NOTES ON A VISIT TO SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY. 313 
the wood is measured on the ground where it has been felled ; 
at other times it is measured after being brought to the roads. 
From time to time advances are made to the wood-cutters, and 
a final reckoning is made when the material is worked up at the 
end of the year. The average earnings are from 3 to 4 marks 
(3S. to 4s.) a day. 
The chief injuries to which the crop is exposed are wind- and 
snow-breaks, bark beetles, and weeds. Herr Stephani, the Ober- 
forster in charge of the forest, is assisted by an assessor and a 
staff of forest guards; and one of the latter does the book-work. 
The Oberférster has a beautiful residence in Forbach, and a 
liberal allowance is made so as to enable him to keep a sufficient 
number of horses for the purpose of getting about the forest 
quickly and comfortably. The forest is stocked chiefly by silver 
fir, which is estimated to extend to 51 per cent. of the whole. 
Spruce comes next, with about 37 per cent.; beech and other 
broad-leaved species with about 6 per cent.; and Scots pine with 
about 6 percent. On the growing area the silver fir predominates 
to a still greater extent, reaching as high as 60 per cent. of 
the whole. Besides the above species, there are a few specimens 
of ash, maple, alder, hornbeam, and, on the higher slopes, birch 
and mountain ash. 
The chief object of the management is to provide large-sized 
timber in the first instance to supply the various shareholders of 
the forest. The Oberférster says from his own experience, and 
from the history of the forest, that it has been found most profit- 
able to continue cultivating indigenous species in the various 
localities where they are found. The sylvicultural system 
followed is a combination of the group and selection systems. 
As soon as a group is formed in a wood that is to be regenerated, 
the mother-trees are cut away gradually, with the double object 
of giving light to the young growth and to enable the remaining 
trees to become wind-firm and put on a larger increment. This 
is done leisurely, as it is desired to get as uneven-aged a wood 
as possible, provided no increment is lost. It is maintained that 
the nearer to the selection system one can get, the less danger 
there is from wind-fall. The young silver fir can stand the shade 
of the parent-trees for a great many years, but as soon as they 
are free from shade the young shoots grow rapidly, and the 
trees develop into splendid specimens. Natural regeneration is 
followed throughout, the only planting necessary being the filling 
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