190 FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 



These two instances are by no means exceptional. The 

 Black Forest in which both these tracts are included is a region 

 of high and rough land about a million acres in extent partly 

 in Baden and partly in Wurttemburg. It is well cut up with 

 railroads and turnpikes ; it has towns and villages scattered 

 all through it, l)ut much the greater portion of its area is cov- 

 ered with trees. It is divided in ownership between the 

 states, cities and towns, and private individuals, of which the 

 publicly owned forests are uniformly well managed. The 

 State forests throughout this district yield a net yearly 

 revenue of $2.50 per acre. Tracts of unusual productiveness 

 have yielded ten dollars. The best fetiture of the situation 

 is the certainty and regularity of the supply. The manage- 

 ment is splendid in its conservatism. Timber is- never cut 

 till it is ripe. Managers take a })ride in never making a false 

 show by overcutting. The yearly growth on these forest 

 areas is closely known. Mills and markets have adjusted 

 themselves to their output, and business in consequence is 

 regular and certain. 



In speaking of these results of German forestry we must not 

 mistake the conditions to which they are in part due. Ger- 

 man forest land in the first place is superior to ours. The 

 soil is decider and better as a rule because the country was 

 never glaciated in any such way. Some of their tree species 

 moreover are faster growers than our own, though they have 

 nothing equal to the American white pine. Then wood mate- 

 rial in German forests is worth much more than in our woods 

 because it is close to a dense population wdiich needs it. Ger- 

 man forest management, however, is in itself a noble achieve- 

 ment. Without it, favorable natural conditions would be of 

 little avail. By its means, Germany devoting a third of its 

 territory permanently to forest — that third which is of small- 

 est value for agricultural and commercial use — has been able 

 not only to supply all her own demands for most kinds of 

 wood material, but to furnish large amounts to less provident 

 neighbors. 



