The Co2i::try Gcntlcniaiis Magazine 



477 



l^kntation^ anl) ^ictigeii 



ON THE SUPPLY OF TIMBER FROM SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



BY ANDRE^V .MURRAY, F.L.S. 



IF our Statesmen have done wisely in mak- 

 ing inquisition into the supply of coal 

 in this country, and the length of time it is 

 likely to last at the present rate of consump- 

 tion, similar inquiries into the amount and 

 probable duration of their supply of ^vood 

 would seem to be not less called for on the 

 part of the governments of Sweden and Nor- 

 way. 



Those who have not looked into the sub- 

 ject have little idea of the rate at which this 

 vital product of these countries is disappear- 

 ing from the Scandinavian hills. I had occa- 

 sion, not long since, to examine some statis- 

 tics of the exports of timber from these coun- 

 tries, and I was so struck with their extent, 

 and the rapidity of their increase, that I felt 

 convinced that a serious question of exhaus- 

 tion of supply must lie behind, and took 

 means to obtain more complete and accurate 

 information on the subject from the countries 

 themselves. This I have now received from 

 Sweden, and, although still very imperfect, 

 it seems of sufficient importance to justify my 

 drawing the attention of the public to the 

 present position and probable future of the 

 timber supply of the north of Europe. 



I had been under the impression that the 

 Governments of these countries not only had, 

 by the sagacity of their ancestors, been pro- 

 vided with laws whereby to protect the 

 country from its own improvidence, but that 

 their alarm had been excited by the amount 

 of the recent exports, and that they were, in 

 consequence, enforcing these protective and 

 prohibitive regulations. 



Mr Laing, in his " Residence in Norway," 

 says that in Sweden a. -id Norway, more 

 especially in the fonner, : uccessive Govern- 



ments have enacted laws restricting the free 

 use of his own forests by the proprietor. 

 He is, according to him, only allowed to fell 

 a certain quantity of timber each year, and 

 in the more northern districts of Norway 

 (Norrland and Finmark), where the wood 

 grows of a diminutive size, and in limited quan- 

 tity, it has been thought necessary to preserve 

 it entirely for the use of the inhabitants, and its 

 exportation is entirely prohibited. 



I find, however, that in this I was in error, 

 and that the means of protection, which on 

 the faith of this I had supposed to exist, are 

 practically without effect. The information I 

 have received in answer to my inquiries on 

 this subject is as follows : — 



" There are no special laws regulating the 

 amount of wood which private individuals 

 may cut down on their own estate, applicable 

 to the whole country. The only law of that 

 kind relates to the woods belonging to the 

 settlers (nybygger) in Norrland, about which 

 I will speak directly. Still we find in Sveriege 

 Rike's law, now in force, the following (B. B. 

 cap. lo. sec. 8) — ' Ratepayer (skattebonde) may 

 use his private wood for household use and 

 sale, but so sparingly, that the wood is not 

 destroyed, and his home-farm (hemmariet) not 

 spoiled. He is bound to take first what is 

 blown down by the wind, dry trees, sprigs 

 and stabs for fuel before he fells green trees. 

 If it should be discovered that the ratepayer 

 misuses his liberty he shall be fined |io.' 

 There is, however, not one instance where 

 this law has been called into action, when a 

 ratepayer has misused his private wood. 



" With reference to the settlers (nybygger) 

 in Norrland, it is stated that they are 

 allowed to take of the settlement wood 



