FORESTRY COMMISSIONER. 95 



more heavily from drying, from weeds and from increase 

 of injurious insects. 



Experiments of cultivating and acclimating foreign 

 species of trees, for instance Douglas fir, red oak, Japan- 

 ese and Siberian larch, etc., etc., have been so far not 

 discouraging. Common acacia, Canadian poplar and 

 white pine are well naturalized. The culture of Douglas 

 fir is increasing from year to year. 



The needed plants are raised in forest nurseries, kept 

 under the care of the local forest rangers. Should the 

 stock not be sufficient, the supply is to be furnished by 

 responsible private nurseries. 



The comparatively large areas covered by oak-coppice 

 forest, for obtaining the formerly high priced tanning 

 bark, is decreasing from year to year. The introduction 

 of substitutes for tanning bark has reduced the price of 

 oak-bark to that degree that the working up of it by the 

 present high wages is hardly advisable. 



In the southern part of the Odenwald mountains, on 

 the warm, dry and steep slopes of the Neckar valley, 

 where the oak-coppice forest is to be found to a large ex- 

 tent a section of the country of comparatively poor soil 

 for agriculture rye and buckwheat are raised for a few 

 years after coppicing the oak. For that purpose the 

 bark and the salable wood being removed and the twigs 

 scattered about, the tract is burned over and the seed 

 grain hoed into the ground. As soon as the sprouts of 

 the oak-stumps have attained the length of a few feet, 

 agricultural use of the ground is given up. 



On account of the decline of the price for oak-bark, 

 blanks in oak-coppice forests are no longer filled by oak 

 plants, but in the main by Scotch pine plants. In this 

 way the change of the oak-coppice forest into pine forest 



