CONTINENTAL NOTES— GERMANY. 2O9 



satisfactory than that of the cheaper sorts with a power of only 

 65 to 75 per cent. 



Experiments have shown that each hundred Scots-pine seeds, 

 with a germinating power of 55, 65, 75, 85, and 95 per cent, 

 respectively, produced, when sown in the open, 7, 14, 22, 31, 

 and 44 yearling plants. The annual requirements of pine 

 seed amount, for the Prussian State forests alone, to about 



;^I00,000. 



In 1906 ravages by pine spinners, the nun-moth, and to some 

 extent the pine geometer, necessitated a large increase of the 

 annual budgets for protection against insect plagues. In 

 ordinary years the amount provided for in the Prussian State 

 forest budget averages some ;,{^i 9,000, but it rose in 1906 to 

 ^31,000, in 1907 to ^^53,500, and was still ^32,500 in 1908-09. 



The fight is practically ended, but though no permanent 

 damage has been done by either spinners or geometers, the 

 losses caused by the nun have been severe, as no actually 

 effective means are known of combating this moth beyond the 

 felling, barking, and removal of the trees attacked, tar rings 

 having proved entirely ineffective. 



Forest fires are decreasing, thanks to a more careful clearing 

 of the railway fire lines. 



The Prussian State forests yielded in 1908 about 11,000,000 

 cubic metres of wood, of which 63 per cent, was timber. The 

 outturn was 799,999 cubic metres in excess of any previous 

 yield, but as timber prices sank considerably during the 

 crisis of 1908, the income from wood fell, nevertheless, by 

 about p^ioo,ooo as compared with that of the previous year. 



The depression in prices was to a great extent due to an 

 abrupt drop in those of pit timbers, aggravated by " bear " opera- 

 tions on the part of trusts. These failed entirely, and for some 

 firms connected therewith, disastrously, but it would seem doubtful 

 whether the extremely high prices of 1907 will again be realised 

 for years to come. These prices exercise a very great influence 

 on the general average of timber prices, as the present demand 

 for pit timbers in the whole of Germany is equal to about one- 

 third of the total outturn of the Prussian State forests. 



Owing to enhanced wages, the cost of exploitation naturally 

 followed that already noticed in connection with silvicultural 

 operations, and rose from about _;!^55o,ooo in 1906 to ;j{^76o,ooo 

 in 1 9 10. The same proportionate increase applies to all other 



