56 



Canadian Forestry Journal, April 1913. 



way company by the Minister of Lands, 

 the Hon. W. E. Eoss, who is actively in- 

 terested in carrying out the policy of the 

 Forest Branch, the contractors were in- 

 structed to see that all demands of the 

 forest officers were carried out, and at the 

 present time the work of piling the brush 

 is being carried on by all the contractors, 

 without exception, in this district. 



The contractors endeavoured to get the 

 tie-makers to pile the brush and offered 

 them one cent a tie more than they were 

 getting, but they would not accept this, 

 and consequently a special crew had to be 

 engaged to do the work. Of course the 

 work can be done cheapest by the tie- 

 maker, and the statement has often been 

 advanced that the brush can be piled for 



one cent a tie if done by the tie-maker,, 

 but a great deal depends on the nature of 

 the timber and the country. It is very 

 doubtful if the work can be done for that 

 figure in this valley where the timber is 

 mostly spruce and runs very much to brush. 

 On one permit the brush has been piled for 

 one and a half cents a tie, but in this case 

 four tie-makers took the contract in part- 

 nership and they are doing most of the 

 brush piling themselves, which fact would 

 lead one to believe that they can do the 

 work much cheaper than it can be done by 

 a contractor who is hiring day labor. As 

 a matter of fact, it is very difficult to 

 secure laborers for this work at all because 

 it is rather unpleasant when there is much 

 snow in the bush and the men who do- 

 take it up seem rather inefficient. 



Records and Care of Plantations in Foreign 



Countries. 



Geo. H. Retan, Forester, Pennsylvania Dept. of Forestry, Mont Alto, Penn. 



The following notes of an address by Mr. Eetan before a gathering of Pennsyl- 

 vania foresters were sent by him at the request of the Editor of the Canadian For- 

 estry Journal. It is hoped to have other articles from the pen of Mr. Eetan in the 

 near future. 



Eecords of plantations, as plantations, 

 do not exist. On the contrary records are 

 continuous for every unit of management. 

 They not only cover the present planta- 

 tions on the ground but give the complete 

 history of the last stand occupying the 

 site. These records are complete in every 

 feature, typical of the scientific German 

 character. 



Eecords are of two kinds, written and 

 cartographical. The two show practically 

 the same thing, the written covering a 

 longer period of time/ One map may 

 show geological characteristics and quality 

 of the soil, age and species of the stand, 

 units of managament and even sylvicul- 

 tural plans. The written record adds as 

 to the plantation in particular, a minute 

 history of every expense, loss, treatment 

 and results. There is never a second fail- 

 ure from the same reason. 



Protection in Germany is the result of 

 several co-operating forces. The chief of 

 these in their order of importance seem 

 to be: 



Continued period of high relative hu- 

 midity. 



An adequate force. 



A large permanent labor force. 



A comj)letely developed transportation 

 svstem. 



The sense of individual ownership. 



The utilization of the litter. 



In the Black forest, Odenwald, Bava- 

 rian Highlands, and Ehine, there were few 

 days during the whole fall when a fire 

 would have been possible. From what I 

 could learn it was not an exceptional fall, 

 nor was the actual rainfall heavy. The 

 air seemed always damp and foggy or 

 actually misty. To this cause may be at- 

 tributed the success of the plantations of 

 the Pacific Coast species in Germany. 



Then we have the important fact that 

 every inhabitant, peasant or prince, has 

 a more or less concrete sense of owner- 

 ship in the forest. "Whether he is merely 

 entitled to a yearly amount of firewood 

 free or whether he is in a . community 

 whose taxes are greatly lessened because 

 of the communal forest, he has the indi- 

 vidual sense of 'pocketbook' interest 

 which impels him to protect his own pro- 

 perty. What a difference this alone would 

 make in Pennsylvania! 



As to the roads, praise cannot be too 

 great. Whether on the sands of the Ehine 

 Valley where roads cost little or in the 

 Saxon Erzgebirge, fully as rocky as the 

 mountains of Central Pennsylvania, there 

 is present the same intensity of the road 

 system. At Tharandt where Cotta in ISll 



