Saxony* s Fortst Practice 



133 



munufacturo of pulp beioK the major in- 

 duHtry, largo treeii aro not nocimitary; 

 hen<M< a rotHti<in or (^ruwing p«>rio4l itf 

 eij?ht>' years in Htrictly adhered to. The 

 matured standH are cut clear and the rl«<nr- 



I 



Eighty Year Old Spruce in a Saxony Stat 



Forest. Smaller Second Orowth in 



The Background. 



e«i areas are plnnted up immediately with 

 about 3,(100 seedlin>rs per acre, at a cost 

 of .fS to $10. Of thoHe 3,000 seedlin},'8. 

 only about 1.30 will roju-h maturity, the 

 rest havinif been removed from time to time 

 by way of thinning's, thus furnishinv; addi- 

 tional revenue. 



The |»rit'es obtained from the aale of the 

 diflferont wood products seem to us phen- 

 onuMinl. Fifteen dollars a eord is paid 

 for pulpwood ami from $*25 to IS.'S a thou- 

 sand for spruce sawlojjs in the woods. The 

 lofjs are all peeled immediately after 

 cutting and the brush and debris scatter 

 ed over the jjround, enriching the soil by 

 their decomposition. 



It is interesting to note the measures 

 that are taken to minimi/e the damage by 

 wind. Spruce is a flat-roote<I wind-weak 

 species, and unless ])reventive measures 



•re taken a large amooot of windfall will 

 occur, raoaing the local market to b« 

 ovemtocked. Thin diflicultr it oxntcmt 

 by what in known a« a cutting aeriea, ao 

 arrangement of the atanda and age elaas- 

 en in conaeeotive order. The for- 

 ettts have, an a con»e<|uence, the 

 appearance of a (light of stair*. 



Haxony ia particularly famoua 

 for ita efficiency in forext finance. 

 (*om|dete records have been kept 

 of the forests since 1816, ao that 

 statistical material is available in 

 Saxony liettcr than anywhere ela« 

 in Kurope. The value of the for- 

 •■Ht has increased in the coume of 

 the last century at a comftoand 

 rate of 3 per cent per annum, tboa 

 doubling every twenty-four yeara, 

 while the woods were furnishing a 

 Hurplus cash dividend of 2'4 |»er 

 <-«>nt on an annual average. 



The famous Black Forest, aitO' 

 rited in the highlands of Baden 

 !ind Wurtemberg, preaeata an en- 

 tirely different plan of manage- 

 ment, though the speriea are prac- 

 tically the same as in Saxony. 

 Spruce and fir predominate. 



Owing to the absence of the 

 pulp industry in this vicinity the 

 tret^ are left to grow to a larger 

 si/e, requiring a rotation varying 

 from 100 to 120 years. Very little 

 planting of seedlings is done, as 

 reforestation is obtained by natur- 

 I see<l regeneration. This method 

 I propagation, known as the 

 u'lterwood compartment type of 

 Ljeneration, was originated by 

 «teorge Louis llartig, and is in 

 vogue in many parts of Germany. 

 1 I., idea ia simple, and consists merely in 

 removing a stand in three different cut- 

 tings, two partial and a final, within a re- 

 generation period of twenty years. The 

 first cutting is a preparatory cutting to 

 ol>tain proper soil conditions, the second 

 is a partial cutting to give more food to 

 the oncoming seedlings; the third, or final, 

 cutting takes place after the regeneration 

 Is well under way. The result Is a close 

 a|>firoach to the primeval forest. The av- 

 era:;o acre's yield at maturity is 25,000 

 feet, board measure, which sells at an 

 average price of $20 a thousand. 



In the show forest of Count Bergheim, 

 at Weinheim, is a plantation of sequoia 

 ((California big tree) fifty years old. 

 Judging from the wonderful results of 

 this plantation, it is surprising that this 

 species is not cultivated on a larger scale. 

 ^n accompanying picture shows one of 

 the trees In the plantation which calip- 

 ers thirty inches at breast-height. 



