536 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



loaded onto a sled which goes down one of the slides by gravity and, as it goes 

 down, pulls up an empty sled on a parallel slide by means of a thin cable 

 attached to both sleds and passing through a pulley at the top of the slides. 

 This is done in summer as well as in winter. 



The demand for wood is so great that even cordwood is sold by classes, as 

 follows: (] ) split and stacked; (2) large faggots about '2 inches in diameter 

 (some of them split) made up into short bundles 8 to 12 inches in diameter; 

 (3) small faggots, all the small branches worked up into neat little bundles. 



They have their own sawmill on the River Sihl run by water which gives 

 them approximately IdO horsepower. The logs are sawn on a band saw, gen- 

 erally to special order. Then there is a cut-off saw for cordwood billets and 

 a splitting machine; an excelsior machine; a narrow band-saw for cutting 

 out tool handles, implements, etc., and a turning lathe. In addition they have 

 an impregnation plant for treating large timbers, generally spruce and beech 

 poles, by the Boucherie process (copper sulphate), and a small dry kiln for 

 boards and excelsior bolts. 



The organization necessary to carry on all these operations is worth 

 notice. The entire administration centers in the Department of Finance of 

 the City of Ziirich. The forest itself is in charge of a forstmeister, a man of 

 standing not only in the profession and community, but in the country at 

 large ; he was at one time a general in the Swiss army, and president of the 

 Conseil d'Etat, virtually President of the Swiss Republic. Under the forst- 

 meister is a forstadjunct, corresponding to the deputy supei-visor and forest 

 assistant in the United States Forest Service. Under the forstadjunct are 

 three clerks : the first for forest management ; the second for the impregnation 

 plant; the third for the sawmill. Then there are four forest guards, one for 

 each working circle. In addition they have a force of one hundred permanent 

 laborers paid by the day or mouth, and an extra force doing piece work. 



The financial returns from this, one of the most highly developed examples 

 of forest management in the world, will certainly interest the American 

 reader because the first question which the forest owner asks of the forester 

 is "Will it pay?" If not, it is useless to ask any one but a philanthropist to 

 practice it; and forestry must not become synonymous with philanthrophy. 



In 1907, an average year, the net receipts from this small forest of 

 approximately 2,560 acres were |19,(!.5(j.80, or a revenue of |7.0!) per acre.^ 



But it would be wrong to point to this hand.some revenue without showing 

 the expense necessary to the production of it. For it is time that the public 

 who, with the best intentions in the world, clamor for the practice of forestry 

 by states and private individuals, should realize that forestry costs money, 

 often a great deal more money than is justified. In the Sihlwald the expenses, 

 excluding interest charges, were |89,897 ; when we add a heavy interest charge^ 

 this becomes a considerable sum to spend on a small forest in a single year. 

 The moral is that to get money one must pay out money in forestry as in 

 everything else. 



The example given by the Sihlwald is one which, in the United States, it 

 will be impossible to follow on a large scale for many years to come. However, 

 it should not be long before it can be applied, by owners possessing the forests 

 and the means, to smaller tracts in the East. Meanwhile it shows what for- 

 estry is aiming at and hopes some day to accomplish. 



'The figures are always kept on the basis of hecktars (2.5 acres) and francs (20 cents). 

 There will be a slight error in converting to acres and dollars because a hecktar is not 

 exactly 2.5 acres nor is a franc exactly 20 cents. The figures are, however, close enough 

 for all practical purposes. 



^This charge could not be ascertained. 



