PERIODICAL LITERATURE 



FOREST GEOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION 



The prominence of the Balkans in the 

 Bulgarian Great War lends special interest to the 



Forestry article by Weiss-Bartenstein based on his 



volumes on Bulgaria published in 1913. He 

 starts with the surprising statement that in spite of low wood prices 

 the extraordinarily low cost of exploitation of the virgin woods for 

 a long time brought a greater net yield than farming. Hence there 

 has, until lately, not been any danger of excessive clearing. But 

 increase in labor cost and "land hunger" and difficulties in trans- 

 portation from distances recently changed these conditions, and 

 the forest area has diminished. In 1908, the forest per cent was 

 somewhat below 30 per cent (about 8 million acres), but in the 

 South it rises to 60 or 65 per cent. 



Oak and beech, with other hardwoods, are the most prominent 

 species; of conifers pine, spruce and fir are found. Four forest 

 zones can be differentiated: the warm zone occupying the lower 

 valleys up to 1400 feet, with a vegetation typical of Southwest 

 Europe, mostly deforested and turned to farm use; the mild zone 

 with similar flora, still containing considerable old timber; the 

 third zone on the slopes up to about 5500 feet, where beside extensive 

 beech forest, inaccessible, the conifers become prominent; and the 

 moimtain zone with Picea excelsa and pence, and Pinus mughus up 

 to timber line. 



The ownership is in three classes, the State owning about one 

 third, municipalities and communities holding the bulk, about one 

 half, and private ownership or mostly church societies owning the 

 balance, mainly in small woodlots; only about 5 per cent belongs 

 to large landed proprietors, magnates being rare in Bulgaria. 

 Ownership conditions appear, however, to be uncertain and the 

 adjustment of titles and boundaries is still the order of the day. 

 The population still considers the forest res nullius. Rough ex- 

 ploitation is still the rule and much of the area is maltreated, 

 except where lack of transportation makes it unprofitable. In 

 spite of the forest wealth, imports exceed exports, even of fuelwood. 

 In the first 10 years of the century, the import of building material 

 exceeded the export sixfold. Lately, a few small furniture fac- 



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