FORESTRY COMMISSIONER. 133 



The Confederation itself is not actually the owner of 

 any forests, but some of the separate states are owners. 

 The forest domains are part of the national wealth, and 

 comprise 96,497 acres. There are also in the cantons 

 the forests of the municipalities and of the corporations, 

 comprising 1,414,677 acres. Besides there are private 

 forests comprising 604,014 acres. The total area of for- 

 ests is therefore 2, 1 15, 188 acres, or about 20 per cent of 

 the total area of Switzerland. 



Forests are found everywhere in the high mountains. 

 Forests are found standing at 200 meters above the sea 

 level (in the canton of Tenin) and reach as high as 2, TOO 

 meters in the high mountains. In Grisons (Engadine) they 

 even reach 2,300 meters in altitude. 



The more common varities of trees are among the 

 resinous kinds, the Norway Spruce (Picea excelsa) the 

 Silver Fir (Abies pectinata) the Larch, the Scotch and 

 Mountain pines, the Cimbrian pine; among the decidu- 

 ous kinds, the beech and the chestnut trees; this last 

 kind grows especially in the canton of Tessin. 



The value of forest land varies greatly and depends on 

 the location, the nature of the soil, thickness of the settle- 

 ments, the increase of these settlements and on the trade 

 in timber and other products of the forest. The value of 

 per hectare (2^ acres) may range accordingly from 300 

 francs to 6,000 francs. 



In regard to expenses of administration, a distinction 

 must be made between the expenses incurred by the 

 Confederation and those incurred by the cantons. In 

 1904 the expenses incurred by the Confederation for forest 

 administration amounted to $112,600. 



The following were the net receipts from State Forests 

 in 1903 as to a few cantons: 



Berne, 787,000 francs or 60 francs per hectare of forest. 



Soleure, 3 1 , 500 francs or 38. 3 3 francs per hectare of forest. 



