EXCURSION TO SWEDEN. 75 



as 1860, well-regulated plans for felling and planting work 

 were instituted. Since that date, 37,000 acres have been 

 artificially stocked with trees, and the company now look upon 

 the results with satisfaction. Operations are on a very large 

 scale. The area of the estate is 125,000 acres, of which 106,000 

 are under forest. Mr Axel Ekman, R.V.O., Managing Director 

 of the Finspong Company, most kindlj'^ arranged everything for 

 the reception of the arboriculturists. They were his guests for 

 the day, and benefited much by his forethought on their account. 

 A statement expressly prepared for the use of the visitors gave 

 many interesting details of the management. The objects the 

 proprietors have in view are the production of large-sized 

 timber for manufacture in their saw-mills, and the maintenance 

 of a supply of wood-chai'coal for their ii"on-works. Apart from 

 the forests, there are 8000 acres of agricultural land, and 7000 

 acres under pasture and scrub wood. The country people over 

 a wide area are largely dependent for their livelihood on work 

 obtained in the forests. Five million cubic feet of wood are 

 annually converted into charcoal, and 200,000 logs go to the 

 saw-mills, of which there are five on the estate. The manu- 

 factured wood amounts to about 4500 standards per annum. 

 One hundred and fifty workmen are employed at the saw-mills, 

 and about one hundred and twenty in the forests. One chief 

 forester and ten district-foresters control the workpeople. 



It is doubtful if on any other private estate in Sweden 

 afforestation of fresh areas has been carried out on as extensive 

 a scale as at Finspong. Some twenty-nine millions of trees 

 have been planted, and three and a half tons of seed have been 

 sown, within recent years. Scots pine is the predominating 

 species ; its rotation being fixed at ninety years. It is interest- 

 ing to notice that artificial stocking has been found to give a 

 larger quantity of wood, in a given period, than that yielded by 

 natural sowing, the difference being chiefly due to the patchy 

 distribution of the crop under the latter system. It cannot be 

 said that all the woods present the best possible appearance. The 

 influence of density upon the crop does not seem to have been 

 fully appreciated, as the woods are too open in character. The 

 admixture of spruce in the pine woods also has not been a 

 success. Probably the opportunity to make small timber into 

 charcoal has proved too attractive for the wood managers, and 

 has tempted them to enter the plantations for thinnings too early 



