Some Aspects of European Forestry. 335 



maining trees are logged and also because the smaller trees left 

 can put on the maximum light increment. 



With such a long period of regeneration it is natural that 

 the cutting is gradual and frequent. This frequency is rendered 

 possible by the magnificent road system and the method of logging 

 whereby the individual logs (usually the entire tree stem) are 

 let down the steep slopes at the end of a stout rope. The prog- 

 ress of the log is governed by giving the rope several wraps 

 around a strong tree which acts as a drum. 



The brush is sold or given away as fuel, but where this is 

 impossible it is usually burned which results in excellent re- 

 production on the burned spot unless the fire was too intense 

 and "baked" the ground. The piles of brush are not burned 

 as they lie, indeed there is no attempt at piling the brush in burn- 

 able shape ; rather a small fire is started and fed with brush 

 until all the debris has been cleanly consumed. 



Formerly when brush burning was too expensive, (it costs 

 on an average of 13 1/3 cents per thousand feet board measure 

 logged) the brush was scattered even as is now done m Forest 

 Service timber sales and for much the same reasons. But it was 

 found that the dense mat-hke layer of needles, fallen from the 

 brush, delayed reproduction until the needles had decayed suf- 

 ficiently to allow the germinating seedlings to reach mineral soil. 



II. The Selection System of cutting where, strictly speaking, 

 the forest is all-aged and the period of regeneration is' equal to the 

 entire rotation, has been adopted on steep slopes; exposed rocky 

 places, ridge tops and all such areas as approach a "Protection" 

 forest in character. It also offers greater protection from the 

 arch-enemy, wind ; for it fosters the independent strength of 

 the individual tree while the irregular canopy breaks the shock 

 of the storms. In Saxony where the storms come almost in- 

 variably from the west the necessary protection from wind is se- 

 cured by means of the "Schheisen" described in a preceding 

 paper, separating the Cutting Series and stimulating the for- 

 mation of side branches on the border treees as an effective re- 

 sistance to the West winds. This method is also followed in 

 Wiirttemberg. 



But protection from the West alone will not suffice in the 

 Black Forest region. Statistics of the last ten years show that 



