NATIONAL ASPECTS OF FORESTRY 7 



remainder of Europe. The western sea-board of France, 

 the British Isles, Flanders, Holland, Schleswig-Holstein, 

 and Denmark are practically the most poorly wooded 

 portions of Europe, and this deficiency was more clearly 

 marked one or two centuries ago than at the present time. 

 In few of the countries comprised in this area did the 

 percentage of forest to total area at that period exceed 

 5 per cent., although artificial plantations during the 

 last century have raised the area considerably in one or 

 two instances. That this low proportion of woodland is, 

 or was, not altogether due to proximity to the ocean is 

 proved by the remains or evidences of old forests in early 

 periods, which were subsequently destroyed in the manner 

 indicated, viz., by dense populations and continuous 

 grazing, subsequently assisted by wind and sand drifts. 

 Exceptions as regards the former cause may be met with 

 here and there, but very few as regards the latter. The 

 two most striking instances, Great Britain and Ireland, 

 which possess less than 5 per cent, of forest, are also 

 the most westerly, and taking their latitude into account, 

 remarkable for their mild winters. 



On the other hand, the most heavily wooded countries in 

 Europe are Northern Russia and Finland, Sweden, and Nor- 

 way in the north, all characterised by long cold winters, and 

 the Balkan States, Bavaria, Austria-Hungary, etc., in the 

 south, possessing large areas of mountain land with similar 

 winter climates. The connection between natural forests and 

 mountains is, however, brought out more clearly when the 

 provinces or districts of a country are examined. In the 

 German Empire, for instance, the Grand Duchy of Baden, 

 kingdoms of Wtirtemberg and Bavaria, Thuringia, etc., 

 have over 30 per cent, of land under forest respectively ; 

 and the larger proportion of the surface in each is occupied 

 by mountains. In Oldenburg, on the other hand, forests 

 cover 10 per cent.; in Hamburg, 4*3 per cent.; and in 



