244 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH AKBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



usually is in Finland, in dense masses, the tree is tall, sti*aight, 

 and free from knots, and forms a fine, full-wooded bole. The 

 Norway Spruce Eir or White-wood of commerce {Picea excelsa) is 

 next to the pine in point of timber value. Bulk for bulk it is 

 worth somewhat less than the pine, but the extensive modern 

 requirement of spruce for paper-pulp can be met by trees of com- 

 paratively small dimensions. In Finland the spruce demands a 

 better soil than the pine, and in particular wants more moisture, 

 and it suffers also severely from gales. A mixture of spruce and 

 pine is common in the natural forests, and, says Mon. Frederiksen, 

 *' It is in the north in the woods thus arranged that we often 

 meet with the long, healthy pines, as straight as the most perfect 

 columns, and such as are rarely seen in Central Europe." 



Amongst deciduous trees the Birch predominates, being found 

 everywhere throughout Finland, and the Dwarf Birch (Betula 

 nana) farthest north of all. The Common Alder {Alnus 

 glutinosa) grows largely in the swamps of South Finland, while 

 Alnus incana is common in the north, being often more strongly 

 represented in burnt-over forest land than birch. The Aspen 

 Poplar (Populus treinula) is found almost as far north as the 

 birch, but rarely in dense growth or pare forest. Other evidently 

 indigenous deciduous trees, found chiefly in South Finland, are 

 Ash, Elm, Maple [Acer platanoides), Lime, Oak, Hazel, Mountain 

 Ash, and Service trees, Hawthorn, and Apple. 



Larch has been introduced with some success, and experiments 

 are now being made with Pinus strohus, P. cembra, Abies 

 pectinaia, A. balsamea, and Douglas fir from the Pacific coast. 



Wasteful Methods and Destructive Agencies. 



Only a small part of the timber cut in the forests is exported, 

 and of the great mass used at home much is wasted. Not so 

 very long ago it was, in some districts, thought good policy to 

 burn the old pine woods simply in order that they might be 

 changed to pasture lands or into plantations of the inferior 

 deciduous trees which could later be used in the old "Svedja" 

 method of agriculture. This very wasteful system consisted in 

 burning over the forest lands in order to obtain a few hai-vests 

 and some pasture land afterwards. In a large part of the country 

 this method has entirely changed the character of the forests, and 

 instead of the dense pine and fir woods, we find thinly stocked 

 woods of birch, with some aspen, alder, and spruce. The Legis- 



