344 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



throughout Europe as the wliite oak is 

 famous in America. 



EASY METHOD OE PLANTING 



The city forests of Darmstadt in 

 Hessen are composed largely of pine 

 and beech. The oldest stands of pine 

 were started over 100 years ago, by 

 simply scattering pine cones upon the 

 ground and driving large flocks of 

 sheep over them. By this means the 

 seed were pressed into the ground and 

 a fair stand of seedlings resulted by 

 using this cheap and easy method. 



Especially fine are the stands of pine 

 in the pole stage, that is of size fit for 

 telegraph poles. These trees are 50 

 years old and were raised from more 

 carefully planted seeds. They have 

 long, clean, straight trunks, and the 

 largest specimens are being removed so 

 as to give a better chance to those that 

 are left. 



The youngest stands are for the most 

 part transplanted seedlings, which were 

 planted at the rate from ten to fifteen 

 thousand per acre. The cost of plant- 

 ing is not a great item for the two-year- 

 old seedlings can be raised at an ex- 

 pense of from ten to twenty cents a 

 thousand and the labor of outplanting 

 is from fifty to seventy-five cents a 

 day. 



The German forest policy aims to re- 

 forest all waste lands, and to gradually 

 increase the forest area, under direct 

 state control. It aims to improve the 

 education and training of foresters and 

 rangers at the expense of the state, and 

 is seeking to extend fire and other 



forms of protection over all forest land. 

 Another feature is to encourage the 

 largest public use of all forests as a 

 means of health, recreation and enjoy- 

 ment for all the people. 



Native American evergreens and 

 softwoods are being planted here on a 

 large scale. Among them the white 

 pine and Douglas fir are the favorites 

 on the better soils, while pitch pine and 

 Jack pines are planted on the poor, 

 sandy soils. Last summer was one of 

 unprecedented heat and drouth and this 

 caused the death of many young stands 

 of introduced species, while the natives 

 suffered comparatively slight losses, 

 and this emphasizes the greater vitality 

 of the latter. 



Among the introduced deciduous 

 trees the American red oak seems to 

 be the one that is favorably regarded. 



The financial success of German for- 

 estry depends mainly on two factors: 

 First, good means of transportation; 

 and second, that the owners, whether 

 they be state, city or private, refuse 

 absolutely to sell more than a small 

 annual percentage of the stand. By do- 

 ing this the market is never over- 

 stocked, for the demand is always 

 greater than the supply, and the price 

 received is much greater than the cost 

 of production, including the interest on 

 the money invested at compound rates. 



The American foresters and timber- 

 land owners can learn many things 

 from the German foresters along many 

 lines, and many mistakes that might be 

 made in their work can be avoided by 

 the study of the European methods. 



The state forests of Bavaria comprise 2,150,000 acres. Thirty-three per cent of the 

 entire area of the country is covered with forest. Of these trees 77 per cent, are coniferous. 

 The average estimated value of the forest land is $50 per acre. The annual aggregate ex- 

 pense of administering the forests, includi)ig salaries of officials, wages of workingtnen, local 

 taxation, new purchases, etc., amounts to $4,965,204. The total revenue from the forests 

 the same year amounted to $8,187,349. 



