991 



• 



away whole pieces of a forest, or thinning patches in the thickest 

 parts of it, 



" 3. Wild animals also destroy large numbers of trees, by biting off' 

 the bark or young twigs ; peeling away the juicy bark, by blows with 

 their horns ; or tearing up the young plants. The wild doves and 

 finches in particular commit great depredations ; countless numbers of 

 them attacking the pine-seed, or chopping up the germinating plants : 

 so that plantations of pines in the young state must be watched, night 

 and day, against these feathered robbers. The most deadly foes of 

 the forests, however, are, unquestionably, various species of beetle, 

 especially those of Bostrichus (e. g., B. octodentatus, B. Laricis, B. 

 calcographus, B. villosus, B. Hylesinus, B. Fraxini), which burrow 

 under the bark of the older trees, and there deposit their eggs. Great 

 care is taken by the woodmen to kill these animals before they lay 

 their eggs ; but, notwithstanding all their efforts, many thousand trees 

 annually fall victims to this scourge. 



" 4. Dry-rot, which at one period during the last century caused 

 the destruction of 15,196 acres of forest in the Kingdom of Hanover 

 alone." 



The author then spoke of the constituents, or elements, of the Hartz 

 forests, which are divided into " Hochwald," " Mittelwald," and 

 " Niederwald," according to their position on the mountain-slopes. 

 " The forest is most extensive and luxuriant on the southern and 

 eastern mountain-slopes and valleys, and becomes more scanty the 

 more we approach the north and west, and the higher we ascend. 

 While on the gentle slopes of the east and south borders of the range, 

 the forest (consisting chiefly of oak, birch, beech, and fir) grows luxu- 

 riantly at an elevation of 1600 feet, on the north and west these trees 

 are displaced, at 1300 feet, by the dismal pine. The red beech {Fagus 

 sylvaiica) is, especially in the Unterrhavz, a magnificent, tall tree, 

 probably next, in point of importance, to the pine, constituting 

 about one-third of the forests of the lower Hartz. The hornbeam 

 {Carpinvs Betulus), besides being common in the woods, is greatly 

 cultivated, and thrives exceedingly well. The different species of 

 Quercus are common in all the lower forests. The maple {Acer 

 pseudo-Platanus) and ash (species of Fraxinus) spring up abundantly 

 in the beech-woods, and are also planted, to a considerable extent, 

 on low, bare knolls. The elm {Ulmus ccanpestris) occurs, compara- 

 tively sparingly, in the lower forests. The birch [Betula alba) is 

 common in the ' Mittelwald,' as underwood, ascending the hills to an 

 elevation of 2680 feet. On sheltered and sunny banks about the base 



4 



