217] Government Forestry Abrouil. 33 



like the Americans, were confronted by the problem 

 of a concrete forest policy extending over the various 

 states of a common union. The problem has been 

 brilliantly solved, and not the least result of its solu- 

 tion is the fact that the people of Switzerland have 

 recognized the vast significance .of the forests in so 

 mountainous a country, and a full and hearty appre- 

 ciation and support of the forest policy of the Con- 

 federation fills every nook and corner of the land. 



The history of the forest movement in Switzer- 

 land has not yet been fully written, but you will 

 allow me to quote from an unpublished sketch of it 

 by Professor Landolt, who, more than any other man, 

 has contributed to make that history of which he 

 writes. As an example set by a republic to a republic, 

 as the brilliant result of the work of a few devoted 

 men, crowned by a public opinion which they created, 

 and rewarded by the great and lasting blessing which 

 they have brought to their country, I believe that 

 the advocates of forest reform in America can set 

 before themselves no better model and take encour- 

 agement from no worthier source. 



"Soon after the middle of the last century," begins Professor 

 Landolt, "certain intelligent, public spirited men of Zurich and 

 the canton of Bern (which then, included Waadt and a great part of 

 Aargau), turned their attention to the situation of agriculture and 

 forestry in Aargau. Their object was to gain a knowledge of the 

 conditions involved and their surroundings, and to remove the 

 most pressing evils. 



" In the years between 1780 and 1790 the cantons, following the 

 lead of Bern, succeeded in appointing forest officers, whose first task 

 was to become conversant with the actual management of the State 

 and large communal forests, and to make suggestions for their future 

 treatment. Partly at this time, partly earlier, a large proportion of 

 the State and a few communal forests were surveyed and a few of 

 them were marked off into compartments on the ground, a measure 

 of vital importance to conservative management. 

 3 



