440 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



towards his maintenance, and provide himself with clothes and a 

 rifle. 



A forester's training is much more thorough in Germany than 

 in Britain. One who proposes to become Forster must first show 

 by certificate that he has acquitted himself well at a first-class 

 school. He then goes either to such an institution as that at 

 Proskau, or, as is more common, he is apprenticed to a district 

 forest-officer for two years. At the end of this time he must pass 

 an examination. For three years he serves in the army, and 

 attends science classes in the evenings. Then comes another 

 examination, after passing which he is designated a "Hilfsjager "; 

 he then receives further instruction, and eight or nine years later 

 comes the final examination, which lasts for several days. When 

 he has passed this successfully, he is entitled to the name of 

 " Forstaufseher." After filling a secondary position for about five 

 years, he becomes a fully qualified " Forster," but even then he, of 

 course, acts entirely under the direction of his superiors in rank, 

 whose scientific training is of a much higher standard than his. 



SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 



Winter was approaching when I visited Schleswig-Holstein ; 



autumn cultivation of the soil was in progress, the fellings had 



begun, and I was able to take part in thinning operations. The 



weather conditions are very similar to those at home, dampness 



being the prevailing feature. The land is largely heath and bog. 



On the banks of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal I saw an interesting 



piece of forestry work. At the formation of the canal, cuttings had 



to be made into a subsoil of heavy clay, and much of the material 



cast up was deposited in long, flat-topped mounds. After having 



lain unproductive for some years, the State acquired this, along 



with some adjoining land; and in 1899 the mounds were planted 



with the common alder, seedlings and two-year -old transplants 



being used. Up to the date of planting, no vegetation had appeared 



upon the heaps, and a few of these that at the time of my visit 



had not yet been dealt with, showed absolutely no plant-life except 



some struggling specimens of Coltsfoot {Tusilago farfara). Oak, 



beech, birch, Scots pine, and spruce, tried in several parts, had all 



failed utterly, as though the ground were poisonous ; but the alder 



was flourishing in a surprising manner, plants of three summers' 



growth being 7 to 8 feet high, healthy, and of sturdy growth. The 



