THE SIHLWALD 



An Example 



By BARRINGTON MOORE, M. F. 



CHE first stage of the forestry movement in the United States has been char- 

 acterized chiefly by efliorts toward preventing forest destruction. A cam- 

 paign was waged with such fierceness that there was danger of forgetting 

 what forestry means to substitute for destruction. The following article is a 

 single example of what forestry accomplishes, perhaps not for many years in the 

 United States, but in a part of Europe where it has long been recognized and 

 where most conditions are favorable. 



In Switzerland less than twenty miles from Zurich lies the Sihlwald. This 

 forest is on a river, the Sihl, which flows into Lake Constance; it belongs to 

 the city of Ziirich which itself controls the entire management. This forest 

 has only approximately 2,5G0 acres, small as compared with forests in the 

 United States, but of considerable importance. 



The first cutting in this forest was in 1250, over 700 years ago. There was 

 then no forest management, but a crude regulation, because cutting has been 

 on the same rotation (period of years between the formation of a piece of 

 forest and the time it is cut) ever since. The first actual management of the 

 forest dates from 1802, and the first working plan was not made until 184:5, 

 Therefore, if we in the United States, where the word forestry less than ten 

 years ago meant nothing, have as yet almost no working plans, we need not be 

 discouraged. 



The climate of the region is very much like that of northern New England, 

 only slightly colder; the chief controlling factor, precipitation, is about the 

 same, approximately 5G inches; heavy snows, causing considerable damage 

 in the forest have been known as early as September 28th and as late as 

 May 23rd. 



The forest is composed chiefly of beech : This species forms 70 per cent 

 of the total stand ; ash and maple (three kinds of maple) form 15 per cent ; and 

 the remainder is made up of conifers, chiefly spruce, with some silver fir, larch 

 and a little Scotch pine. The rock is a soft brown sandstone, largely decom- 

 posed, and covered with many glacial moraines and gravels. The soil is sandy 

 with enough clay to i>revent too great porosity, and with abundant moisture. 



The management of this forest will be of great interest to all who know or 

 care anything about forestry, whether technically trained or not. In the 

 first place there is an excellent topographic map on a scale of 1 in 2,000, or 

 approximately 6I/2 inches to the mile, large enough to include an abundance 

 of valuable detail; with a contour interval of two meters (about 0i/4 feet); 

 the important forest types ; and also tlie working circles and compartments. 



A working circle, as everybody knows, is a part of any forest tributary 

 to a certain market, and from which a sustained yield of timber is obtained. 

 Part of the working circle is cut each year until the whole has been covered; 

 by the time the last part has been utilized the first part is ready to be cut again. 



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