THE STATE FORESTS OF SAXONY. 



175 



the sandy nature of the soil, the Scots pine becomes the 

 predominating forest-tree. 



Climate. — The rainfall in Saxony varies considerably, 

 being lowest towards the north-west and highest in the 

 Erzgebirge. The wettest forest {Revier) is that of Altenburg, 

 situated high in the Erzgebirge, which receives over 60 inches 

 annually ; and the driest district is that around Leipzig, where 

 a mean not more than 17 inches is recorded. In the chief 

 spruce-growing area on the Erzgebirge the mean precipitation is 

 27-32 inches, which is none too high for the proper growth of 

 this tree. 



The mean summer temperature in the Erzgebirge is 

 55-57° F., which rises to 62-64° F. in the Elbe valley, where 

 in winter about 30 ° F. is the average as compared with about 

 23 ° F. in the Erzgebirge. 



Area of Woodlands. — Although the percentage of woodlands 

 in Saxony is very nearly equal to the average of Germany taken 

 as a whole, the acreage per head of population (i for '22 acres) 

 works out lower than almost any other German state, owing 

 to the dense population which its extensive and thriving 

 industries are able to support. For all Germany there is on 

 the average "617 acres for every person. The area of wood- 

 land in Saxony is 949,739 acres, being 25-81 per cent, of 

 the total area of the country • whereas the collective woods of 

 Germany amount to 33,569,793 acres, being 25-89 per cent, 

 of the total area. Classified according to ownership, Saxony 

 does not show any important divergences from the remainder 

 of the Empire, except in having a somewhat higher percentage 

 of State forests and a lower percentage of municipal woods. 

 The comparative percentages are as follows : — 



The following table, which shows the percentages of woodland 

 under different forms of management in Saxony and Germany 



