the thirty-second annual excursion, august i909. 83 



Re-Afforkstation. 



The principal function of the forest management was at that 

 time the re-stocking of the forest, half of which had been cut. 



In 1892 and 1893 an area of 827 acres was sown with 

 spruce seed, mixed with pine, birch, and larch, while small 

 openings and holes were planted up with spruce. Subsequently 

 sowing had to be abandoned on account of the increasing 

 herbaceous growth. Owing to the nature of the soil, the object 

 was to cultivate the spruce, not pure, but as the predominant 

 species, in suitable localities, mixed with beech and silver fir. 



On these extensive bare areas it was feared that these species, 

 including the spruce, might be damaged by frost, hence it was 

 planned to first cover the ground with a protective fore-growth 

 (nurses) in order that the later-planted, more delicate but 

 principal species, spruce, beech, silver fir, might be sheltered. 

 The protective species chosen were birch together with black 

 alder {Alnus glutinosa), and larch {Larix europcBo) in suitable 

 places. These were planted as 2-year-old seedlings at 6| feet 

 apart. They succeeded satisfactorily on good soils but failed 

 on shallow soils which here coincided with frost hollows. 

 With the increasing spread of grass and herbaceous growth the 

 development of the larch first fell off, then that of the beech 

 even on medium good soil, and the plants either died or became 

 unhealthy. As both species grew well on good soil, this failure 

 must be attributed to soil conditions and not entirely to damage 

 by deer. On the whole the fore-growth of nurses was not a success, 

 hence from 1901 the cultivation of nurses was gradually abandoned, 

 especially as they were not able to suppress the growth of grass. 

 The grass offered a favourite resort for mice, which destroyed 

 many developing, and even established, groups of beech. The 

 present scarcity of beech groups is principally due to damage by 

 mice, against which no effective measures were available. On 

 this account a strenuous endeavour was made, with success, to 

 cultivate the beech, not on bare areas, but in sheltered and 

 otherwise suitable situations, partly under the selection system, 

 with introduced groups of ash, oak, and also silver fir. 



As regards the deforested areas, these had to be, as formerly, 

 reserved for the spruce, which grows well in such places and gives 

 a good return A certain number of exotics were experimentally 

 cultivated. At the present time 3- to 4-year-old spruce raised in 

 the large forest nurseries are used. To a less extent 4- to 6-year 



