THE ZURICH WOODS. 43 



have been sown at Bangor with a view to testing some of 

 the results in this country. 



As a matter of fact, my last year's tour neither began nor 

 ended in Ziirich, for I came through the Black Forest and 

 went on to the Engadine, the Bernese Oberland, and several 

 other forest districts ; but interesting though these were, the 

 Zurich woods cling to the memory as the most instructive, 

 the most perfectly managed, the most profitable, and there- 

 fore, from the economic point of view, the most important of 

 them all. 



Impressions of Swiss Forestry. 



In regard to Swiss forestry generally, I was surprised to 

 find so little larch in the country. Perhaps I expected too 

 much; the larch so dominates one's thoughts in Britain, and 

 so strictly do we regard it (rightly enough) as an Alpine tree, 

 that the visitor to Switzerland is apt to be disappointed at 

 the comparative absence of this species. The larch of course 

 occurs, and at great elevations it is as abundant as the 

 Cembran pine, but that is all. It is poorly represented, taking 

 the country all over, and modern silviculture does not tend 

 to increase its area. Recent plantations are formed for the 

 most part with common spruce and, to some extent, with 

 Scots pine, but larch seems to be rarely used. The spruce 

 is the tree of Switzerland, and in many localities one may 

 walk or drive long distances without seeing any other species. 

 Beech, again, is the commonest of the broad-leaved trees, but 

 it occupies the lower situations. 



The forest flora of the Alps is extremely interesting. One 

 may begin at a moderate altitude, say near one of the larger 

 lakes, where walnut, acacia, sweet chestnut, and even the fig 

 and almond may be growing luxuriantly, a little higher up 

 there are meadows and beech woods, then may come a stretch 

 of Scots pine, but, as we ascend, this species soon gives place 

 to the spruce. This tree continues in great masses to an extra- 

 ordinary elevation ; ultimately, however, at perhaps 6000 feet, 

 it also gives up the struggle, which is carried on by the larch 

 and Cembran pine, or " arve." Small groups and single trees 

 of birch, mountain ash, and mountain pine may also be found 

 at an extreme height, but the Cembran pine and larch grow 



