THE REFORESTATION OF DENMARK 



By WILLIAM HOVGAARD 



THE peninsula of Jutland forms the 

 continental part of Denmark. It 

 was in old days covered with 

 primeval forests, but these were gradu- 

 ally destroyed, especially in the central 

 and western portions of the peninsula, 

 where the soil is extremely poor; so 

 that by about the year 1500 this part of 

 the country had been largely trans- 

 formed into a barren, black heath and 

 sand dunes. The population had itself 

 caused the destruction of the forests 

 bv a most reckless treatment of them, 

 not comprehending that the presence of 

 the forests was the main condition for 

 the existence of human life in these 

 parts of the country. 



The climate, which had formerly been 

 damp and mild, now became dry and 

 harsh, and by the middle of last century 

 a scant population was left settled on 

 the long and narrow meadows along the 

 water courses, which cut through the 

 heath. These meadows were, however, 

 gradually being transformed into heath, 

 because the water courses cut them- 

 selves deeper into the bottom of the val- 

 leys, whereby the water level was low- 

 ered. Even on the ea.st coast of the 

 peninsula and on the Danish Islands, 

 where the soil is richer, the forests had 

 deteriorated to such an extent that in 

 the eighteenth century there was a se- 

 rious danger of their total disappear- 

 ance. In the last half of that century, 

 however, an awakening took place, and 

 in 1805 an act for the preservation of 

 forests was passed, whereby most of the 

 forests then existing were saved. Dur- 

 ing the same period, that is, from about 

 1750, efforts were made to plant new 

 forests on the heath, and during the 

 following 100 years many attempts were 

 made in this direction, largely with the 

 support of the government ; but the re- 

 sults were anything but encouraging 



It was generall}- found that, after a few 

 gears' growth, a stagnation would set 

 in, and only in localities where the soil 

 was richer would the trees grow up. 

 Thus by the year 1866 but very small 

 areas had been successfully planted, 

 and while the east coast of Jutland was 

 covered with woods and with fields of 

 rye. wheat, oats, and barley, the western 

 and central portion was covered with 

 the dark heather as far as the eye could 

 see. Here and there small groups of 

 scrub oak would be found, remnants of 

 former beautiful forests, crouched close 

 to the ground under the influence of the 

 strong westerlv winds. In fact, one- 

 fifth of the entire area of the kingdom 

 was in a desert condition, and a still 

 larger area was but very imperfectly 

 utilized. 



The many failures in planting and 

 cultivating the beath had given to most 

 people the conviction that it was hope- 

 less to spend more energy and money 

 on this problem. It was at this point 

 that the cause was taken up by Col. E. 

 Daigas.an engineer ofificer of the Danish 

 army. 



Dalgas was a man of rare energy and 

 abilitv and of great patriotic enthusi- 

 asm ; it was plain to him that many dark 

 jDoints in the problem had to be cleared 

 up before it could be technically solved, 

 and many difficulties had to be over- 

 come, among which perhaps the most 

 formidable was the prevailing lack of 

 unflerstanding and faith in the cause. 

 He saw that the work could not be 

 started on the ground of immediate or 

 direct financial return, and that it was 

 necessarv to appeal to the patriotism of 

 his countrymen. 



It was in one sense an auspicious mo- 

 ment for such a movement. In the un- 

 fortunate war of 1864 Denmark had 

 lost the Schleswig-Holstein provinces, 



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