1324 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



is equivalent to only 270,000 acres as compared to the 

 vast area contained in our national forests, which em- 

 braces a total of about 160,000,000 acres. 



The municipalities and communes in Italy are very 

 important owners of forest property, the total per cent 

 being 43.2, while the private owners, lumber companies, 

 etc., own 53 per cent of the total area. Large areas of 

 forests are still retained by many old ancestral estates 

 which have been handed down through the same family, 

 for the past several centuries. On some of these estates 



Photograph by courtesy of the Italian General Headquarters 



nVXUKC, ,\ I.fl.I, IN THE FTGHTING AT OXE OF THE ITALIAN 

 BATTERIES BELOW CAPO .SILE IN ADRIATIC TIDEWATER. ON 

 THE LEFT ARE .SOME LARGE NAVAL GUNS PROTECTED WITH 

 SAND BAGS. ETC. THE ITALIAN OFFICER ON THE RIGHT IS 

 PROFESSOR DINO BIGONGIARI OF THE ROMANCE LANGUAGE 

 DEPARTMENT (IF COLU.MBIA UNIVER.SITY WHO WENT BACK TO 

 ASSIST HIS NATIVE LAND ON THE OUTBREAK OF WAR. BACK 

 OF HIM IS AN OUTDOOR DINING ROOM PROTECTED WITH CAM- 

 OUFLAGE AND THE WRITER STANDS NEXT TO HIM. 



the forests are being handled on scientific principles of 

 forestry, but most of them present an exceedingly poor 

 a])pearance. 



'i"he number of tree species in Italy is probably greater 

 than in any other country in Europe. All of the trees 

 found in the Mediterranean section are to be seen in 

 Italy, whereas on the higher elevations, tree species 

 which are commonly found in Northern Eurojje, in such 

 countries as Norway, Sweden and Finland arc frequently 

 found. The greatest variety is among the hardwoods. 

 Uut the total variety of species does not compare with 

 those found in this country. For example : It is esti- 

 mated that there are at least 500 separate and distinct 

 tree species found in this country, whereas in Italy, thert' 

 are only about sixty. As against about fifty important 

 commercial species, in this country, there are only about 

 eight in Italy. The hardwoods, broadly speaking, occupy 

 8g per cent of the total forest area of Italy. A good 

 share of this is oak and chestnut forest, the size and 

 general appearance of which is very disappointing to one 

 familiar with the splendid virgin hardwood forests found 



in the Appalachian and lower Mississippi Valley sections 

 in this country. 



The conifers or soft woods occupy only 6.9 per cent of 

 the total forest area. On this very small area, however, 

 the very best part of the commercial lumber is con- 

 tained. In fact, some of the soft woods are the only 

 trees which grow to a size comparable in diameter and 

 licight to some of our better soft wood stands in this 

 country. These are limited to the higher elevations of 

 the Apennine Mountains and the Alps of Northern Italy. 

 In these limited sections, silver fir and Norway spruce 

 are often found up to 140 feet in total height, and some- 

 times, from 40 to 50 inches in diameter. Stands of silver 

 fir planted 100 years ago produce 75,000 to 100,000 board 

 feet per acre as a maximum. Some limbwood and tops 

 for fuelwood and the manufacture of charcoal are also 

 yielded from these heavy stands. The remainder of the 

 forest area of 4.1 per cent is made up of mixed hard- 

 woods and soft woods. It is very evident, therefore, that 

 the two seldom grow together. 



The oaks are the principal hardwoods found in Italy 

 and there are four species, namely, two while oaks, one 



Photograph by XeUon C. Brown 



TIIOI'.SANDS OF SILVER FIR LOGS CUT CLEAN ON ONE OF THE 

 ITALIAN NATIONAL FORESTS, ALONG THE CREST OF THE 

 APKNNLNE .MOUNTAINS, BEFORE THE WAR THIS FOREST WAS 

 CONSIDERED SO REMOTE AND INACCESSIBLE THAT THE LUM- 

 BER lOULD NOT BE MARKETED AT A PROFIT. WITH THE USE 

 OF HUNDREDS OF MOTOR TRUCKS AND AN OVERHEAD CABLE 

 SYSTEM. THESE LOGS WERE BROUGHT DOWN AND UTILIZED 

 FOR THE WAR PROGRAM. BEYOND THE FALLEN LOGS AND BE- 

 FOKi. THE YOUNt; STANDING TI.MBER .\I.\Y BE SEEN ROWS OF 

 YOl^NG TREES PLANTED IN THE SPRINCi OF 1916 AFTER A "WAR 

 CUTTING" HAD BEEN MAI5E. 



led oak and one live oak. Cork oak and a few other oaks 

 (if little importance, are also found, but, aside from the 

 curk oak, are of negligible value. The two white oaks 

 are the Quercus sessiliflora and Q. pedunculata. The 

 red oak is the Q. cerrus, and the live oak is the Q. ilex. 

 Most of these oaks seldom attain a diameter of 20 

 inches or a total height of 70 feet. Probably 40 to 60 

 ])er cent of the total area of oak forests are periodically 



