310 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
On the 17th June I travelled from Sihlwald to Forbach in 
the Grand Duchy of Baden, leaving Sihlwald at 5.30 a.M., and 
reaching Forbach at 8.45 p.m. Shortly after leaving Offenburg 
we came into a forest country, and we travelled through forest 
nearly all the way. The land is high, forming steep banks on 
the water streams, and is thickly covered with open forests, the 
streams being used to drive the saw-mills, which were closely 
situated along the courses of the streams, and engaged in sawing 
up the timber. 
The forest of the Schifferschaft is situated to the south of the 
village of Forbach, in the Murgthal, and the Grand Duchy of 
Baden. The Murgthal is a valley taking its origin in the 
Kingdom of Wurtemburg; it follows a northern direction, and, 
beginning fairly wide, it narrows down to a rocky gorge. In 
this valley the river Murg flows. In parts it is very wild and 
rocky, with numerous granite boulders scattered about its bed. 
In former times the river was used for floating down the timber. 
Dams were made higher up its source; these were suddenly 
removed, and the timber floated down in this way, but there 
are now so many weirs thrown across the river to obtain water- 
power for many purposes, that this mode of transit is no longer 
practicable. Almost the whole area drained by the Murg is 
covered with forest, which only ends when the valley merges 
into that of the Rhine. There are small pieces of agricultural 
land near the villages, and meadow land is scattered through 
the valleys in the forest, but these form a very small proportion 
of the whole, and agricultural operations have all to be done 
by hand, the ground being so steep and inaccessible. Round 
Forbach there are many of these small agricultural patches on 
the steep hill-sides on either side of the little town, and the 
agricultural operations are conducted chiefly by the women, 
who carry up all the manure on their heads to their little 
patches, which are beautifully cultivated, but at great expense 
in labour and industry. There is a very interesting wooden 
bridge thrown across the Murg at Forbach. It is built entirely 
of native timber, chiefly silver fir, and although it is more than 
a hundred years old, it is in a good state of preservation, show- 
ing the wonderful “life” of well-matured timber, even when 
exposed to the weather, and without any paint or varnish. The 
external boundaries of the forest are the water-courses or ridges. 
The boundaries are marked by beacons erected at certain intervals, 
