November 25, 1916 



™^ The Oak Booster SO f the Spessart 



The trauqiiil city of Aschaffenburg has other claims to fame 

 beside that of being hard to pronounce, for it is the hunting 

 eapitol of Bavaria and lies in the midst of a great hill region 

 whose timbered slopes have furnished game and timber from for- 

 gotten times for the kings and peasants of the land. There is 

 no dearth of historic attractions, for here in the castle court is 

 the spot upon which Saint Boniface is alleged to have stood when 

 he first preached the gospel to his skiu-clad pagans. Yonder 

 stands a cathedral with its motley of ancient relics and legends, 

 and up in the four-square palace are state chambers made sacred 

 by the one-time presence of this and that ruler or notable. But 

 the city's crowning glory is in the timber of its surrounding hills, 

 an inkling of which can be gained from a visit to the woodwork- 

 ing plants down at the river front. 



These forests are known best as the Spessart, a far-reaching 

 area of tree-covered lands, dotted with tiny villages and green 

 but very narrow farm valleys, the whole traversed by an elaborate 

 system of stone highway's. The traveler can journey oat from the 

 city and in an hour find himself in a semi-wilderness, at the mercy 

 of a tavern keeper who puts his faith absolutely in bull neck and 

 cauliflower — at least these items of food were foremost a few 

 months before the war broke out. Perhaps the bull neck has dis- 

 appeared by now, leaving cauliflower to hold the field alone. But 

 if the visitor's appetite is robust enough to overcome these 

 obstacles of provender he will be in a position to observe a won- 

 derfully illuminative exhibit of the habits of timber trees when 

 fostered by skilled mankind. 



The Spessart foresters are boosters for oak, first and always, and 

 their faith is rewarded by the verdict of a great many experts 

 that in all Europe there is nothing so excellent of its kind as 

 Spessart oak. Their trees are not scattered here and there among 

 large and small of divers species, the stands are for the most part 

 even aged and large enough in area to afford real examples of 

 sylvicultural success. And they are not free from enemies of one 

 kind and another, which makes for closer study on the part of 

 those who must produce results in dollars of revenue. So there 

 may be a measure of interest in a picture of this great forest tract, 

 for it will show at least that we in America are mighty fortunate 

 in possession of primeval oak stands upon which we have lavished 

 no generations of tender care. Possibly there may be a suggestion 

 of what we may expect to do in the future, when we set about 

 reproducing the timber which now is feeding our saws. 



Remembering the time honored axiom which states boldly that' 

 tall oaks from tiny acorns grow, we are not surprised to find the 

 Spessart foresters concerning themselves with the possibilities of 

 each year being one of plentiful mast. It appears that in their 

 experience the problem of reproducing oak is one of watchful 

 waiting, keeping the deforested area in readiness for the great 

 day by firmly squelching all other species which may volunteer 

 to occupy the ground. And then, when a mast is assured, they set 

 their men and women to work with mattox and whatnot, stirring 

 the ground, after which the acorns are dibbled into the soil along 

 with some companion crop such as oats to act as protection against 

 quickly growing weeds. Furthermore, they have discovered that 

 oak planting is successful only in solid areas of considerable size, 

 for the trees are slow of growth in their early days and any other 

 species which are given half a chance will creep in and smother 

 the oaks with shade. Beech is particularly addicted to this wolfish- 

 ness, and as we shall note throughout our story this gray-barked 

 fellow is one of the forester's chief bug-bears. So they plant 

 their acorns, ninety thousand or less to the acre, fence the area 

 against wandonng animals which might appreciate the oats, and 

 wait for indications as to the success of their planting. Such work 

 is expensive, but it is the only way, for nature cannot regenerate 

 the oak without human aid because of the competing "wolves." 

 So in the course of time the 3'oung trees come up in abundance 



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and begin to take on the appearance of a miniature forest whose 

 leaves are much too large for the boles, and then the deer come 

 to take their share of nature's bounty, for these fleet-footed and 

 highly prized residents are very fond of the top shoots. Philo- 

 sophically the foresters tolerate this inroad, for they say that 

 perhaps this is the cheapest method of feeding the deer, and deer 

 are a mighty big asset because of the revenue from hunting rights. 

 And they know that sooner or later there will come a year when 

 the deer are able to find more palatable forage in plenty, at which 

 time the oaks will be unmolested and will pop ahead so fast that 

 the top shoots will be forever out of the enemy's reach. 



Generally a few large beeches are left on the newly seeded 

 tract to furnish shade for the young oaks, and as beech is a 

 prolific breeder there generally comes a time when the forester 

 must take heed of his saplings to protect them from the rapidly 

 growing beech youngsters. Otherwise he would find soon a num- 

 ber of beech forests within the boundaries of the tract which he 

 has dedicated to oak. The law of Bavaria prohibits thinning of 

 growing stands, so he sends a crew to the field with climbing irons 

 to cut the tops from all the beeches, thereby robbing them of their 

 best weapons. Thus from year to year they lay the foundations of 

 future forest wealth in tlie Spessart. 



There are at least two splendid stands of man-planted oak 

 which may be classed as wholly successful and therefore worthy 

 of mention. One dates back to the great mast year of 1875 and 

 the other to 1861. Here beech was used as cover first, then 

 retarded by topping and allowed to come up beneath the oak to 

 assist in obtaining straight and clean boled timber trees. Several 

 hundred acres are included in the two areas, testifying as to the 

 possibilities which may be realized by a skillful forester. 



And going still farther back into history we are able to trace 

 our life storj' by a number of older stands, each of which marks 

 a step in the growth of oak. The White Stone forest is composed 

 of 700 acres of century old trees, which average about a foot in 

 diameter at breast height and run about 10,000 feet in our board 

 measure to the acre. The beeches are outstripped and left behind. 

 Then there is the famous Sapling forest, 2400 acres in extent and 

 ranging in age from 200 to 270 years, or in other words, dating 

 back to the close of the Thirty Years war. It appears that dur- 

 ing those eventful years practically all the cattle and most of the 

 humans were killed, as the tide of battle swung from one religious 

 faith to the other. Then the Bohemian glass blowers came along, 

 as was their wont throughout the olden times, and cut down all 

 the beech to make charcoal for their transient industry. This was 

 followed by fire which killed the chances of beech regeneration, 

 leaving the ground in fit shape for a good mast year among the 

 scattered oak trees, who were the sole survivors of the old forest. 

 Thus, unhampered by cattle or beech the oaks renewed their race 

 and there sprang up a splendid forest which is the only really great 

 example of natural regeneration of oak in the Spessart. And it is 

 fine indeed! A specimen acre yields not less than 20,000 board 

 feet, the trees averaging about eighteen inches in diameter at 

 breast high, silver barked, straight and tall, not yet ready for the 

 axe but promising wonderful yields when the time comes. 



There are two forests now in process of cutting, although the 

 logging is far different from anything we know in America. One 

 is the Orchard Stand, an area of grazing land dotted with great 

 branchy trees which appear to be in the firm grip of decay. But 

 the foresters state that the value of oak is rising so swiftly that 

 only the worst specimens may be removed, for rot can scarcely 

 keep pace with the market. There are but a few trees to each 

 acre, but in dollars and cents the yield is quite remarkable. A 

 specimen tree cuts out something as follows: three veneer logs 

 scaling about 1100 feet in our measure, worth about $390; .split 

 billets for staves, 72 cubic feet or $9; good firewood, $6, and 

 inferior wood a dollar or so, or in round figures, $406 for the tree. 



