PERIODICAL LITERATURE 



FOREST GEOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION 



Dr. Martin resumes his critical discussion of 



Swiss methods, technical and political, of various 



Forestry forest administrations on the basis of his travels 



by a long chapter on conditions in Switzerland 



compared with those in Germany. 



We advise any American forester who contemplates visiting 

 the continent for study to take advantage of informing himself in 

 advance under the guidance of this competent critic. 



Switzerland is forestally exceedingly interesting on account of 

 the great variety of conditions. Differences of altitude, exposure, 

 slope with a variety of climatic conditions vary the behavior of 

 species. Soil conditions are exceedingly varied in chemical and 

 physical directions according to the rock from which derived. 

 PoHtical conditions also vary, and the history of forestry in the 

 different cantons varies, as well as present administrative and 

 managerial conditions. Switzerland teaches better than any 

 other land that it is necessary in developing forest management 

 to bring to issue two different directions: centralization and 

 decentraHzation, general rules of management and regard to special 

 local conditions. 



The discussion takes up first site conditions, then silvicultural 

 methods, regeneration and thinning practice; aims and methods 

 of forest organization; finally, aims of forest policy. 



The forest per cent is 20.6, or relating it only to the productive 

 area 27.7 per cent, very unevenly distributed. The State owns 

 only 4.6 per cent; the bulk, 66.8 per cent is in municipal ownership, 

 leaving only 28.5 per cent to private owners. We can single out 

 only a few points of interest. 



The site optimtmi is, of course, for oak in the lowest, broad 

 valleys and southern exposures; for beech and fir at 400 to 800 m, 

 for spruce between 800 and 1200 m. The timberlimit, indicated 

 by Pinus cemhra and Larix, and not far from these, for the spruce 

 lies in the Alps between 1650 and 2200 meter, and on the Jura at 

 1500 w. These elevations are considerably higher than those of 

 the German mountains. 



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