460 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



rights of the neighbouring population in the way of timber, 

 grazing, hunting and fishing. During the eighteenth and the 

 first half of the nineteenth centuries, the State sold the best of the 

 Commons, which thus passed into private ownership ; and a part 

 of the remainder became the property of the districts in which 

 they were situated, being thereafter known as District Commons. 



Species and Distribution. 



In southern Norway are found a few very small and scattered 

 forests of deciduous species which cannot stand severe cold, such 

 as beech, oak (especially Q. pedunculata) and wych elm. But the 

 chief constituents of the forests crops are the Scots pine, the spruce 

 and the birch (B. verrucosa and B. odorata). Spruce rarely forms 

 compact forests north of the Arctic circle ; but with this excep- 

 tion the three trees are found all over the country: — sometimes 

 in "pure" forest covering large continuous stretches of ground, 

 but more commonly intermixed, and with the addition of a small 

 proportion of other species. 



It is believed that about three-fourths of the total forest area 

 are occupied by conifers, and the remaining one-fourth by decidu- 

 ous trees. The pine is the chief constituent of the crop throughout 

 the great forests of the south, and on the slopes of the Dovrefjeld 

 up to about 62° N. lat.; but between this latitude and the Arctic 

 circle, as well as in the extreme south-east of the country, the 

 forests are composed principally of spruce. As regards altitude, 

 the upper limit of pine forest is as a rule about 330 feet higher than 

 that of spruce ; but in some localities the spruce maintains itself 

 up to the same altitude as the pine. The Mountain birch grows 

 everywhere, spreading up to the extreme north of the country. 

 Its limit of altitude is about 650 feet above that of the pine. In 

 the south, the Mountain and the Lowland or White birch are 

 found together, usually in mixture with other trees; but the 

 birches form "pure" forest only where conifers cease to flourish, 

 that is, on the higher mountains and in the most northerly 

 districts. 



Three distinct regions of forest growth may be discerned, viz. : — 



1. That within the Arctic Circle. — The forests here consist 

 principally of birch ; but there are considerable tracts of pine 

 and a few scattered spruce. 



2. The West Coast Region. — The actual coasts, including the 

 portion within the Arctic circle, is almost devoid of forests, except 



