FOREST CONDITIONS IN WEST PERSIA Y'lS 



group of these haws were protected from destruction by the fact that 

 they grew near the shrine of a local Moslem saint and were considered 

 holy trees. All were growing without irrigation. 



3. Wild almond trees were found growing at the foot of a high cliff 

 on a northern exposure on a mountain at an elevation of about 500 

 feet above Lake Urumia. 



4. Small bushes were found growing naturally along a small brook 

 up in the mountains, about 2,000 feet above Lake Urumia. 



5. It is the custom of the country for the poor people to go out 

 and cut down all bushes, and even weeds and thorn bushes, anything 

 and everything, in fact, that is not protected by some owner. This 

 work of destruction is clearly seen above in the case of the junipers 

 and has evidently been the custom for countless generations as an 

 easy way for the poor to get fuel for their fires. Trees near villages, 

 where they are watched and protected, grow well on sites similar to 

 sites off in the country where no trees are to be found. 



A second encouraging sign is the fact that a crude but real system 

 of primitive forest practice is used by the natives. The timber prob- 

 lems have been worked out as follows : 



^ Wood is needed for charcoal, carpentry, turnery, building material, 

 wagons and carts, saddles, wooden spoons, farm implements and other 

 common uses. (Few natives can afford to burn wood fuel, grass, 

 twigs, leaves and manure being generally used instead.) To meet 

 these demands two varieties of poplar (one the lombardy), two willows, 

 the English or Persian walnut, the oriental plane, and one species of 

 elm are used. Their production is taken care of as follows : 



1. Poplar. Poplar is used for almost .everything, as it is by far the 

 cheapest wood obtainable. As the wood is easily broken, cracks 

 shrinks and warps badly, the woodwork of a Persian house will strike 

 the newcomer from America as very crude indeed. The practice in 

 growing poplar makes use of the natural habit of the tree in growing 

 tall and of small diameter. Planting cuttings of poplar in long single 

 or double rows bordering little irrigation ditches, often around the 

 borders of gardens in the towns or cities, often set not two feet apart, 

 the trees are allowed to grow a few years naturally. Then they are 

 trimmed of all branches for perhaps nine-tenths of their 'total height 

 and thereafter kept trimmed, the result being a long, slowly taperinj: 

 stem often 75 feet in height, but less than a foot d.b.h. Being watered 

 carefully, these poplar plantations grow rapidly, 15 years being about 



