American Trees in German Forests 



By T. S. Illick 



UP(.)X examining the maps showing the distribu- 

 tion and the structure of the forests of Germany 

 in the years i;!()0 and r.HiO, one will be aston- 

 ished by the wonderful change that has taken place 

 within a period that represents but a few generations 

 of trees. L'nquestional)ly man has pla\ed the leading 

 part in effecting this change. .A considerable portion of 

 the history of Germany during these six centuries is 

 written in blond. Fre(|uent warfare Ijetween on er twd 

 hundred independent states upon an area that now com- 

 prises the German Empire, and later the increase oi 

 population, the opening of agricultural lands, the devel- 

 opment of industrial enterprises, and the destructive 

 work of lumbermen present a picture of change anil 

 progress which enables n-> in jiart to CDinprehend the 

 important role that man played in changing the original 

 forest distribution. 



The present structure of the (■erman fnrests differs 

 far from what nature originally placed there. .Man ha,-' 

 improved ujion nature's methods by rearranging the 

 indigenous species and by introducing exotic species. 

 The major part of these structural changes came after 

 the advent of forestry. The jjlains along the valley of 

 the Rhine were (iriginally covered mainlv with hardwnod 

 species. The records of early militarv expeditions, as 

 well as the >tructural material found in houses built cen- 

 turies ago but still in existence, bear e\i(lence of this 

 liardwood fnrest. Todav manv parts r)f this same area 

 are covered by a coniferous forest, in which Scotch pine 

 is the chief ]jartici])ant. In the sixteenth century 

 the SaxDU 'T-'rzgebirge" were co\ered mainh' with hi' 

 and beech, but since the time nf 1 lenrv von Cotta, the 

 king of spruce and "father of conservative forestry, " 

 we find that these same areas are now almost completelv 

 covered with spruce. The demand fur tan bark intni- 

 duced the coppice system nf handling oak. The substitu- 

 tion of chenn'cal tann.age for \egetable tannage has re- 

 duced the (leman<l, and hence the oak ci ippice forests are 

 rapidly disappearing, hi many places lieech and oak on 

 account of their Inng rotations are being replaced by 

 other species. .\ great many of the (".ennan forests are 

 in. a transition stage, which is gradual and cumulative in 

 f;.\(jr of the conifers. The jiresent p.irticipation in the 

 forest structure of the coniferous and bro.id-leax'ed 

 species expressed in per cent is lo..") and :!'.'. "i, res])ec- 

 tively. The hardwoods before the ad\'ent of fore-^trv had 

 a higher percentage than tlie\ ha\e todaw 



( )f less magnitude than this rearrangement of the 

 indigenous species, l)ut of as vital significance, li.'is bee'i 

 the introilucti(jn of exotic sjiecies esijeciall}- from .\nier- 

 ica and l;i]);m. The main causes that actuated the intro- 

 duction of foreign species were the fear of a fuel famine. 



<;.'2 



commercial enterprise, aesthetic inclinations, silvicul- 

 tural experimentation, and the limited number of native 

 species of commercial importance. The hrst American 

 tree introducetl into Germany was the eastern Arbor- 

 vitae in lofili. This was followed by the black locust in 

 ICiOl, the bald cypress in 1(140, the tuli]) tree or yellow 

 pojilar in ir,(i;',, the red cedar in UUiJ:, the balsam fir in 

 KiltT, the white spruce and black spruce in 1700, and the 

 vhite pine in 17oo. The importation has continued, and 



nl..\CK I.OCIST TREKS 



Si-x sjiecimens of black lucust IS inches in diameter. Trees to tlie right 

 are Hin"oiiean larch, 'thev are located near the old castle at Ilerren- 

 chiemsee, Bavaria, C.ermany. 



at the [)resent time practically everv species native to 

 -\merica can be found somewhere in Germany. Some 

 of the s])ecies that were introduced earlv have developed 

 such excellent records that they are now regarded as 

 naturalized members of the German forests. A few 

 s])ecies are eligi])le tor citizenship at the present time. 

 \,hile many other species, particularly those from western 

 Xorth .\meric;i, ha\'e been iiuroduced so recently that 

 judgment with reference to their (lualihcation for citi- 

 zenship nni>t lie deferred until more cinnplete ilala arc 

 al hand. 



