Forest Conditions. 329 



"Where in olden times dense shady poplars stood, 

 now only infertile sand and dreary rock waste remain." 



The forest in northern and middle Greece is con- 

 fined to the two rugged mountain ranges with numer- 

 ous spurs which run parallel, north and south, with 

 Mt. Olympus (nearly 9,000 feet) and Mt. Pindus 

 (6,000 feet) the highest elevations. The large fertile 

 plains of Thessaly and Boeotia are forestless. So is 

 the large Arcadian plateau of the Peloponnesus, and 

 the other smaller, hot but fertile plains and plateaus. 

 The most valuable conifer forest is found on the higher 

 ranges between the 2,500 and 5,000 foot level, below 

 the snow-clad mountain tops, where especially two 

 species of fir, Abies Apollinis and Abies regince Amaliae 

 (a species remarkable for its sprouting habit), with 

 other firs and several species of Juniperus and Cu- 

 pressus, form sometimes extensive forests. Other 

 common trees are chestnut, sycamore, several species 

 of oak and poplar, and, on the coast, Pinus halepensis. 



The firs occupy about 35 per cent, of the forest area, 

 oaks and deciduous forest 45 per cent. Among the 

 forest products which are exported, we find galls, 

 vermillion and sumach prominent. 



It is believed that Greece in ancient times was more 

 fertile than it is now, and that the deterioration is 

 due to deforestation. Undoubtedly soil conditions 

 favored such deterioration, for, with the exception of 

 the Pindus range, which is composed of metamorphic 



Dr. Chloros, Waldverhaltnisse Griechenlands. Thesis for the Doctorate at 

 Munich. 1884. 45 pp. 



Anderlind, Mittheilung-en liber die Waldverhaltnisse Griechenlands. Allge- 

 meine Forst-und Jagdzeitung-. 1884. 



