626 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE PRIOR OF THE HERMITAGE 



Eremo di Carnaldoli, Don Basilio Casadei, at the gateway of 

 the ancient home of the Romualdensian order of Benedictine 

 monks, far up in the silver fir forests along the crest of the 

 Apennine Mountains of Tuscany, in Central Italy. 



carried their precepts of forest culture as well as their 

 religion. 



At the present time the Forest of CamaldoH, embracing 

 the old Hermitage and its ancient forest, is one of the 

 State Forests and consists of about 3,750 acres. Aside 

 from the forest inspector in charge, there are six forest 

 guards, two forest brigadiers or rangers, and generally 

 about 200 workmen employed, on the nursery of 25 acres, 

 in reforestation work, in road, bridge and trail improve- 

 ment and construction work, cutting in the woods and 

 in activities about the primitive old sawmill. During war 

 time many more men were employed in getting out logs 

 and timbers. 



An annual appropriation of 70,000 lire ($14,000) was 

 made for the support and maintenance of the forest be- 

 fore the war. The returns were about 170,000 lire 

 annually (about $34,000), or a net annual profit of about 

 $20.(XX) for the entire forest. 'The forester in charge 

 explained that for the major portion of the forest a net 

 yearly return of about 70 to 80 lire per hectare was ob- 

 tained before the war. This was equivalent to about $5.60 

 to $6.40 per acre per annum, which is a better financial 

 income than the returns .shown for the best French, Ger- 

 rnan or Swiss forests. 



The silver fir stands at about 1(X) years of age, pro 

 (luce from 5(X) to 800 cubic meters of wood per hectare, 

 while the beech is usually cut at 25 years of age and 

 yields 150 cubic meters per hectare. When left to a max 

 imum age of 90 years the beech will yield uj) to 450-500 

 cubic meters per hectare. Before the war, silver fii 

 stumpage was worth about 25 lire (about $5.(X)) per 

 cubic meter, under average conditions; during 1918 ii 

 was worth 130 lire (about $26.(X)). IJeech brought Ih 

 lire then, now it is worth 60 lire per cubic meter. 



The beech is tised almost entirely for charcoal, because 

 when converted into the lighter form it can be transported 

 to market so much easier. In marking trees to be cut for 

 charcoal, the Government foresters leave about 100 trees 

 per hectare (2^ acres) for natural seeding purposes. 

 Before the war, contractors paid 5 lire for wood enough 

 to make one quintal (220 pounds) of charcoal, whereas 

 in 1918 it was 12 lire for the same amount. In one year 

 750 tons of charcoal were made from this forest alone. 



The chestnut crop was an important item in the returns 

 of the forest, an unusual figure to an American forester, 

 a total of 4,000 lire (about $800) being received annually 

 from this source alone. In Italy several hundred thou- 



( 



ART IN WALNUT CARVING 



The old oratory in the chapel, carved several centuries ago, in 

 Italian walnut and still in an excellent state of preservation. 

 It is one of the finest of the old Tuscan wood carvings. 



