446 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



production by 700,000 cubic meters per year. Foresters have figured 

 that this deficit could be wiped out by increasing the production of 

 the 600,000 hectares of communal forest (67 per cent of all the Swiss 

 forests) by i.i cubic meters per hectare per year. Foresters be- 

 lieve that this increase could be brought about if the forests were 

 placed under the exclusive direction of technically trained men, who 

 would see to it that proper thinnings were made, that formerly unused 

 spaces were utilized, and that the stands were maintained in full 

 production by the application of the appropriate silvicultural system, 

 the selection system apparently being the most generally favored. 



As an example of what can be done in the handling of communal 

 forests the author cites the action of the Canton of Vaud. At the 

 instigation of the Vaud Society of Foresters, the Canton Legislature 

 in February, 1918, voted to reorganize the Forest Service. As a result 

 of this reorganization the Cantonal Inspector now has a force of 20 

 local inspectors, each of whom is responsible for an area not exceeding 

 4,000 hectares, while previously there were only 11 such inspectors 

 each responsible for an area comprising from 7,000 to 11,000 hectares. 

 One of the first efifects of this change will be to make possible the 

 decennial revision of working plans for the federal and communal 

 forests, which comprise respectively 4 per cent and 67 per cent of the 

 total forest area of the Canton. The author emphasizes the fact 

 that such revisions of working plans ought to be undertaken by for- 

 esters permanently in charge of the forest concerned rather than 

 by foresters who visit the areas only occasionally for the specific 

 purpose of revising the working plans. He expresses the hope that 

 the example of Vaud may be followed by other Cantons throughout 

 Switzerland, where the average acreage assigned to a forester now 

 amounts to 8,579 hectares, which he considers altogether too large 

 for even moderately intensive management. 



The author concludes his paper with an expression of joy at the 

 signing of the armistice and of regret that it will mean the departure 

 of the French foresters who have been interned in Switzerland. 



B. E. F. 



S. T. D. 



Chroiiique Suisse. A. Barbey. Revue des Eaux et Forets, February, 1919, 

 pp. 21-24. 



Journal Forestier Suisse, Janvier, 191Q, pp. 31-32. 



