A SKETCH OX SWEDISH FORESTRY 789 



make use of almost every stream having a lake of two or three square 

 miles storing capacity, much less water being needed to float the logs 

 on account of the well placed improvements along the streams. This 

 careful use of waterways is the reason why their average haul is 

 relatively short. One may see thousands of logs go by in a little 

 torrent, and return two weeks after to find hardly a trickle of water 

 left, because the lake's storage water is all used up. On the main 

 rivers, large floating associations are formed which drive and sort out 

 the logs, having in this connection large "bundling machines," for 

 the storing of logs in "close storage." The largest saw industries are 

 situated along the Baltic, which, by the way, is closed half the year. 

 The Government sells its own wood by auction from the tree tallies 

 made out by its men ; the question of Government sawmills having 

 once come up but never been practised otherwise than in a very limited 

 way. Many small holders sell so-called working rights to large com- 

 panies, whereby all trees over a certain diameter are taken. 



INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT 



While touching on the subject of exploitation, one should not forget 

 some of what might be called the "forest by-products" which have 

 so much to do with making forestry "intensive." One often hears 

 about the intensive forestry of Europe ; it does deserve mention, but 

 the fact is that this intensity in the forest management is more con- 

 nected with the density of population and needs of the industries than 

 with any invariable brilliancy in the handling of the forests. Tliey 

 do the right thing because it pays. For instance, the woods get bene- 

 ficial thinnings and the small stuff is cut out ; but it can be turned into 

 valuable charcoal in an earth "mila." The steel industry needs all the 

 valuable charcoal it can get. It has been worth while to haul with 

 horses to the railroad charcoal from woods as far as 18 miles away. 



The fact that Sweden has a scattered population and practically no 

 coal at all causes a great necessity of wood fuel. This was amply 

 demonstrated during the war, when wood was even used for locomotive 

 firing. T have seen also special cases, where regeneration was con- 

 nected directly with a profitable use of waste. That is, in blowing out 

 stumps by dynamite and using them in gas producers, or for wood tar 

 production, cither in the old earth kiln ("tjar dal") or in dry distilla- 

 tion plants. .\ gorgeous young growth almost invariably comes up on 

 areas where stumps have been thus removed. pro\ iding. of course, that 

 there is natural seeding from the surrounding fore->t or artificial sowing. 



