THE LIBRARY. 57 



the latter made an effort to organise a society to 

 conduce to prosecuting forestal experiments, but did not 

 succeed. In 1868, at a congress of German foresters, held 

 in Vienna, the subject was brought under discussion. A 

 committee was appointed to consider on what plan such 

 forestal experiment stations as were considered desirable 

 should be organised. 'They agreed' says Mr Adolphe 

 Leue, in a paper read before a Convention of the Ohio 

 State Forestry Association, held in Cincinnatti in August, 

 1883 ' On a plan of organisation, and questions to be 

 subjected to investigations and experiments. The report 

 was adopted by the German Foresters' Congress, and 

 submitted to the several Governments, which were to bear 

 all the expenses of these stations. 



' The first station was organised on the 16th April, 1870, 

 at Baden, Saxony, Prussia, Wurtemberg, Austria, Bavaria, 

 Brunswick, and Hesse followed in the order mentioned. 



1 The great aim of these stations is/ he says, c to furnish a 

 scientific foundation forarational management of forest,based 

 upon exact experiments and careful investigation. They are 

 intended to determine the significance of forests in the 

 economy of nature, to try the various methods of forest 

 management, to examine the advantages which one method 

 may have over the other, and, finally, to establish a plan 

 of forest administration, which will enable the owners of 

 forests to realise the greatest possible profit from forests, 

 and at the same time reduce the expenses of their 

 administration. 



' Among the many problems to be solved through the 

 agency of these stations, are the following : to determine 

 the influence of forests upon soil and climate ; to investi- 

 gate the relative value of the several methods of thinning ; 

 to establish reliable tables of increase, and methods of 

 valuing forests ; to study the foes of the forest, both animal 

 and vegetable, and to devise means of successfully com- 



