STATE FORESTS OF PRUSSIA. 155 
forest, so as to protect the old trees against being blown down 
by the violent west gales, and the denuded stripes run from 
north to south, in order that the ground may be preserved as 
much as possible from the drying influence of the sun, A new 
clearing is never undertaken till the last one is fully stocked 
and in vigorous growth, so that an interval of ten years usually 
elapses between two such fellings. 
The ground is restocked by artificially sown seed (5} lbs. per 
acre), or by means of one-year-old seedlings which are placed in 
a furrow made by the forest plough, or are inserted in stripes 
that have been trenched to the depth of 12 inches. Whether 
sowing or planting will be adopted depends on the abundance of 
seed, or the abundance of hand labour, but, speaking generally, 
a surface free from weeds is restocked by sowing, and a grassy 
or weedy surface by planting. Blanks are filled up either by 
deeply stirring a patch a foot square and inserting a year-old 
seedling plant in each corner, or by using plants with balls of 
earth on their roots. 
In the immediate neighbourhood of Eberswalde, the forest is 
managed on the uneven-aged selection system. There are two 
reasons for the adoption of this system—the first, the uninterrupted 
maintenance of the beauty of the woods, by avoiding the necessity 
of making clear-fellings ; and the second, the providing of a system 
not common in the district, so that the students may have the 
opportunity of becoming familiar with it. The method of pro- 
cedure is as follows :—Patches of a diameter of 30 to 50 yards, at 
intervals of about 80 yards, are cleared in the woods, and, having 
been surrounded by a deer-proof fence, these patches are partially 
stocked by beech seed sown in wide rows. Two years later the 
seed of the Scots fir is sown between the rows of beeches, and 
when the young trees are fairly established, a few of the old 
marginal trees are removed, and the patch under regeneration 
correspondingly enlarged. 
At the instigation of Prince Bismarck, who was considerably 
influenced in the matter by Herr Booth, the Prussian Government 
has, since 1881, devoted much attention to the introduction of 
exotic trees. Up till 1885 attention was only given to American 
and European trees, but since then the Conifers of Japan have 
been largely experimented with. From 1881 to 1885 a sum of 
£2500 was annually voted for this work, while for the period 
1886-90 the allowance was £1500 a year. During the ten years 
1881-90, £12,500 was spent on the purchase of the seeds of exotic 
trees. In 1890 it was considered that enough had been done to 
give most of the likely exotics a chance to prove their value on 
Prussian soil, so that since then the annual vote has been only 
£350. During the experimental decade ending with 1890, the 
VOL. XIV. PART III. Oo 
