examiner must have i)roceeded fo some extent.

VALUATION WORK.

The valuator or estimator, upon whose work as a basis the general and si>ecial working ]>laus
depend, begins by examining and describing briefly the conditions of the soil, its productive
capacity, and the kind and appearance of the growth in each compartment (or subparcel, if con-
ditions of growth or soil make such subdivision desiral>le). In the description the dominating
kind of timber, or, if mixed in equal i)roportions, that upon which the management is to be promi-

'Note. — Timber forest (Hochwalil, liigU forest) is a forest in wliicli trees are allowed to grow to maturity, and
reproduction is cfl'eitcd eitliiT by natural sioiling Ironi tbc old yrowtb in v:irioii.s w;iy8, or by jilanting or sowing
after removal of tlio old growtb; it is usually niauaged in rut;itions of 70 lo 1-0 yinrs.

Coppice (Niedorwald, low forest) is a forest in which reproduction is expected by sprouts from the stumps;
this is usually managed in rotations of 10 to 10 years.

Standard copjiiee (Mittelwald, middle forest) is a combination of the two forniiT, the standards being allowed
to grow to maturity and reproduction l)cing secured both by seed and sprouting.

Determiniiitj the rotation. — Onr iricnds who are attempting to bring about a more rational treatment of our
forests have often a mistaken notion as to when timber should be cut, wlieu it is ready for the harvest. This can
not be determined by any set period, as in the ripening of fruit iu agriculture, or by any more or less delined age,
much less by any diameter measure. The determination of the " felling age" (]laubarl<eitsaltcr) or of the length of
"rotation" (Umtriob) dejjcnds on the use to which the crop is to be put, the manner iu which it is to bo rejjroduced,
and the amount of material that can bo produced, or the amotnit of jiroOt that can be derived from it. This
deteiiuin.ation is one of the most ditlicult, reiiuiring both careful liiuincial calculation and knowledgi? of forest
technique.

The "silvicultural rotation" is that which considers niaiuly the forest tichiiii|Ue, being the time when perfect
natural reproduction is most surely attainable — i. o., fullest seed production in timber forest, liigliest sprouting
capacity in coppice forest; or when preservation of the proiliictivo cai)acity of the .soil, avoidance of d.anuige from
windfalls, diseases, etc., are u)p])onuost considerations. These considerations of course also influence iu ]iart the
determination of any of the following rotations, which wo may call " economic rotations."

The "rotation of greatest material production" is that which allows the forest to grow as long as the average
annual accretiim is at a maximum. This dift'ers of course with species, climate, soil, etc. If for the mass of
material we substitute its money value and strive to so arrange that the time of rotation coincides with the largest
money returns, we have a " linanehal rotation."

Various points of view lead to difl'orent kinds of iinancial rotations:

" Rotation of the highest Imrvest value," or "technical rotation," which attempts to jiroduce certain desired
sizes and qualities iu largest i|uantity with a view of obtaining thereby the largest money return for the crop under
the circumstances i management for telegraph j)()les, fence posts, osier holts, tan-oal; coiipice).

" Rotation of the highest forest revenue," when the growth is to bo harvested at the time of its maximum average
annual net money value; this time is iiiliuenced both by the amount of material and the pri<'e paid for better sizes
and ijuality of wood. In this rotation no regard is paid to the original capital invested in the soil; when this latter
factor is introduced Into the ealciilation we arrive at tlie true " Iinancial rotation " or " lotation of the highest soil
(or ground) rent," iu which the forest is to be cut at a time when the capital invested in soil, stock, and mauagement
furnishes the highest interest rate. This capital, as far as the soil is concerned, may be represented by its actual
cost or by its market value, or else by its capacity for production (Bodeuorwartnngs worth; soil-expoctatiou value),
which is found by adding the values of expected returns at harvest discounted to the present time and deducting
the expenses incurred up to the time of harvest, similarly discounted.

To determine this value experience tables must give the data. Local conditions and prices and the rate of
interest applied of cimrse inlluenee the length of the financial rotation. It is shortest for a lirewood management
(in Germany, say (iO to 70 years), for spruce and pine at an interest rate of ^ to 3 per cent a rotation of 70 to !I0 years,
with oak 120 years, a])i)ear as profitable rotations; when- small sizis, mining timber, posts, p(des, etc., are liringing
good prices, the most i)rolitable Iinancial rotation may be shorter. It stamls to reason that the length of this rotation,
as well as of all others, can be only ajiproximately cahnilated. The forestry literature of Germany is most prolilic
just now with regard to determining financial rotations, and the highest mathematical skill is employed iu thi:
discussion.

Growth (Bestand, stand; is here and further on used iu the collective sense of the word to denote an aggregate
of trees, for which also the word "stand" may be employed.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — REGULATING A F0RE8T.

243

nently based, is named first, aud the average age of the growth with special reference to the
dominating timber is ascertained for the purpose of ranging the parcel into an "age class," which
comprises usually twenty years, so that the growth of 1 to 20, 21 to 40, 41 to <iO years, etc., form
each an age class or period. The density of the growtli and larger openings devoid of tree growth
are specially noted. The valuator at the same time is expected to form, from general appearances,
an opinion as to the best treatment of each parcel in the near future, and note it, and especially
whether the growth is to be cut during an earlier or later period than its age would warrant,
considering the likelihood of its thrifty or its uusatisfactory growth. He also estimates the amounts
to be taken out in thinnings for the next twenty years.

With this information established a table may be constructed, in which the area of each parcel
is entered, according to its average age or "age class," moditied by considerations of productive
capacity, aiul from this a "timber map" is nuide, showing the present conditions of the forest,
the kind of dominating timber in each parcel being denoted by a color, intermixed timbers by
signs, and the age by the shade of the color in i, 5, or 6 gradations, according to the number of age
classes, as shown in the accompanying ideal map.

ARRANGEMENT OF AGE CLASSES.

Now follows the determination of the future arrangement of age classes, the object of which
is to have, when the forest is regulated, in each period of the rotation an apj)roximately equal or
equally pi-oducing area to be cut. It therefore becomes necessary to shift the distribution of age
classes, iu order to attain the equality of the sum of areas in each i)eriod. In addition to tlie mere
equalization of areas, there are several other considerations guiding the valuator in arranging the
age classes. The oldest timber, as well as that which for some reason has ceased to make
satisfactory growth, is of course to be cut first; hence tlie conditions of these areas are more
specially examined regarding health, density of cover, soil, vigor, etc. In coniferous growths,
especially in the plain, the danger from windfalls, if one parcel is cut and thereby the other
exposed to the prevailing storms, necessitates such an arrangement in the location of the fellings
(or age classes) that the removal of an old growth will leave behind it a young growth which is
less liable to be thrown. This local distribution of the age classes by which, in the direction of
the prevailing winds, no two neighboring growths are assigned to the same period is also desirable
from other considerations. By avoiding a series of extensive fellings side by side the danger from
fires is lessened and liability to spread of diseases and insect attacks, danger from frost, and
drought to young growths is confined or reduced. Hence an arrangement of the age classes as
near as possible after the following scheme has been generally adopted, in which the IJoman figures
denote the age classes, I standing for the oldest growth, containing, if the rotation has been set
at 100 years, timber of 80 to 100 years, to be felled within the first twenty years; II for that to be
felled within twenty-one to forty years from the present, and so on; Y to be felled in from eighty
to one hundred years.

Prevailing wind:

V

III

I

IV

IV

ir

V

iir

III

I

IV

II

II

V

III

I

Fin, 23 Diagram showing arrangement of age classes.

In mountainous districts, where the topography influences the expense of transportation,
fellings are often more concentrated and the higher parcels used and reproduced before tlie lower,
in order to avoid injury to the young growth by a reversed condition when the material from above
■would have to pass through the young growth below. Various minor points may also dictate
exceptional arrangement. In coppice growth, needed protection of the stocks against cold north

244

FORK.STKV INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAUTJIENT OF AGlilCULTLKE.

winds makes it desirable to have the fellings progress tVnni the south and west toward north and
east. Altogether it will liave bceonie apparent tliat tlie distribution of successive fellings is an
imi)ortaut matter, not only from the standpoint of regulated administration, but also of successful
culture.

In the accompanying map (I'l. \XX11) we have attempted to give au idea of the matter on
which a ''managers nia[)" is constructed, and how ideally in a forest of the plain tlie airangcnicnt
of age classes would ai)i)ear when tlic forest regulation is jierfected.

YIELD CALCULATIONS.

\\'hen the distribution of areas has been elVected in accordance with the considerations set
forth, the yield calculations are made. These are conii)Ulcd after careful measurements and by
various methods of calciilation. \\ liicii have been developed after much experience during more
than on(^ hundred years.

Since the dilfere;;t compartments are cut at diliereut times, not only the i)resent " stock on

HUNDRED

CUBIC Ft.

ISO

160

140

120

too

80

60

40

---

_ Spruce.
-— Fir.

Pine.

Beech.

^
X
y

^

^

>

/
/

1

.'^'1

V

.<v

/
/
f

•
•

!1

7

/

\

...>''••

•

,..•••-

/

1 • -• y'

:•*'"'

•

5

pri££^

r^

/.•'''

ft::.'

■'/■

^

^^--

y

•*

,.;^

^ ^

x

..<•••

- 1

.••••■

^in."..

r

S?i

^

y^^ ^

^■

-'"

HUNDRtO
CUBIC FT.

180

160

140

120

100

80

00

40

0 10 CO 30 iO ."Sn 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 YEARS
Flo. 24. — Diajjrara ahoH-ing comparativt" progress of yiehis of spruce, fir, ]nne, aud beech on best and jioorest site classes.

hand"' needs to be measured, but also the accretion (or each age class from the i)resent to the
middle of the period in which it is to be utilized as to total quantity (decreasing in arithmetical
proportion as the stock on hand is diminished by fellings), when by adding the two ipiantities and
dividing the total by the number of years in the rotation or time of regulation the equalized
yearly quota to be utilized, or "felling budget" (Haubarkeitsertrag or etat), can be calculated.

The determination of existing stock is made by measuring diameter breast high by means of
calipers, estimating the average height, aud calculating contents with the aid of tables which give
the corresponding volumes of timber wood (above 3 inches diameter). These tables are constructed
after numberless detail measurements, from which the " factor of shape"' for each sjjccies, soil, or
climate is derived, for, since the tree is neither a cylinder nor a cone, which could be calculated
from the base and height, the modification from either of these two iorms, the "factor of shape"
must be determined experimentally in order to arrive at the approximately true contents. In
very irregular growths and with skillful valuators a simjde estimating of contents or the use of
so-called normal yield or " experience tables," which give for the various species, soils, and climates
the amount of wood that would normally be produced per acre at a given period, is not excluded.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — FOREST REGULATION.

245

Age.

Site clats I.

10 yeai's.

20 years -

30 years.

40 years .

50 years.

60 years.

70 years.

80 yt-ai-s-

90 "years .
lOOyt'rtrs.
ill* years.
\'20 years.

Site class IT.

10 years.

20 years.

30 years.

40 years.

50 years-

60 years.

70 years.

80 years .

90 years .
100 years..
llOyears..
120 years. ,

Xonnal yield table for spruce.
[Main urowlh (i-xcluaive of thinniDgs) per acre.]

Num-
ber of
trees.

2.591

1.7U0

1 . 065

724

515

390

269
243
229
226

2.36*

1.619
1, 161
842
639
484
356
301
293
291

Cross-

section

area of

.ill trees
breast

height.

high.

>■'/■ /'•

Feet.

49.2

4.9

114. 4

10.7

159.5

29.2

188.4

47.6

•im. 7

62.6

225. 8

76.7

237. 1

88.2

244.9

97.4

250.9

105.3

258.4

112.5

264.5

117.7

269.7

121.4

26.1

3.2

77.9

11.5

89.9

22.0

151.8

35.1

180. 1

47.2

200. 1

59.7

213.6

71.8

222.7

S3. CI

231. ;;

91.. 1

239. 2

97.7

246. 5

103.0

252. 3

WO. 6

Wooil

a hove 3

inches

diameter.!

r«. /(.
86
1,101
2,603
4,748
7, 222
9, 209
10, 582
11.655

12, 555

13, 290
13, 971

14, 586

315
1,187
2, 502
4,170
6, 220
7,8118
9, 295

10, 339

11, 125
11,740

12, 26D

Wood,
total
mass.

Ou.

415

201

460

018

791

851 \

481

725

683

398

013

585

Age.

Nuni-
lier of
trees.

Site elari III.

Cro.s9-
flection
•area of
all trees
breast
high.

10 years

20 years '

30year.s 3,732 |

40 years.

50 years

60 years

70 years

80 years

90 years

100 years

110 years

120 years

2, 412
1,580
1,0.^>8
724
500
424
380
346
320

Site clats IV.

10 years

20 years

30 years

40 years

50 years

00 years

70 years

80 years

90 years

100 years

110 years

120 years

3, 164
1,908
1,276
804
648
554
500
404

18.3

53.7
86.0
130.1
154.9
171.8
185.3
196. :
205.2
214.9
223. 2
230.6

11.

36.

72.
107.
130.
143.
154.
102.
172.
181.
187.
191.

Aver-

Wood

height.

inches
diameter.

Feet.

0.1. /t.

1.9
6.6

1(10

15.7

472

25.6

1, 244

36.7

2, 574

48.2

4,004

59.0

5,219

07.9

6, 220

74.1

7,093

79.4

7, 922

88.0

8.094

85.6

9, 324

1.6
4.6
10.5

ijo

18.0

515

26.2

1.287

35.1

2,231

42.6

3.089

51.5

3, 7!I0

57.1

4,301

61.3

4,848

63.3

5, 305

66.6

1

5,720

Wood,
total
mass.

Cn. ft.

200

772

1.617

2,760

4,247

5, 634

6,893

7.994

8.860

9, 038

10, 290

10, 725

1.57
500
1,044
1,830
2, 788
3,701
4,519
5,248

5, 703
0,249

6, 707
7,150

111 very regular growths trial areas only are measured. The more usual maimer of deter-
mining the rate of at^cretion, however, for purposes of yield calculation, is by felling sample trees
of each class, dissecting and measuring the accretions of past jieriods.

In modern times the exact measurements are mostly contined to the growths that are utilized
during the tirst or first two periods of twenty years.

FELLING BUDGET.

After all these data for each compartment have been booked, and the yield of branchwood
and roots — for even these are mostly utilized — as well as the probable amounts to be taken out in
thinnings, have been estimated and recorded, and after the likelihood of decreased accretion
in the different compartments has also been determined from measurements and e.\perience, the
"felling budget" is determined as a sum of the stock on hand and the amount of annual accretion
multiplied by the time, during which it is allowed to grow, i. e., in the average to the middle of
the period in which the compartment is placed, divided by the period of rotation. Thus a growth
of eighty-five j ears, which showed a stock on hand of 3,825 cubic feet per acre, and hence had an
average accretion hitherto of 3,825-^85 = 45 cubic feet per year, which is likely to be reduced on
account of gradual reduction in stock and other untoward conditions to 30 cubic feet, would yield
during the first period 3,825 -j- 30 x ]0 = 4,125 cubic feet. And if the compartment contained 50 acres
it should be credited in the working plan in the column for the period 1 with 4,125 x 50 = 20(i,250
cubic feet. 15y adding up the amounts of the yield of all the compartments placed in the first
period and dividing by 20 (the length of the period) the annual budget which should be felled
during the period is fourid. If, however, it is desired to equalize the fellings more or less through
a longer period — for instance, the time of rotation — then the amounts in all the periods must be
suiumetl up, and these sums as nearly as possible equalized by shifting the position of the com-
partments from one period into another (necessitating always new calculations of the accretion)
until the equalization in the periodic sums is effected.

Even then, however, before finally determining the annual budget, a calculation is made to
see whether the area contains as much timber as it normally should; if more, the budget may be
increased; if less, a saving must be made in order to bring up the stock on hand to the normal.
If, for instance, we know from the experience tables that our forest should normally yield 50 cubic
feet per acre a year in a 100- year rotation, then the normal stock would be 100x50-^2=2,500 cubic

246 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS V. R. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

feet per acre. This is the average amount of wood per acre which wo should strive to keep in
stock ill order to fjet the full heuefit of the ])r()(Uictive capacity of the soil and insure an equal
growth and equal annual cut for all time. In reality this ideal is, of course, never reached, but
this so-called normal forest, conceived in ideal condition, serves as a guide in the working ])lans,
and the concei)tion is a most useful and imjiortant one. To put it into practice we must cither
save at tirst on the annual cut until normal condition is attained, or we may increase the cut if
more old timber than necessary for normal stock is on the ground. Additional reserves may also
be i>rovided for to avoid any unforeseen shortcomings in the budget due to iusect ravages, mis-
takes in calculations, etc.

We can not here enter into the details of all the work of the valuator, being satisfied with
having indicated in general tiie methods pursued. In coppice management, of course, all these
tine calculations become unnecessary, and the periodical or annual cut is determined by area mainly.

From the general plan thus elaborated the special plan for the tirst period or half period of
the management is worked out in detail both for fellings, cultures, and other work, road building,
drainage, etc. This special plan, then, is the basis on which the local manager tinally makes out
the annual plans of work, which are submitted for revision and approval to the controlling olhcers.
Thus, while the general and special working plans lay down the general ])rinciples, the annual
plans, into which enter considerations of immediate needs and tinancial adjustments, permit sui^h
deviations from the general jjlans as may appear needful from year to year. Every ten or twelve
years, or at other stated periods, a careful revision of the whole regulation work is made, in which
the carefully noted experiences of the manager are utilized to correct aud perfect the plans.

FOREST PROTECTION.

In this country the greatest danger to the forest, besides the indiscriminate cutting, is to be
found in tires. How little this scourge of American forests is known in (iermany may appear
from the statistics of tires in the (iovernment forests of Prussia (representing GO per cent of the
(lerman forest area), 5G per cent of which are coniferous, which show that railroading may be
carried on without the necessity of extra risks, if proper precautions are provided. During the
years 1882-18'Jl there had occurred 15G larger conflagrations — !•(! from negligence, .'">.''i from ill will,
3 from lightning, and only 4 from locomotives. Seven years out of ten are without any record of
fire due to this last cause.

From 1884 to 1887 fires occurred in Prussia on .3,1()(» acres, but only 1,4.")0 were wholly
destroyed, i. e., .'580 acres per year, or 0.005 per cent of the total area of Goveinment forests. In
Bavaria during the years 1877-1881 only 0.007 per cent of the forest area was damaged by lire,
and the loss re])resented only 0.02 per cent of the forest revenues. During the unusually hot and
dry summer of lS!t2 only 49 fires, damaging more or less 5,000 acres, occurred.

Besides the thorough police organization and the compartment system, which permits not only
ready jiatrolling but also ready control of any fire, the system of safety strips, described in the
report of this division for 1892, where a fuller discaission of this subject may be found, prevents
the spread of tire from locomotives.

A mu(!h more fruitful cause of damage to the cultivated forests of Germany is found in iusect
ravages. The annual expenditures in fighting and preventing these in the Prussian Government
forests in ordinary times amount to about 850,000. Gatcrpillars and beetles eat the leaves, and
thereby reduce the amount of wood produced and the vitality of the tree; bark beetles follow and
kill it; borers of all kinds injure the timber. Hence entomology, the studj^ of life habits of the
injurious insects and the methods of checking their increase, forms part of the forester's work.

P^ungus growth and decay kill the standing tree and injure the cut timber. The study and
methods of counteracting this injury form, therefore, part of the work of the forester.

FOREST CROP PRODUCTION OR SILVICULTURE,

While we have so far considered mainly the administrative and managerial features of German
forestry practice, we come now to the most important and truly technical branch of the art,
namely, the forest crop production or forest (uilture. This part we may call Ibrestry proper, for
while the methods of forest regulation, forest utilization, and forest protection, which may be

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SILVICULTnRE.

247

comprised iu tlie one name, "forest economics," are incidental, and may diflfer even in principle in

various countries and conditions, the methods of croj) production or forest culture, being based
on the natural laws of the interrelations of i^lants to soil and climate, must, at least iu principle,
be alike all over the worM. Tfere pure forestry science linds its application and development.

These principles have been elucidated more fully in the next chapter. We will, therefore,
here only briefly restate the more important ones with some of their applications in (ierman
practice.

TLANTING.

Seemingly the simplest and easiest way of reproducing the crop is that practiced in agricul-
ture, namely, removing flie entin; mature crop and sowing or planting a new crop. But this
method, which has been so largely practiced in Europe and admired by our countrymen and
writers on forestry, has its great drawbacks, which have of late become more and more apparent,
and the tendency now is to return more and more to the " natural reproduction." While the
simplicity of the method of clearing and i)lanting recommends itself for a routine or stereotype
management, it has not always proved as successful as would be expected. The large clearings
which the young planted seedlings are unable to protect from the drying influences of sun and

Flo. 25. — Iron dibble used in setting ont small pine seedling

wind bring about a desiccation and deterioration of the forest soil and an enormous increase of insect
pests, while other dangers in later life from wind and disease have been largely the result of these
uniform growths. And when it is understood that to secure a desirable stand the plantings must
be gone over and fail places replanted five, six, and more times, it becomes apparent that the
method is extremely expensive, and hence the proper treatment of the natural crop with a view
to its reproduction by natural seeding is the most important part of forest culture. Yet under
certain conditions, and where no natural crop to manage is found, planting or sowing becomes a
necessity, and various methods and tools have been developed to meet various conditions.

It would exceed the limits of this report to describe these various methods; we can refer to
only one of the simplest and cheapest with which every year many millions of small 1 or 2 year
old jjine seedlings are set out in soils which do not need or do not admit of i>reparation by plow
or spade. The instrument used is an iron dibble (fig. 25) ; the shoe, with one rounded and one flat
side, in shajx^ like a half cone, .S inches long with .'^^inch base: the handle, a five-eighths-inch rod,
3i feet long, is screwed info the base of the shoe and carries a wooden crossbar, by which the
instrnment is handled. The modus ojx'randi is to thrust this iron dibble into the ground; then
by moving it lightly back and forth to somewhat enlarge the hole and withdraw it; a boy or girl

24S FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

puts the i>lantlet in the hole to the flat side; the dibble is thrust again into tlie ground 1 to 1 .\ inches
back of the first hole somewhat slantingly toward the bottom, and jiressed f«nward to fasten the
plant in its stand ; then by irregular thrusts the last made hole is obliterated. Two ))lanters with
a boy, carrying tlie plants in a mixture of loam anil water to keep the roots moist and also heavy
for better dropping, may set 5,000 plants in a day.

INTKODrCTlON OF EXOTICS— WHITE PINE YIELDS.

Tlie valuable species of trees indigenous to Germany which are subject to special consideration
in forest management are but few. The most important forest forming ones are 1 pine, 1 spruce,
1 lir, 1 larcli, 1 oak, 1 beech, 1 alder. In addition we find of broad leaved trees a blue beecli, 1
ash, .} kiiuls each of elm, maple, and ])oplar, in some parts a chestnut, and 2 kinds of birch and
linden, and several willows, together with some S or 10 kinds of minor importance, while of
conifers in certain regions 4 other species of pines are Ibund. Some years ago the attention
of European Ibresters was Ibrcibly turned to the richness of the American forest flora, and a
movement set in to introduce exotic tree si)ecies which might be more productive or show better
qualities than the native. Our while i)iue, a good si/.ed section of which was exhibited, had been
quite extensively jilanted in the beginning of this century, and these jdantations, some .so or Oi>
years old, are now coming into use. The quality of the wood, however, has not as yet found miicli
fiivor, but the quantity per acre exceeds that of any of the native species. Records are extant
which show, at 70 years of age, a yield of 14,000 cubic feet of wood containing about 70,000 feet
of lumber B. M. per acre.

On moderately good forest soil in Saxony a stand 78 years old contained over 400 trees per
acre, of which tlireefourths were white i>ine, the rest spruce, larch, beech, and oak. Only r> white
pine trees were under 70 feet high, the majority over SO. Notwithstanding the crowded jjosition,
only 45 trees were under 8 inches diameter, the majority over 12 inches, the best 28 inches. The
total yield was 12,880 cubic feet of wood per acre, besides the ]irocecds of i)revious thinnings. The
rate of annual accretion in cubic feet of wood for white pine in the last years amounted to 2.'> per
cent of the total contents of the trees, or about 0.4 cubic foot per tree. Of the trunk wood at
least 00 per cent could be utilized for lumber, since the shape of these trunks was so nearly
cylindric.il as to be equal in contents to one-half a perfect cylinder of the height and diameter of
the trees taken breast high.

A stand 82 years old on poor land produced 12,.500 cubic feet of woijd, indicating an average
yield for the eighty-two years of 212 cubic feet of wood per annum, of which about 700 feet of
lumber 15. M. could be calculated. On very ])oor soil and planted very thick without admixture
of hard woods it produced trees 24 feet high and 5 inches thick in twenty years; and on fairly
good soil trees 54 feet high, ll.i inches thick, in thirty to thirty-five years, excelling in either case
tiie native spruce (/'. cxcclsn) both in height and thickness.

It is also of interest to mention in this connection that a plantation of about 7 acres in the city
forest of Frankforton-the-Main during the eighteen years ending 1881 brought $115 rent per year
for the privilege of seed collecting alone: failing to produce seed only three out of the eighteen
years and yielding a maximum of $.">00 rent during one of the eighteen years; much of the seed
finding a market in the United States.

Besides the white pine, the black locust has also for quite a long time found a home in the
plantations of Europe, but the species which are now propagated in large ijuantities, having after
trial shown superior advantages in behavior and growth, are our I'acific coast conifers, the Sitka
si)ru('e, the Douglas spruce, the Lawsons cypress, and the I'ort Orford cedar, sections and photo-
graphs of which, grown in Germany, were exhibited, as well as of black walnut and hickory. These
trees are now used to plant into fail places or openings, in groups or single individuals, and ai-e
especially prized lor their soil-improving ([ualities and their rapid growth.

The methods of management for natural reproduction are generally divided into three classes,
namely, the coppice, when reproduction is expected from the stumps; the standard coi)i)ice, when
part of the growth consists of sprouts from the stuni]) and another ])art of seedling trees; and the
timber or high forest, when trees are grown to maturity and, unless harvested and replanted,
rejjroduction is effected entirely by natural sowing.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT SILVICULTURE. 249

COPPICE MANAGEMENT.

Tills practice is employed for the production of firewood, tanbark, cbarcoal, and wood of
small dimensions, and is mostly applicable only to deciduous trees. The capacity of reproduction
from the stump is possessed by different species in ditt'ereut degrees, and depends also ou climate
and soil; shallow soil produces weaker but more numerous shoots than a deep, rich soil, and a
mild climate is most favorable to a continuance of the reproductive powder. ^V'ith most trees this
capacity decreases after the period of greatest height-growth; they should therefore be cut before
the thirtieth year, in order not to exhaust the stock too much. Tlie oak coppices for tan bark are
managed in a rotation of from ten to twenty years. Regard to the preservation of reproductivity
makes it necessary to avoid cutting during heavy frost, to make a smooth cut without severing the
bark from the stem, and to make it as low as possible, thus reducing liability to injuries of the
stump and inducing the formation of independent roots by the sprouts.

It will be found often that on poor and shallow soil trees will cease to thrive, tlieir tops dying.
In such cases it is a wise policy to cut them down, thus getting new, thrifty shoots, for which the
larger i-oot system of the old tree can more readily provide. This practice may also be I'esorted to
in order to get a quick, straight growth, as sprouts grow more rapidly than seedlings, the increased
proportion of root to the part above ground giving more favorable conditions of food supply. It
must not be forgotten, however, that this advantage has to be compensated somewhere else by a
disadvantage; sprouts, though growing fast in their youth, cease to grow in height at a compara-
tively early period, and for the production of long timber such practice would be detrimental.

liegard to the preservation of favorable soil coiulitions, which suffer by oft-repeated clearing,
requires the planting of new stocks where old ones have failed. Mixed growth, as everywhere,
gives the best result. Oaks, walnut, hickory, chestnut, elm, maples, birch, cherry, linden, catalpa,
and the locust also, with its root-sprouting habit, can be used for such purpose.

If when cutting off the sprouts, at the age of from 10 to 20 years, some trees are left to grow
to larger size, thus combining the copi)ice with timber forest, a management results which the
Cicrmans call "Mittclwald," and which we may call standard coppice management.

STANDARD COPPICE.

This is the method of management which in onr country deserves most attention by farmers,
especially in the Western prairie States, where the production of firewood and timber of small
dimensions is of first importance, while the timber forest, for the production of larger and stronger
timbers, can alone satisfy the lumber market. The advantages of this method of management,
combining those of the coppice and of the timber forest, are:

(1) A larger yield of wood per acre in a shore time.

(2) A better quality of wood.

(3) A produetion of wood of valualde and various dimensions in tlii> shortest time witli hardly any additional

cost.

(4) The possibility of gi\iug closer attention to the growth and reqnii-ements of single indi\idnals and of

each species.

(5) A ready and certain reproduction.

((j) The possibility of collecting or rising f»)r reforestation, in addition to the coppice stoelvs, the seeds of the
standards.

The objections to this mode of treatment are the production of branches on the standards
when freed from surrounding growth, and the fact tliat the staiulards act more or less injuriously
ou the underwood which they overtop.

The first objection can be overcome to a certain extent by pruning, and the second l)y proper
selection and adjustment of coppice wood and standards. The selection of standards — which
preferably should be seedlings, as coppice shoots are more likely to deteriorate in later life — must
be not only from such species as by isolation will grow into more useful timber, but if possible
from those which have thin foliage, thus causing the least injury by their cover to the underwood.
The latter should, of course, be taken from those kinds that will best endure shade. Oaks, aslies,
maples, locust, honey locust, larch, bald cypress, a few birches, and jierhaps an occasional aspen,
answer well for the standards; the selection for such should naturally be from the best-grown

250 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Straight trees. The number of standards to be held over for timber depends upon the species
and upon the amount of undergrowth which the forester desires to secure. The shadier and the
more numerous the standards the more will the growth of the coppice be suppressed. From a
lirst plantation om; would naturally be inclined to reserve and hold over all the well-grown
valuable saplings. The coppice is, of course, treated as described above.

As before mentioned, on account of the free enjoyment of light which the standards have
they not only develop larger diameters, but also furnish quicker-grown wood (which in deciduous
trees is usually tlie best) and bear seed earlier, by which Ihe rei)roduction of the forest from the
stump is supplemented and assisted. Any failing plantation of mixed growth, consisting of trees
capable of reproduction by coppice, may be recuperated by cutting the larger part back to the
stuni]! and reserving only the most promising trees for standards.

If equally well grown coppice and standards are desired, a regular distribution of the standards,
mostly of the light needing, thin-foliaged kinds, .should be made. If prominence is given to the
production of useful sizes, the staiulards may be held over in groups and in regularly distributed
specimens, in which case tlio.se of the .shade-enduring kinds are best in groups.

TUE TIMBER FOREST.

In the timber forest management we may note various methods: The method of selection
(Plenterwald), in accordance with which only trees of certain size are cut thronghout the whole
forest, and the openings are exjiected to till up with an after-growth sown by the remaining trees.
This method jtrcvailed in former ages, but was tinally almost everywhere abandoned because of the
difficulty of organized administration and control of .such an irregular forest containing trees of
all ages, and because the after growth is apt to progress but slowly with fore-grown trees sur-
rounding and overshadowing it, or may consi.st of worthless kinds. Of late a revival of this
method with various nioditications designed to meet tlie objections is noticeable; the advantage of
keeping the soil constantly sliadcd and thereby ])reserving the soil moisture also recommending
this method. More uniform growths, more regular distribution of age classes, and a more regu-
lated administration was possible by various "regeneration methods," by which a certain area —
a comi)artment — would be taken in hand and the cutting .so .systematically directed that not only
a uniform young giowtli would si)ring up through the whole (•omi)artment, but by the gradual
removal of the mother trees light would be given to the young growth as needed for its best
development. Tliis inethod (FenielscOilag) is ])racticed almost exclusively in the extensive beech
forests, somewhat in the following manner:

RE(iENKi;ATinN METHODS.

In the first place it is necessary to know the period at which a full seed year may be expected.
This difl'ers according to locality and kind. One or more years before such a seed year is exiiected
the hitherto dense crown cover is broken by a preparatory cutting of the inferior timber, enough
being taken out to let in .some light, or rather warm sunshine, which favors a fuller development
of seed, the increased (urculation of air and light at the same time hastening the decomposition of
the leaf-mold and thus forming an acceptable seed bed.

As soon as the seed has di-opped to the soil, an<l ])erhap8, in the case of acorns and nuts, been
covered by allowing ])igs to run where it has fallen, a second cutting takes place uniformly over
the area to be regenerated, in order that the seeds may have the best chance lor germination —
air, moisture, and heat to some degree being necessary — and that the .seedlings may have a proper
enjoyment of light for their best development and yet not be exposed too much to the hot rays of
the sun, which, by ])ro<lucing too rapid evaporation and drying up the needful soil moisture, would
endanger the tender seedlings. This cutting requires the nicest adjustment, according to the
state of the .soil, climatic conditions, and the requirements of seedlings of different kinds.

While the beech recjuires the daikest shade, the pine tribe and the oaks demand more light,
and should, by the successive cuttings, be early freed from the shade of the mother trees. Beech
seedlings are more tender, and only by the grailual removal (often protracted through many
years) of the shelter of the parent trees can they be accustomed to shift for themselves without

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SILVICULTURE. 251

liability of being killed by frost. The final cutting of tbe former generation of trees leaves many
thousand little seedlings closely covering the soil with a dense shade.

That the method of management must difler according to species and local conditions is
evident; and in a mixed forest especially are the best skill and judgment of the forester required
to insure favorable conditions for each kind to be reproduced. It is to bo expected that such
seedlings are rarely satisfactory over tlie whole area, and that bare places of too large extent must
be artificially sown or planted.

Another method is the " nninagement in echelons'' (Ooulissen, Saumschlag), which consists
in making the clearings in strips, and awaiting the seeding of the clearing from the neighboring
growth. It is applicable to species with light seeds,, which tlie wind can carry over the area to be
seeded, such as larches, flrs, si)rnces, most pines, etc.

Tlie cuttings are made as much as [)ossible in an oblong shape, with the longest side at right
angles to the direction of the prevailing winds. The breadth of the clearing, on which occasional
reserves of not too spreading crowns may be left, depends of course on the distance to which the
wind can easily carry the seed which is to cover the cleared area. Observation and experience
will determine the distance. In Germany, for spruce and pine, this has been found to be twice the
height of the tree; for larch, five or six times the height; for fir, not more than one shaft's length.
From 200 to .360 feet is jierhaps tiie range over which seeding may be thus expected. One year
rarely sutlices to cover the cleared area with young growth, and it takes longer in proportion to
the breadth of the cutting. This method is very mucli less certain in its forestal results than the
next named, and more often recpiii-es the helping hand of the planter to fill out bare places left
uncovered by the natural seeding. But it is the one that seems to interfere least with our present
habits of lumbering, and with it eventually the first elements of forestry may be introduced into
lumbering operations.

To be sure, it requires from three to eight times the ai-ea nsually brought under operation, but
instead of going over the whole area every year it may be operated in a number of small camps
systematically placed along a central road connecting the different camps or cuttings with the mill.

As a rule the pine forests in Germany are reproduced by artificial plantations, the spruce
forests by either natural or artificial regeneration, or both combined, while the beech forests are
entirely reproduced as described above, oaks and other hard woods being usually planted, although
a return to a more extended use of natural reproduction is noticeable.

IMPROVEMENT CUTTINGS — THINNINGS.

The principles which underlie the practice of thinning out young growths in order to accel-
erate their development have been theoretically well developed, but the practice in Germany
remains behind the theory. The difiiculty of disposing of the material taken out in the thinnings
discourages the practitioner, and the financial value of the operation in the acceleration of the
remaining crop is not fully api)reciated.

A few results of German practice in thinning maj' serve to give an indication of its value.

A natural growth of pine (Scotch) which was thinned when six years old showed an increased
rate of accretion three times as great as that of the ])art not thinned, which was also deficient in
height growth.

A 50-year-old spruce (Norway) growth, having been twice thinned, showed an average accretion
22 per cent greater thau the part not thinned.

A growth of spruce (natural sowing), slightly mixed with maple, aspen, willow, and ironwood,
when 15 years old was opened to the poor population to take out firewood; thus one-half of the
growth for a few years M'as thinned out irregularly. The part thus thinned eighteen years later
contained four and one-half times more wood than the undisturbed part; the former contained
trees of from 1 to 9 inches in diameter and 15 to 05 feet in height; the latter did not produce any
above 5 inches in diameter ami 48 feet in height.

Another experiment, made upon a pine growth 50 years old, showed that by interlucation the
rate of growth within eleven years stood three to one and three fourtlis in favor of the thinned part.

Another writer planted Scotch pine 6 feet apart; two years later he planted the same ground

2.V2

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPAKTMENT OK AGKICVLTL'RE.

to bring the stand to .5 feet apart; lie thinned when lit'teen years old, and carefully measured
contents when twenty years old. Although the jilantation was stocked on poor soil, yet the
average annual accretion was found to be L'.l.'J conls (Austrian) per acre, a yield "which is
unexcelled." The writer adds that ''if in such growths the number of trees is reduced in the
fifteenth to twentieth years to 280 trees per acre, the yield in sixty years uiight equal that
obtained in one hundred or on(> hundred and fifty years in the old manner."

A plantation of Norway si)rucc, made w ith seed, was when thirty-three years old still so dense
that it was imi)eiietrable; hardly anj increase was noticeable and the trees were covered with
lichens. When thirty-five years old it was thinned, and again, when forty-two years old the
condition of the growth was such as to make a thinning appear desirable; between the two
thinnings, within seven years, the accretion had increased by HIO per cent, or 27 per cent yearly
in the average, and the appearance of the trees had changed for the better.

A coppice of tanbark oak was thiuTied when fifteen years old on balf the area; when twenty
years old both parts were cut, anil it was found that the thinned part yielded more wood and more
aiul better bark than the untliinned part, and yielded in money 1-t.a per cent more, although no
higher price was asked for the better bark.

An areaof 12 acres was planted, one-half with 2-year-old ])ine seedlings from the forest, the
other half with seed.

Three thinnings were made with the following yield of round firewood (cut to billet length
and over 2-J inches in diameter) and brushwood (less than 2jJ inches in diameter).

The pl.anted part yielded at the thinnings:

When—

Firewood.

Brush.

Cords.

Cords.

!.'» v*^ars "III

4 9

2 8

2.8

Total

7

The sciwing was first thinned when S years old, yielding:

When—

Firewood.

Brush.

8 ynars olil

Cords.

Cords.

2.8 1

:).6

1.4

20 vftirs old

3.2

Total

3.2 '

7.8

Til twenty-four years the total yield, inclusive of thinning, was:

Cnbir feet of
solid wjkhI.

Planted ])ait :5 JO.')

Sowed part •_ j ggg

III I'avnr II f plaiitcil part 1 497

Thinnings are usually made for the following purposes:

(1) Improvement cuttings, to improve the composition of the forest and give advantage to the
better kinds.

(2) Inteilncations, to imiu-ove the form and hasten development of young timber.

(3) Regeneration cuttings, to produce favorable conditions for seed formation and reproduc-
tion of the forest.

(4) Ac( retion cuttings, to improve rate of diameter growth in older timber.

Thinnings are to open the crown-cover, giving access to light and air, their object being to
accelerate decomposition of the litter and turn it into available plant food; to improve the form
and hasten the development of the remaining growth. The degree of thinning de[)ends on soil,
species, and age, and is best determined as a jiroportion between the present growth and that
which is to remain with reference either to crown-cover, mass, or diameter.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — SILVICULTURE.

253

Siuce it is observed that iu the struggle for existcuce ainoug tlie individual trees there are
quite early some trees getting the advantage and becoming dominant, it is interred that thinnings
are most etteetive in the earlier period of the croi).

In discussing the degree to which the thinning is to be made, a classihcation of the trees
according to the character of their development is made by German foresters as Ibllows:

I Clasi 1. — Predumiuaut trees with liiybly developed crowns.
J I'lass _'. — Codoiuiuaut trees witU tolerably well developed crowns.
Dommaut or siii.erior -rowtU. -. ^.^^^^ 3.— Suljdomiuaut trees with normal crowns, but poorly developed and crowded

I above.

'7([»8 1, — Dominated trees witb crowns poorly developed and crowded laterally.

(a) Crowns wcdj;ed in laterally, yet not overtopped.

(b) Crowns compressed, partly overtopped.
Clwis .J. — Suppressed trees, entirely overtopped.

(a) Crowns still having; vitality (shade enilnring species).
(?() Crowns dying or dead.

The following illustration of the appearance of these tree classes will be found serviceable in
understanding these relations.

Dominated or interior KrowtU.

i ? 3 4 5 6

9 10 I)

12 15 R 15 16 !7 18

13 20

Fig. 26.— Tree claaees; Cla-ssitiL-ation acconliug t" <.Tciwn develupmi'Dt. Schematic. Class 1 (iiredomiuaiit) : Xiis. 1, 3, 6. 11, 16, 20; class
2 (cndominant) ; Ncs.S. 13, 18: class ;Msubdominant) : X(is.9, 14, 17; class 4 (oppressed) ; Nos.5,7,12i class 5 (suppressed, a) : ;Nos.2,19; class
5 (suppres.sed. h) -. Xos. 4, 1'), 15.

The degrees of thinning usually resorted to are the following:

(1) Slight thinning takes out trees of class 5.

(li) Moderate thinning takes out trees of class 5 and 4/>.

(3) Severe thinning takes out trees of class 5, 4, and sometimes 3.

The time when the lirst thinning should take place is generally determined by the possibility
of marketing the extracted material at a price which will cover at least the expense of the
operation. This is, however, not always possible, and the consideration of the increase in value
of the remaining growth, or rather of the detriment to the same by omission of timely thinning,
may then be conclusive.

On good soil and on mild exposures interlucatioii may take place earliest, because here the
growth is rankest and a ditference iu the development of the different stems is soonest noticeable.

254 FOKESTRV INVESTIGATIUNS U. ^. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

Light-needing aud quicker growing kinds show simihir conditions to those grown on good soil,
and here, therefore, early thinnings are desirable. In these cases the thinnings have also to be
repeateil oftencst, esi)eeially daring the jieriod of prevalent height accretion. Absolute rules as
to the time for interlucations and their periodical repetition evidently can not be given. The
peculiar conditions of each individual case alone can determine this. The golden rule, however,
is early, often, moderately. The right time for the beginning of these regular and periodical
interlucations is generally considered to have arrived when the natural thinning out before
mentioned commences and shows the need of the operation. This occurs generally when the
crop has attained the size of ho)) poles. At this stage the well marked diflereuce in size of the
suppressed trees will point them out as having to fall, and there will not be nuuh risk of making
any gross mistakes. Until the trees have attained their full height the thinning should remain
moderate. From this time forward it will prove expedient to o|)en out the stock more freely
without ever going so far as to thin severely. Within the last few years new and revolutionary
ideas regarding piinciples aud methods to prevail in thinnings are gaining ground, which we have
not space here to discuss.

UNDER-l'LANTINO.

All these manipulations experience modifications according to circumstances, diflerent species
and soil conditions re(iuiriiig dillcrcnt treatment. One of the most interesting modifications, the
results of which in a given district were fully exhibited, is the v. Seebach management in beech
forests. Such a maiuigement, 'vhich contemplates the production of heavier timber in the shortest
time, tries to take advantage of the increase in accretion due to an increase of light which is
secureil by severe thinning, and in order to prevent the drying out of the soil by such severe
thinning a cover of some shady kind is established by sowing or planting. This cover gradually
dies off under Ihe shatle of the old timber, the crowns closing again after a number of years. The
rate of growth in a stand of 70 to .SO years was thereby increased from'51 cubic feet per acre and
year to 77 cubic feet per acre and year, while a neighboring stand, otherwise the same but not so
treatetl, increased by oidy 60 cubic feet, distributed over a larger number of trees.

The same method is a)))>lied to the production of heavy oak timber. In this case the oak
growth is thinned out when about (50 years oltl and "undcrplanted" with beech. It may also be
applied to older growths with advantage, as appears from the following results:

A stand of oaks 150 to 160 years old in 1846 was thinned to 96 trees per acre, averaging
37 cubic feet of wood per tree, the cleared S])ace being "underjdantcd"' with beech and spruce.
In 18S7 the oaks, now 190 to I'OO years old, of which dU trees only were left, contained .56 cubic
feet in the average, thus growing daring the last forty years more than one-half as much as
during the one hundied and fifty to one hundred and sixty years ])revioas to the operation, i. e.,
doubling the rate of growth. In this ('ase, under the light foliaged oaks, some of the beech and
spruce developed sufliciently to furnish marketable material.

With Scotch i)ine it has been found in one ca.se that while the average accretion of a stand
120 years old under ordinary condition was about 59 cubic feet per acre and year — the yield by
thinning included — a stand underplanted with beech showed an accretion of 100 cubic feet per
acre and year, besides much better log sizes and earlier supply of saw timber.

Translated into money an examjde from I>av;iria may be cited as follows:

Ou 1 acre of pine 80 years nhl, umlerplauted at a co:st of .$2.(<5 per acre witli Ijeetb now 40 years old, tliere
were found —

Yield of
wood.

1U5 piDb^

2.SUUbBech 156 1 38

Average

aDUim

accrelion

per acre.

Cubie/t. Oubie/l.

322 ! 40

Total 478 1 79

SupposiuK tli's stand to be left forty years longer, it may be lij;»red tbat the pine would briuj; ftijO and the
beech $120; total per acre, .$770, of wliieli $4!) was yielded iu thinnings. White pine without uudergrowiugs is
expected to produce only $520 per acre when 120 years old.

GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — ADMINISTRATION. 256

FORESTERS, FORESTRY EDUCATION, AND FORESTRY LITERATURE.

To be sure, the highly elaborate system of forest administration and forest management here
outlined could not be developed or maintained without a special high-grade education of those
who direct the work. Tliis education is provided for in the most ample manner, and consists not
only in theoretical studies at schools, academics, and universities, but also in i)ractical studies in
the forest itself under the guidance of competent and experienced ibrest managers.

The course which a^jplicants for positions in the higher administrative forestry service are
expected to follow, with more or less modification in the diflereut states, may be briefly outlined
here:

After promotion from college the student goes into the woods for a short period (one-half to
one year) to acquaint himself, under the guidance of a district manager, with the general features
of the business he proposes to engage in, and thereby tests his probable litness for it. He then
visits for two and one-half or three years a forestry school (called academy when by itself, when
at a university it is connected with the "faculty" for national economy), where theoretical studies
with demonstrations in the forest are pursued.

After examination and promotion the applicant is bound at his own expense to occupy himself
for two years at least in studying the practice in various districts, changing from place to jilace.
If occupation can be found for him he is employed at small daily wages on some scientific or
administrative work, always keeping an official diary of his doings and observations, certified to
by the district manager with whom he stays, and which forms part of his final examination. For
nine months during this time he must continuously i)erform all the duties of a lower official — a
ranger — for a whole or part of a range, and sometimes also for a given time certain functions
of a district manager. Then, after two years of law studies at a university, he enters into a
close and difficult examination for a position as district manager, lasting eight to ten days. By
passing this he is placed on the list of eligibles, and has thereby secured a right, enforcible in
the courts if need be, to a position when a vacancy arises and his name is reached in tlie order
of the list. This, in I'russia, may now be within eight or ten years after listing. During the
interval he may be, and mostly is, employed on daily wages in various sorts of scientific and
administrative work, such as revising and making new valuations, laying out roads, acting as
tutor at the academies or as assistant to district managers, or else taking the place of a manager
temporarily, etc.

The higher administrative offices are tilled by selections from the managers, length of service
counting only when special fitness for the kind of work required a<;companies it; so that, as in the
army, the highest officer has been through all the grades below, and is conversant with every
detail of the service. The pay is small, graded in each kind of position according to length of
service and somewhat according to the cost of living in different places. The honor of the i)osition,
to which usually other honors are added, its permanency, and the assurance of a pension, graded
according to length of service, in case of disability or age, make up for small salaries. The
salaries, subject to change from time to time, without adding the value of perquisites like houses,
farm lands, etc., range about as follows in Prussia:

1 director (Oberlaudlbrstnieister) $3, HOO

4 forest councilors (Laiulforstmeister) $1, 800 to 2, 400

33 chief inspectors (Olierforstmeister) fwith jwlditioris for house and travelinj; up to $1,100) 1,050 1,500

8!l inspectors (Forstmeister) (with additions for house and traveling up to $1,1(10) 900 1,500

679 district managers (Oberfoerstcr) (with additions up to $S'J5 and house and held) 500 900

3, iOO rangers (Foerster) (with house and additions up to $110) 260 360

349 guards (Waldwaerter) 100 200

The rangers (Focrster) follow different courses of instruction, part of which they receive in
subordinate positions under district managers; while serving in the army in special battalions
(chasseurs) they receive also theoretical instruction, which is supplemented in special schools.
When finally promoted to the responsible i^osition of rangers, in which much discretion and
latitude are given them, their pay amounts to from $L'60 to $3C0, with a house and field, with the
assurance of pension on withdrawal.

256 FOKESTIiV INVKSTIGATIONS U. J?. DKPAUTMKNT OF AGRICULTURE.

The followiii'; schools :ire jirovided I'or the higher grades ot' foresters:

Uiylitr fortat)'/ .^vhooh in Hermauij for the ahicaiion of foioit managers,
^Austria aud Switzerlautl iucltitlfd. ]

Naiiif 111' ]>lace.

Slate.

Wlirl.
foil li (led.

lA'ii;;tIi

of course

(years).

Instruptora
of forestry ,
branchus
I proper.

At universities: i

(liessni Ue.sse

Tiibin^on W'lirttemhLTj;

MunicQ IJaviiria

At imlyt^MlinicUlu:

Karlsrubf liaden

Zurich Switzerlaml ,.

Vienna Austria

Separate acatleniics:

Aschatienburg Bavaria

Tharandt , Saxon v

EiscMiach j Saxe Weimar.

Eberswaldo Prussia

Miinden I do

1825
1818
1878

1832

1855
1875

1807
1811
IS.'JU
1831
1868

ih)

Total

instructors.!

Average
atleiidaiice
of forestry

studeuts.

in)
(<0

19

«2U

43

a I
lU

8
14
13

40 51.)
5U-GU

cyo-100

15-30

i.-i-yo
i:;o-i40

90-100
100-1 ::5

05-75
140-150

40-60

a The entire (.'orpM of professors of the uuivtrsity. In Munich 18 professors are ni-iaged in lecturing on subjects which concern for-
estry student*; in Ziiricb, 20 professors. In iluuiih all studies can bi> followed in any year, as tb(? students may scli'ct. Tlic alteudanee
varies, of course, widely in dillereut years, having been as high as 21C in Eberswalde and ll'O in Miiudeu. The abo\e iigures are for 18tJ5-8G.

b Kot prescribed.

c Duriuj^ the winter of 189ri Ilierc were 14u students at Municli out of 527 forestry students at all forei>try schoid.'^.

The lbllowiii<j^ table will serve to give an idea of what instruction is tt) be had al these
institutions:

I'hiH of studies at I-'urvfit Academy Ebcrsicalile,

Sabject-s uf instruction.

Whole !l
I number j
I of hours. '

FUNDAMENTAL SClK.NrES.

Xatuial sciences.

(Jeneral and theoretic chemistry

Spteiitl iiiorcanie and organic cheniistri' applied

Pbysirs .iiid meteorology

Mimraliigy and geognosy

Detiiiition nt minerals and rocks

Reviews for organic natural sciences

Bot;tny in general and forest botany in particular

Anatomy i}( plants, vegetable physiology and pathology .
Microscopy

Botanical reviews

Botanical excursions, each 2J hours

General zoology

Tertebrat*;s

Invertebrates, with special reference to forest insects .

Zoological preparations -

Zoological review s

Zoological excursions, each 3 liours

Total natural sciences.

^lathematics.

Geodesy

Interest and rent account

\Viiim1 measuring

Mathematical reviews and exercises

Surveying and leveling exerci.ses, each 4 hours.
Plan-drawing exercises, 2-5 hours

Total mathematics

Economic sciences.

Public eronoUij' ami tiuances

Total sum uf hours for fundamental sciences.

32

80 ,

30 I

GO I

20

16

G4

60 ,

20

20

80

16

80

80

16

20

96

20
20
56
192
80

1,326

Subjects of instruction.

Whole
number
of hours.

riUNril-AL SCIENCES.

I Cultivation of forests

Forest iniplenients

(Ieograi»hical fttrcst botany

Protection of forests

I Forest usufruct and technology

! Forest surveying

i Appraising forests

Calculation of the value of fr»rest« anil forest statistics .
I Adiuinistratiun of forest and bunting

liedeniptinn of rights of usage

Fert'st lii.story

Forest statistics

Review of various forest matters

ICxamiuatious

Forest excursions, each 4 hours

80
20
48
32
80
20
80
32
48
32
40
20
56
40
352

Total.

980

SECfiNIiARY SCIENCES.

Jurisj'r'udcnce.

Civil law

Criminal law

Civil and criminal lawsuits and constitutional rigljls
Jurisprudence

Total

Construction of roads

Hunting

Shooting exercises, 2 hours each.

32
40
36

180
32
32
96

Total sum t>f hours for secondary sciences,
(irand total

Per cent.

Fundamental sciences 5q

Principal sciences 37

Secondary sciences j3

Average per instruction week (21 weeks in winter, 17 during summer; 2 winter courses. :i summer courses):

2618^
93

-28.5 hours, or per day, 4.0 liours.

SYSTEM OF FORESTRY KNOWLEDGE. 257

If we were to codify into a system tlie scieuce of forestry as develot)eil in Germany we might
come to the following scheme, which exhibits the various branches in which a well-educated
forester must be versed :

System ok Fokestky Knowledge.

i. forest policy — economic basis oe fokestry (the condition).

J.1/HC(8.

1. Foreatry stutislica. (Areas, forest conditions; jiroducts. By-products: Trade; supply and demand; prices;

substitutes.)

2. Forestry economics.

(a. Study of relation of forests on climate, soil, water, h<altb, ethics, etc.

h. Study of commercial peculiarities and position of forests, and forestry in political economy.)

3. History of forestry.

ApiiUcation.

4. Forestry politics. (Fornuilatiou of rights and duties of the State aud of its methods in developing forestry; legis-

lation, State forest administration, education.)

II. FOREST I'KODUCTION — TECHNICAL BASIS OK FORESTRY (THE CROP).

Aspects.

5. Forest holaiiy. (Systematic botany of arborescent flora; forest geography; plant and climate; biology of trees

in their individual and aggregate life; forest weeds.

6. SoiJ jiliysics and soil chemistry with special reference to forest growth.

7. Timher physics. (Anatomy of woods; chemical physiology and physical properties of woods. Influences deter-

mining same; diseases and faults.)

8. Technoloijy. (Application of wood in the arts; leijuiiements and behavior; mechanical and working proj)erties;

durability; special needs of consumers; use of by-products, waste materials, minor forest products.)

Application.

9. Silviculture. (Methods of growing the crop.)

a. Natural reforestation ; cutting for reproduction.

b. Artificial art'orestatiou ; procurement of plant material ; nursery practice, choice of plant material, methods

of soil preparation, of forest planting.

c. Improving aud .accelerating the crop. Cultivation, filling, thinning, pruning, undergrowiug.

d. Systems of management. Timber forest, standard coppice, coppice, etc.

10. Forest protection. (Against insects, climatic injuries, tire, cattle, etc.)

11. Forest impronetnent and cuijinecring. (Treatment of denuded mountain slopes, shifting sands, barrens, swamp

and moors, road building, etc. )

12. Forest ulilizaliun. (Methods of harvesting, transporting, preparation for market.)

III. FOREST ORGANIZATION — AD.MINISTUATIVE AND FINANCIAL BASIS (THE REVENUE).

Aspects.

13. Forest survey. Ascertaining area aud condition of the forest; ascertaining rate of accretion, yield.

14. Forest valuation aud statics. Ascertaining money value of forest soil .and forest growth as capital of the manage-

ment and comparing financial results of various kinds of management.

Application.

15. Forest rcijulalion. Kstablisliing units of management aud administration; determining working plans, distri-

buting yearly or periodical cut, etc.

16. Forest administration. Routine methods, business practice, personnel, organization of service and mechanical

operations.

LITERATURE.

In addition to the live teachings, which an able corps of ])rofessors impart at these institutions
aud that which competent managers are ready to impart to the youug students in the forest itself,
a large number of weekly, monthly, (quarterly, aud annual journals and publications are keeping
the forestecs and forestry students uu courunt with the progress of forestry science and forestry
technique. Adding the jiublications of this nature which appear in Austria and Switzerland in
the German language, and which have their constituency in Germany as well, we can make the
H. Doc. 181 17

258

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AliRICLLTURE.

following iesi)Octal)le list, not coaiitiug the Jouruuls of tlii' himbci- trade and other related
])ublicatious. Those marked with au asterisk (*) are to be found in the library of the Division of
Forestry; those marked (t) are considered the best or are most comprehensive; those marked ( ?)
have been discontinued.

Genitaii furislri/ jicrioiiicah.

Xaliio of publication.

Published at—

Allgcmeine Forst-n. Jagdzoitnng * t

Alls doni Walde

Alia dcm Waldo

Doutsclio Forsl-u. Jagdzeituug

ForsllicheUlai'tter Berlin

FMrstlicli-iiaUirHisflfUschal'tlirhe Zeitschrift"! Munich.

Forstwissenschartlielics Central blatt *i I Berlin ..

Jaluvsberichl (it's si-lilesisclien Forstvereins I BresUu .

Jabresbericht derpnussisohin F. u. J. tresetzbogung ' Berlin ..

Land u. Forst wirtlisrliaftlicbe Zoit3cbrift Vienna .

MuendiMiir I'.n-stlU-hi' Hette* Berlin ..

Ofstirri-iibisibf I'.nst zeitung* Vienna .

Bit ])raktiSL-liP Forstwirt i'uer die Schweiz Davoa ..

Schweizer Zeitsrlirift luer Forstwesen Ziirich..

Tburandter Ibi stliclics Jabrlmch ' , Dresden

Veriianil 1 n ngt-n tier Forst VL-reine I Various

Bcriclit iifber die Versammlung doutscber Forstnuienuer -do ..

Zeitscbrilt fuer Forst-u. Jagdweseu*! j Berlin ..

Zentralblatt luer das geaamnite Forstwesen - 1 - - Vienna .

Zeitscbril't derdeutscnen Forstbeamten

Frankfort on the Main .

Hanover

Frankfort ou the Main .
do

<!)

Issued-

Montlily

Irregularly ...

Weekly

Seraimontbly .

Monthly

do

do

Annually

do.;

Quarterly

Irregularly . . ,
Weekly

(!)

Quarterly

Annually

do .-■

do

Monthly

do

(!)

Eatah-
lisbed.

1«24
1865

l!<6.1

1«92
1 «ri6
1841
1868
1888
18!>2
1882

18l'9
1875

(0

Should the reader wish to collect a library of the most modern thought on any or all subjects
pertaining to forestry in Germany the list of books contained in the library of the Department of
Agriculture, a catalogue of which has been published, with over l,liOO numbers and probably li,(tOO
volumes, would give him a good selection.

FORESTRY ASSOCIATIONS.

Forestry associations thrive better in Germany thau iu the United States and are of a diH'eient
character; they are associations of foresters, who practice what they preach. There is no moi-e
need of a ])ropagauda for forestry than there would be here for agriculture, and the di.scnssions,
therefore, are moviug In technical, scientific, and economic directions. Besides some thirty or
forty larger and smaller local as.sociations, there is held every year a forestry congress, at which
the leading foresters discuss important questions of the day.

FOREST EXPERIMENT STATIONS.

In addition to all these means of education and of advancement of forestry science, and in
addition to the demonstration forests connected with the various schools of forestry, there has
been developed in the last twenty years a new and most important factor in the shape of forest
experiment stations, which are also mostly connected with the forestry schools. If forestry had
a strong and well-supported constituency before, this additional force has imparted new impulses
in every direction.

The first incentive for the establishment of these stations came from the recognition that the
study of forest influences upon climate could be carried on only with the aid of long continued
observations at certain stations. Accordingly, during the years 1862 to 1807, forest meteorological
stations were instituted in Bavaria, which, under the eflBcieut direction of the well-known and
eminent Dr. Ebermayer, for the first time attempted to solve these and other climatic (juestions
on a scientific basis. The results of these and other observations have been fully discussed in
Bulletin 7 of the Forestrj' Division and are briefly recorded in this report.

WhUe these stations were continued and others added in all parts of the country, an cnlaige
ment of the programme was soon discussed with great vigor, leading (between the years 1S7(I-1.S7<;)
to the institution of fully organized experiment stations in Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Tluningia,
Wurtemberg, Baden, Switzerland and Austria following in the same direction; all of these lin;i]ly
combining into an "association of German forest experiment stations,'" similar to the association
of agricultural experiment stations in our country. Thus the science of forestry, which hitherto
had been developed empirically, has been placed upon the basis of exact scientific investigation,
the fruit of which is Just beginning to ripen in many branches.

FOREST MANAGEMENT IN BRITISH INDIA. 259

We iu the United States are fortunate, in that we can learu froiu the experience and profit
from the assiduous work of these careful investigators. While we may never adopt the admirable
administrative methods that fit the economic, social, and political conditions of Germany, we shall
ever follow them where the recoguition and utilization of natural laws lead to the practical
acknowledgment of general principles and to desired economic results in forest culture.

Forest Management in British India.

In order to show how the transfer of German* methods may work advantageously, even in a
country entirely ditterently conditioned, the results obtained by the forest management in British
India aie here briefly stated.

India, with a total area of nearly 1,500,000 srpiare miles or 930,000,000 acres (an area about
one-half that of the United States without Alaska), has a iiopulation of about 270,000,000, or four
times as great as that of the United States.

Of the entire area about 950,000 square iniles, or 63 per cent, are under British rule, the
remaining 550,000 sijuare miles, with a population of about 53.000,000, being divided among a
large number of more or less independent native States.

Of the entire population about 70 per cent are farmers and farm laborers, who cultivate about
200,000,000 acres of land, 30,000,000 of which is irrigated. The greater part of the main peninsula
is a high plateau with steep descents to the ocean, both on the western and eastern coast.

To the north of this plateau is a broad, fertile, river plain extending from the upper Bramah-
putra to the mouth of the Indus, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, without rising more than 900
feet above sea level. Xorth of this large and densely settled Indo-Gangetic plain, and forming
the barrier between India and Thibet, is the great Himalaya Mountain system, drained by the
three great river systems of northern India.

More than half of India lies within the Troj^ics and over 90 per cent is farther south than New
Orleans, the latitude of which is 30^. From this it is apparent that the climate is generally hot,
but, owing to diversity of elevation and peculiarities of the distribution of rainfall, it is by no
means uniform.

The rains of India depend on extraordinary sea winds, or "monsoons," and their distribution
is regulated by the topography of laud aud the relative position of any districts with regard to
the mountains and the vapor-laden air currents. Thus excessive rainfall characterizes the coast
line along tlie Arabian Sea to about latitude 20° X., and still more the coast of Lower Burmab, and
to a lesser extent also the delta of the Ganges and the southern slope of tbe Himalayas. A mod-
erately humid climate, if gauged by annual rainfall, prevails over the i)lateau occupying the large
peninsula and the Lower Ganges Valley, while a rainfall of less than 15 inches occurs over the
arid regions of the Lower Indus. In keeping with this great diversity of climate, both as to
temperature and humidity, there is great variation in the character and development of the forest
cover. The natural differences in this forest cover are emphasized by the action of man, who for
many centuries has waged war against the forest, clearing it permanently or temporarily for agricul-
tural purposes or else merely burning it over to imjirove grazing facilities or for purposes of the chase.
Thus only about 25 per cent of the entire area of India is covered by woods, not over 20 per cent
being under cultivation, leaving about 55 per cent either natural desert, waste, or grazing lands.
The great forests of India are in Burmah; extensive woods clothe the foothills of the Himalayas
and are scattered in smaller bodies throughout the more humid portions of the country, while the
dry northwestern territories are practically treeless wastes. In this way large areas of densely
settled districts are so completely void of forest that millions of people regularly burn cow dung as
fuel, while equally large districts are still impenetrable, wild woods, where, for want of market, it
hardly pays to cut even the best of timbers.

The great mass of forests of India are stocked with hardwoods (i. e., not conifers), which iu
these tropical countries are largely evergreens, or nearly so, aud only a small portion of the forest
area is covered by conifers, both pine and cedar, these pine forests being generally restricted to
higher altitudes. The hardwoods, most of which iu India truly deserve this name, belong to a
great variety of plant families, some of the most important being the Leguraiuoste, Verbenacea;,
Dipterocarpeaj, Combretacea;, Eubiaceie, Ebenacea', Euphorbiacea-, Myrtacea', and others, and

J

260 FORESTRY INVESTIGATI0X8 V. S. DEPARTMENT UF AGRICULTURE.

but a relatively small portiou of tUem represeut the Cupulifera- and otbor important hardwood
timber families so characteristic of our woods.

In the grreater part of India the hardwood forest consists not of a few species, as with us, but
is made uj) of a great variety of trees uulike in their habit, their growth, and their product, and
if our hardwoods ofler on this account considerable difficulties to protitable exploitation, the case
is far more complicated iu India. In addition to the large variety of timber trees there is a
multitude of shrubs, twining and climbing plants, and in most forest districts also a dense under-
growth of giant grasses (bamboos), attaining a height of 30 to 120 feet. These bamboo.s, valuable
as they are in many ways, prevent often for y* ars the growth of any seedling tree, and thus form
a serious obstacle to the regeneration of valuable timber. The growth of timber is generally
([uite rapid; the bamboos make large, useful stems iu a single season. Teak grows into large-size
saw timber in lifty to sixty years. But in spite of their rapid growth and the large areas now in
forest capable of reforestation, India is not likely to — at least within reasonable time — raise more
timber than it needs. In most parts of India the use of ordinary soft woods, such as pine, seems
very restricted, for only durable woods, those resisting both fungi and insects (of which the white
ants are specially destructive), can be employed in the more permanent structures, and are there-
fore acceptable in all Indian markets.

At present teak is the most important hardwood timber, while the deodar (a true cedar) is the
most extensively used conifer. Teak occurs in all moist regions of India except the mountain
countries, never makes forests by itself (pure forests), grows mixed with other kinds, single, or in
clumjis, is girdled two to three years before felling, is generally logged in a primitive way, com-
monly hewn in the woods and shipped — usually floated — as timber, round or hewn, and rarely sawn
to size. Teak is as heavy and strong as good hickory, has little sapwood, stands well after
seasoning, and is remarkably proof against decay and the still more dreaded white ants, and is
really the only important export timber of India, about $2,500,000 worth having been shipped in
1894-95, bringing about 81 per cubic foot, or more than four times as much as good pine timber
in the market.

As will be seen from the following ligures timber forms only about I'O per cent of the export
of forest products, which consist chiefly of lac, the basis of shellac (really the product of an
insect) and of tanning materials :

Erports of forest products from India, IS'Jl-O.'t.

Lac (basis of shellac) $7,000,000

Teak 2,800,000

Myrotalans 2,300,000

Cutcb and gamliier 1,450,000

Caontcboiic 550, 000

Fancy woods — sandal, ebony, rosewood 290, (KiO

Cardamoms 140, (X)0

Totiil 14,530,000

The imjiorts of timber into India have so far been very insignificant. Attempts at introducing
American coniferous timber (pine, spruce, larch, and hemlock) from the Pacific coast have not
been successful, though it would seem that some wood goods, such as boxes, sash and door, and
cheap furniture, should find a favorable and extensive market if once the trade is established.
Perhaps a treatment of these materials with some of the new fireproofing substances could be
made to render them at the same time more resistant to white ants and other insect borers,
and thus procure for them several important advantages at once.

In the past the people of India, as far as known, never realized the importance of their
forests. They were cleared, destroyed, mutilated at all times and in all j)laces, and the use of
wood never seems to have formed an important factor in Hindoo civilization.

With the advent of foreign commerce the exploitation of the forests for the more valuable
export timbers received a new stimulus and the forests were culled regardless of the future, either
of forest or people. This matter was aggravated by the construction of railways, which, in
themselves large consumers, also oftered a premium on all that contributed to increased traffic.
When, finally, it was noticed that the demands of timber for public works in some localities could

sy

INDIAN FOREST MANAGEMENT. 261

no longer be supplied without costly transportation, tlie matter at last received public attention.
In lS."iG, Dr. B. Brandis was appointed superintendent of forests for Pegu ; in lSr.2 be was charged
with tlie duty of organizing a forest department for all India, and in 1804 he was appointed the
first inspector-general for the forests of India. During the thirty-four years of its existence this
department has steadily and rapidly grown in the area managed, the number of men employed,
ud the revenue derived for the State. In 1894-95 this forestry department had control of about
112,900 square miles of forest, nearly half of all the forests, and about 12 per cent of the entire
area of India. Of these State forests, 74,000 square miles are " reserve" or permanent State forests,
while the rest are held as "protected" and "unclassed," a large portion of which will become
reserve or permanent forests as fast as the necessary surveys and settlement can be made.

With the irregular distribution of forests, the peculiarities of Indian affairs, and the unsurveyed
wild, and difficult conditions of the forests themselves, it is but natural that the work thus far
has been chiefly one of organization, survey, and protection, and to a far less degree an attempt
at improvement both by judicious cutting and reforestation.

Over 33,000 square miles have been surveyed for forest purposes since 1874, and over 4,000
square miles were added during the year 1894-9.5. at a cost of over 8200,000.

Work of establishing and maintaining boundary lines, which is often a very dilBcult and
costly matter in the dense tropical jungles, involved during the same year an expense of over
$40,000, and there are at present about G0,000 miles of such boundary lines maintained. Besides
this survey work proper, there is a large force constantly at work to ascertain the amount and
condition of timber supplies and to prepare suitable plans for their exploitation and improvement,
so that about 12 per cent of the entire forest area, or over 570,000 acres, is by this time managed
with definite working plans as to amount of timber to be cut, what areas to be thinned, reforested,
etc. The work of protection is chiefly one of preventing and fighting fires. This protection with
piesent means can not be carried on over the entire forest areas, of which large tracts are not even
crossed by a footpath, and in a land where the regular firing of the woods has become the custom
of centuries, and where, in addition, intensely hot and dry weather, together with a most luxuriant
growth of giant grasses, render these jungle fires practically unmanageable. In all forests near
settlements the forest must be isolated by broad " fire traces" or otherwise. lu the jungle forests
these traces must be broad; the grass, often taller than an elephant, must be cut and burned
before the grass on either side is dry enough to burn. Similarly, the traces in the long-leaf pine
forests must be very wide and first converted into grass strips, cut or kept clean by burning. In
spite of the unusual tlifticulties there were in 1894-95 over 33,000 square miles protected against
fire, and on only 8 per cent of this area did the element succeed in doing any damage. In this
work, too, great progress has been made during the last twenty years; the efticiency has steadily
increased, and the expense, about $10 per square mile in 1883, has been reduced to less than half.

In the protection against unlawful felling or timber stealing and grazing, the Government
of India has shown itself fully equal to the occasion by a liberal policy of supplying villagers
in proximity to the forests with fuel, etc., at reduced prices or gratis. Over $2,000,000 worth was
thus disposed of in 1894-05, the incentive to timber stealing being thereby materially reduced.
A reasonable- and just permit system of grazing, where again the needs of the neighboring
villagers are most carefully considered, not only brings the Government a yearly revenue of nearly
8800,000, but enables the people to graze about 3,000,000 head of auimals in the State forests
without doing any material damage to tree growth.

Though the forests of India are now, and will continue for some time to be, little more than
wild woods, with some protection and a reasonable system of exploitation, in place of a mere
robbing or culling system, yet the work of actually improving the forests steadily increases in
amount aiul perfection.

In the large teak forests of Burma, as well as other provinces, care is had in helping this
valuable timber to propagate itself; the useless kinds of trees are girdled, huge climbers are cut
off, and a steady war is waged against all species detrimental to teak regeneration. Wherie the
teak has entirely disappeared, even planting is resorted to. Thus in Burma over 35,000 acres
liave been restocked with teak by means of tauugyas. or plantations, where the native is allowed
to burn down a piece of woods, use it for a few years as field (though it is never really cleared) on
condition of planting it with teak, being paid a certain sum for every hundred trees in a thrifty

262

FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE.

condition at the time of giving up his land. Similarly, the department has expended large sums
in establishing forests in parts of the arid regions of Reluchistan, and on the whole has e.xpended
about $150,000 during 1894-9.5 on cultural operations, which up to that time involved about
76,000 acres of regular plantations and .30,000 acres tauiigyas (mostly teak), uialdng a total of
112,000 acres, besides numerous large areas where the work consisted merely in aiding natural
reproduction.

In disposing of its timber the Government of India employs various methods. In some of
the forest districts the people merely pay a small tax and get out of the woods what and as much
as they need. In other cases the logger merelj' pays for what he removes, the amount he fells
being neither limited in quantity nor quality. The prevalent systems, however, are the permit
system, where a permit is issued indicating the amount to be cut and the price to be paid for the
same, and the contract systein, where the work is more or less under control of government officers
and the material remains government property until paid for. To a limited extent the State carries
on its own timber exploitation, as appears from the following figures, where the cut for 1894-95 for
the entire country is given :

J

Kinil ami quantity of product.

Removed by —

state. Purchaser.

Timber (1,000 cubic feet) 5,700

Fuel (1.(100 cubic Icot) I 28,000

Bamboo.s (l.ddO pieces) l 1,600

Miuor product.s ($1.000) ' BO

39. 900

69,000

132, 200

1,500

y

In spite of the many difficulties, a poor market (no market at all for a large number of woods),
•wild, unsurveyed, and practically unknown woodlands, requiring unusual and costly methods of
organization and protection, the forestry department has succeeded, without curtailing the timber
output of India, in so regulating forest exploitation as to insure not only a permanence in the output,
but also to improve the woodlands by f\ivoring the valuable species, aiul thus prepare lor an
increase of output for the future, and at the same time has yielded the Government a steadily
growing revenue, which bids fair to rank before long among the important sources of income.

The growth of both gross and net revenue is illustrated by the following figures:

n/

Yearly income during tho period —

(jros8 in-
come.

1870-1874 $2,810,000

1875-1879 ;t, 3:10,000

1880-18*4 4.408,000

1885-1889 1 5,834.000

1890-1894 7.974,000

Expenses.

Proportion
of expense
to income.

$1,9C0, 000
2, 28S, 000

2, 800. 000

3, 713, 000

4, 260, 000

Ver cent,
70
69
64
C4
54

c.S-

From this it is clear that in India as in Europe not only the gross but also the net income has
become greater in proportion as a better organization is permitted to expend more money on the
care of the forests.

During the year 1894-95 the income from State forests was distributed as follows:

Wood $6,170,000

Minor i)ro(liicts 670, 000

Grazing 780,000

Other incomes 7."jO, 000

Total income 8,370,000

The expenditures for the same year were :

For administration (pay of officer.^, foresters, etc.) $2,200,000

For cutting timl)er and removing it 1, 350, 000

Other work 760,000

-A Forest school 46,000

Total recurring expenses 4, 356, 000

For snrve.v and other extraordinary work 300, 000

Total expenditure 4,656,000

leaving a net revenue of $3,714,000, or 44 per cent of the gross income.

INDIAN FOREST MANAGEMENT. 263

It is of special interest to note tliat the expense of fire protection amounted, under these most
extraordinary circumstances, only to $130,000, or l.G per cent of the gross income, and that for
cultui'ul work, the liorror of llie American anti-forest prochiimei-, only $150,000, or 1.8 per cent of
the gross income, was paid.

The forest laws of India were like those of most countries, a matter of growth and adaptation,
with the important difference, however, that the welldelined object of preserving to this great
and iieculiar people a continuous supply of the all essential timber was steadily kept in mind.
The principal acts are those of 180."), 180'J, and espcL'ially tiie "Indian forest act" of 1878, with
secondary legislation applying to particular localities, such as tiie act of 1881 for Burma, and 1883
for Madras and others.

In general these forest laws provide for the establisliment of jjermanent or "reserved" State
forests, to be managed according to modern forestry principles. They i)rovide for a suitable force of
men; give the forest officers certain police powers; jirohibit unwarranted removal of forest
products, the setting of fires, or otherwise injuring the forest proi)erty. The laws also regulate
grazing and the chase by permit systems, and prescribe rules by which the work of the depart-
ment is carried on, as well as the manner in which ofBcers are engaged, jiromoted, etc. Since the
peculiar circumstances required men specially fitted and trained, schools were established to
furnish the recruits for this steadily growing service. The one at Coopers Hill, England, where a
thorough course is intended to prepare men for the superior staff i)ositions, and the Imperial
school at Dehra Dun, which is to supply the great number of the executive staff, the young men
starting in usually as guards or rangers at a pay of about 82.1 per month, working their way up
to places worth 870 per month, and if well suited, eligible for further promotion. In the Dehra
Dun school and the executive staff" the native element is fast making itself felt, and there is little
doubt that the men of India will soon be able to manage the forests of their own native land.

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