153 



FOKEST. 



FOREST. 



Basque provinces there is nothing but the miserable pin des lande. 

 In Biscay beech only is cultivated ; but in Galicia and in Catalonia 

 there are both oak and beech. In Estremadura there are forests 

 of the evergreen oak, which produce the sweet or edible acorn ; Cata- 

 lonia, Valencia, and the environs of Seville, produce the cork-tree 

 (Q. tuber). This tree, which was formerly abundant in Andalusia, is 

 proceeding rapidly to extinction. Many parts however of the Castiles, 

 Aragon, Andalusia, and Estremadura, are without wood ; and although 

 the common oak is found in small quantity in the northern provinces, 

 upon the whole there is a great deficiency of useful wood : all the 

 middle and southern regions hardly produce one good kind of timber. 



European Turkey Of this country it is observable that, on the 

 northern side of the Balkan, in the basin of the Danube, there are fine 

 forests of oak, elm, and pine, and in Wallachia there are whole forests 

 of fruit trees, particularly plum, apple, pear, cherry, and apricot. On 

 the southern side of the chain the forests are particularly varied. 

 Different kinds of pine and fir, oak, maple, sycamore, walnut, chestnut, 

 and beech, are found in succession on the several terraces, while on 

 the mountains themselves forests of oak, elm, and lime, abound. The 

 Morea produces the cork tree, the Kermes oak, the Valona oak, of 

 which the acorns are eaten, the plane, the wild olive, the sweet chest- 

 nut, the manna ash, pine, firs, and the larch, the barren date tree, the 

 silk tree, &c., and a variety of plants used in the arts, and in pharmacy. 



Russia. Of all the countries of Europe, Russia is the most abundantly 

 provided with timber ; and her forests would be an almost inex- 

 haustible source of wealth, if it were possible for the government 

 effectually to protect them from destruction. In 1802 regulations for 

 the preservation of the forests were established, but such is their 

 extent and that of the country, that it is next to impossible wholly to 

 prevent the waste of wood. 



Hermann's ' Statistical Notice of the Agriculture of Russia," pub- 

 lished in the 8th vol. of the ' Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences of 

 St. Petersburg,' and quoted in Mr. Schnitzler's work, states, " there 

 are still 200,000,000 of acres exclusively covered with pine and other 

 cone-bearing trees, without counting oaks, maples, beech, poplar, and 

 hornbeam (none of which are scarce below the latitude of 52"), and 

 birch, which grows further north." In the year 1804 it was estimated 

 that there existed 8,192,295 pine trees fit for masts, being 30 inches in 

 diameter ; and 374,804 oak trees, of 24 inches and upwards in diameter; 

 about 87,000,000 more pines were proper for building timber. Enor- 

 mous as this may appear, the statement, so far from being exaggerated, 

 would seem to be considerably below the truth, it being certain that 

 in the three northern governments alone of Wologda, Archangel, and 

 Olonetz, there are 216,000,000 of acres of forest trees, chiefly pine and 

 fir. Birch, pines, fir, and limes, are the common forest trees of Euro- 

 pean Russia. The first is the most abundant as far as the 55th parallel, 

 beyond which there are still found vast forests of pine and fir. The 

 governments of Novgorod and Twer are covered with wood ; the Vol- 

 konsky forest is the largest in Europe. In the government of Perm, 

 of a surface of 50,000,000 of acres, 47,000,000 are covered with forests. 

 Many of these immense tracts of wood are impenetrable, and harbour 

 great quantities of bears, wolves, and other savage beasts, while others 

 abound in deer and game of all kinds. In Esthonia, Livonia, and 

 Courland, there are fine forests of pine, fir, and birch, the latter pre- 

 dominating in the moist places ; alder, ash, elm, and plane, are found 

 in the good soils, but oak is in general scarce. In Courland lime is 

 Unt, but beech is rare; there are willows of several varieties. 

 In general it may be observed that, in Russia, the pine, fir, and other 

 coniferous trees, are found as far north as 57 ; birch, aspen, and 

 extensive forests of lime, as far as 54 or 55; oak, rare in the central 

 plateau, prospers towards 51 or 52, but in the valley of the Volga 

 they are fine and abundant at 55. In the same region where the oak 

 succeeds the Russian maple (Acer tartarieum) is in abundance, as also 

 white poplar and hornbeam. In the central provinces beech hardly 

 reaches Smolensk, and does not pass beyond Little Russia. In some 

 parts of the Ukraine are fine oak forests. In Lithuania the timber is 

 generally fir, intermixed with pine and birch, and occasionally oak. 

 The woods of the latter province harbour bears, elks, &c. , and in the 

 celebrated forest of Bielovieje is found the aurochs, a species of wild 

 ox, now peculiar to this locality. 



Poland, generally speaking, is covered with magnificent forests ; in 

 Mazovia particularly there are some very fine woods. The different 

 varieties of the pine are found in the sandy places, and on the moun- 

 tains are fir and beech. Oak succeeds well in good soil. In addition 

 to these trees Poland also poetesses larch, lime, elm, and ash. In the 

 Buckowine are forest* of beech, intermixed with fir and birch woods. 



It appears then, that although the progress of civilisation and 

 increase of population have greatly diminished the forests which at 

 one f time covered great part of Europe, there is still an immense 

 quantity of wood, and the necessity of keeping up a constant supply 

 being now very generally acknowledged, there is reason to hope that 

 orests will no longer be abandoned to wanton destruction, but 

 that, on the contrary, the felling of timber and cutting of copse woods 

 will be properly regulated, and fresh plantations made to replace the 

 wo. id consumed. 



We will now take a hasty glance over other parts of the world. 



Alia. In the Caucasus we find that on the western, eastern, and 



southern slopes of this chain, there are forests of cedar, cypress 



uniper, beech, and oak, and on the edges of these, quinces, wild apple, 

 and pear trees; while the warm and sheltered valleys produce the 

 almond, the peach, and the fig. On the borders of the Caspiau there 

 are woods of olive, plane, aud laurel. 



In Asia. Minor, Mount Taurus is covered with forests of cypress, 

 lumper, and savines. The gall-nut oak grows from the Bosphorus to 

 Syria, and the Persian frontier ; oaks and fir abound in the forests 

 along the Black Sea. There are also in different parts woods composed 

 exclusively of fruit-trees. Syria, to a vegetation greatly similar, adds 

 ;he sycamore and palm trees. 



Arabia has no forests, properly speaking. The oases, however, con- 

 tain groves of date palms, tamarinds, and different fruit trees. In 

 Hejaz the date palm is abundant. 



Persia. In Mekran there are forests of the Indian palm, intermixed 

 with the odoriferous shrubs of Arabia Felix. In the valley of Shiraz 

 we find only clumps of plane trees, weeping willows, and poplars ; but 

 the mountain* which border the Caspian are covered with oak, lime, 

 acacia, and chestnut : and higher up cedar, cypress, and other pines, 

 with the sumach and the mountain-ash. Ghilan abounds in boxwood, 

 and on the south-east of the Caspian there is great abundance of oak, 

 but no piue. 



Siberia is too cold for the oak, the hazel, the alder, the plane, and 

 the wild apple ; even the ash ceases towards the Irtish ; and the fir, 

 which in Norway grows as far as 70, stops in Siberia at 60, while the 

 silver fir goes no further than 58. The great steppes of this country 

 are nevertheless bounded by thick forests of birch, willow, elm, 

 Tartarian maple, black and white poplar, aspen ; and a great variety of 

 firs, among others the Siberian cedar, which sometimes attains a height 

 of 120 feet, and is particularly fine on the banks of the Yenesei. The 

 country between this river aud the Baikal is well wooded. At Tobolsk 

 are fine woods of birch, and of the pitch pine. Berezoff has also forests 

 of birch and fir, with stunted Siberian cedar. In the government of 

 Tomsk there are forests of rim. larch, willow, and birch ; and between 

 the Obi and the Tom, the laud is covered with birch. To the west of 

 Irkutsk the country is nothing but one vast, dense, and swampy forest. 

 At Nertchinsk, in Russian Daturia, forests abound formed of larch, 

 black and white fir, Siberian cedar, aud black birch, which latter is 

 found only here. There are also whole forests, of wild apricot and 

 rhododendrons. At Ockhotsk there are immense tracts of swampy 

 forests, and Kaintchatka, the eastern limit of the Old World, abounds 

 in larch, white poplar, and birch. The willow and the alder are em- 

 ployed only for fuel. On the whole, Siberia, notwithstanding its 

 immense steppes and marshy plains, still reckons upwards of 2,000,000 

 of acres of forest in the two neighbourhoods alone of Ekaterinbourg 

 and Tobolsk. 



Central Asia is too little known for us to speak with any certainty 

 regarding the forests it may contain. The greater part of the vast 

 plateau of Tartary is a sandy and desert region, except at the imme- 

 diate borders of the water courses ; what forests do exist are on the 

 slopes of the mountains by which the plains and valleys are surrounded. 

 In the province of Leao Tong, in Manchuria, there are some extensive 

 forests of fir, cypress, acacia, willow, apricot, peach, and mulberry, and 

 on the east coast the mountains are covered with oak and pine, while 

 towards the lower lands the willow, the maple, and the azalea are 

 abundant. 



Corea has immense forests in the mountains of its northern parts. 

 The islands of Sagalhin, Jeseo, and the Kuriles have large forests of the 

 finest timber. 



The Empire of Japan has a vigorous vegetation, partaking of the 

 European and South Asiatic ; larch, cypress, and weeping- willow, 

 which, by the way, is found in all the temperate countries between 

 the Mediterranean and this empire, are here blended with the cocoa- 

 nut, the fan-palm, aud arborescent mimosas. 



China. On the mountains of the western district of this great and 

 populous empire there are forests of immense extent, abounding in 

 almost every species of tree known in Europe, and many others 

 unknown. These forests, besides timber and fuel, supply many valu- 

 able productions, such as barks, gums, oils, and resins used in the 

 arts; rosewood, ebony, sandal-wood, and the valuable Chinese aloe; 

 a camphor-tree, which furnishes the best and most beautiful timber, 

 the paper and other mulberries, the tallow-tree, the bamboo, &c. The 

 provinces of Kiang-si and Quang-si have also their mountains covered 

 with forests, and in the latter province there is cinnamon superior to 

 that of Ceylon. 



The islands of Formosa and Hainan are abundantly wooded, pro- 

 ducing, besides timber, several woods remarkable for their perfume, 

 and others of great value for carving, as eagle-wood, violet-wood, and a 

 yellow wood of remarkable beauty, said to be incorruptible. Return- 

 ing to the continent of Asia, we find 



Tibet, having the bases of its mountains girded with forests of bam- 

 boo, aspen, birch, cypress and yew, and ash of remarkable beauty ; 

 pine and fir are low and stunted. 

 Cashmere has abundance of oak. 



India, both within and beyond the Ganges, is rich in wood. There 

 are whole forests of the bamboo, which s jmetimes attain a height of 

 60 feet. Cocoa-nut and palms of all kinds cover large tracts. Here 

 are woods of oak, fir, cypress, and poplar; there are mangoes, banian- 

 trees, uvarias, robinias, sandal-wood, &c. Guzerat, Oudepoor, the king- 



