Periodical Literature 411 



The Association excursion at this meeting was through the 

 forests which had been planted on the lowlands unfit for culti- 

 vation. Most of these forests are subject to frequent overflow, 

 and it is only on the better drained sites that oak, ash, elm, and 

 walnut can be grown. In 1910 a 60-year-old stand of ash was 

 killed by being flooded for a month. On open, moist, sandy soils 

 several species of poplar have been most successful. The Cana- 

 dian poplar — probably Populus tremuloides — has grown especi- 

 ally rapidly. Trees 17 years old are from 55 to 60 feet high and 

 range in diameter from 9 to 12 inches. On open, gravelly sand 

 maple, linden, and locust have been successful, while the gravels 

 are given over to hornbean and beech. Dry sand has been suc- 

 cessfully devoted to birch and Scotch pine, while the wet sands 

 are planted to willovf- and alder. 



A full discussion was had at this meeting also on the question 

 of the administraton of the communal and institutional forests. 

 The raising of such forests was encouraged by the old French 

 laws, and they have now become an integral part of the economic 

 life of the community. They occupy 38.6 per cent of the total 

 area in forests in the upper Rhine Valley. They comprise 46 

 separate units, ranging from 51 to 300 ha., only 8 of which are 

 over 1000 ha. in extent. In 1912, the annual increment per acre 

 was 35 cubic feet as compared with 78 cubic feet on the State 

 forests. The net yield in 1905 was $2.20 per acre, in addition to 

 a large amount of free use material. The Association came to 

 the conclusion that stricter State supervision should be exercised 

 over the communal and institutional forests, since through lack 

 of technical knowledge the yield was low both in timber and 

 money. Furthermore, protection could be secured much more 

 cheaply if several of the units were consolidated. 



K. W. W. 



Versammlung der Pfdlzer Forstverein fiir das Jahr 1914. Forstwissen- 

 schafliches Centralblatt, October, 1914, pp. 531-539. 



