A VISIT TO GERMAN FORESTS. 431 



Peat occurs only in patches of inconsiderable size, but the 

 district forest-officer has given much attention to its treatment, 

 and the results of his investigations are amongst the most instruc- 

 tive features of the revier. 



In coniferous forests, especially before their first thinning, 

 danger from fire is very real in Germany; and one cannot go far 

 without seeing the damage it has caused. In Eggesin I saw an 

 area of fully 400 acres that had just been burnt over. The 

 charred and leafless trees stood out from the still smoking 

 ground, a sorry spectacle. When a forest fire has fairly taken 

 hold in a dense young wood, the saving of that wood is generally 

 impossible, and efforts are concentrated upon limiting the destruc- 

 tion within certain bounds. The sections or compartments into 

 which the forests are divided greatly facilitate this work. The 

 size of a section is about 40 acres, and it is isolated from neigh- 

 bouring parts by rides about 6 yards broad, which are frequently 

 kept ploughed and bordered by birch or oak. When the fire is 

 confined to the forest floor, it is encircled as quickly as possible 

 by a strip about a yard broad being cleared of all litter and 

 humus down to the mineral soil. The fire, running along the 

 surface, comes to a stop upon reaching this barrier. Most of the 

 workers, who are villagers required by law to lend their assistance 

 in time of fire, are disposed along the dividing lines; and wher- 

 ever ground-fire tries to force its way across, it is at once extin- 

 guished by a spadeful of sand. 



The Harz. 



Of the Harz mountains, the highest is the Brocken (3747 feet). 

 It is a vast, round, broad-topped hill of no especial beauty, but 

 interesting because of its immensity, its " spectre," and its spruce 

 woods. The last-mentioned show what can be done in the 

 afforestation of mountain-land under severe climatic conditions. 

 Winter in the Upper Harz is extremely rigorous, with much 

 snowfall, and the climate generally is said to resemble that of 

 Central Norway. The spruce is the tree of the district ; on the 

 Brocken it reaches almost to the summit, and the other hills are 

 entirely clothed with it. Woods grown at high altitudes in 

 Germany are always subject to damage by snow-break ; weak 

 trees are bent to a bow-like shape, stronger stems are snapped 

 through the middle; while in some parts whole stretches of 



