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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Spanish, "La Escuela Especial de Ingcnieros de Montes," 

 which was established at Villaviciosa de Odon. This 

 school is still in operation, but was moved to San Lorenzo 

 del Escorial in the Guadarrama Mountains, north of 

 Madrid. The credit for the establishment of a well 

 organized forest service, and the creation of a greater 

 interest of both a public and private character in the 

 future of Spanish forests belongs to King Alfonso XII, 

 father of the present King, who reigned from 1873 to 

 1885, and who made forestry his particular avocation. 

 He studied and followed the profession to considerable 

 length when in Austria. He named the technical staff 



CUTTING BRANCHES FOR FUEL 



Trimming limb wood from maritime pine trees on the outskirts of the 

 city of Sarria in the vicinity of Barcelona. Although these trees were 

 not cut, their limbs were almost completely stripped off, so urgent was 

 the demand for fuel wood. Many industries formerly using coal were 

 compelled to resort to fuel wood during the war. 



and personnel to scientifically manage the Spanish forests 

 of Balsain, the ancient hereditary domain belonging to 

 the Spanish crown for the past several centuries. This 

 was located in the extensive pine forests on the north 

 slope of the Guadarrama Mountains, near Segovia one 

 of the few bright spots in a region of brown and barren 

 mountains. The Forest of Balsain is now visited fre- 

 quently by those interested in Spanish forestry practice, 

 and it has more recently become the center of production 

 of some of the very best Spanish timber. During the 

 recent war, the most extensive timber operations in 

 Spain were conducted on this ancient crown forest, and 

 it helped very materially to supply a part of the deficiency 

 of material owing to the lack of imports of forest 

 products during the war. During the year 1918, this 

 forest produced about 700,000 board feet a large opera- 

 tion for Spain, but an extremely small one for this 

 country. 



Forestry in Spain probably follows more along 

 aesthetic lines than that of any other country, a good 

 share of the professional interest being devoted to the 



proper care of and attention to shade trees along the city 

 streets and country highways, as well as the develop- 

 ment and maintenance of beautiful parks, some of which 

 are very famous. Splendid evidence of this phase of 

 Spanish forestry is everywhere present in the excellent 

 care given to the shade trees along the city streets and 

 parkways, particularly in such well known boulevards as 

 the Prado in Madrid, the Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona, 

 and the Paseo and Parkway in Seville. 



Owing to torrential rains common in the high moun- 

 tains and the consequent destruction resulting from 

 erosion, the Spanish forestry officials have also devoted a 

 considerable part of their attention to the erosion prob- 

 lem. As in the Vosges region of France, and in Switz- 

 erland the first efforts have been in the construction of 

 dams to impede the runoff. This is followed in so far 

 as funds are available by reforestation on the mountain 

 slopes most susceptible to erosion. Some excellent re- 

 sults have already been obtained in the Pyrenees 

 Mountains. 



A great deal of attention is also given to fish and 

 game culture along with their forestry practice. This 



TREES STRIPPED OF BRANCHES FOR FUEL 



This illustrates in a forcible way the need for fuel wood in Spain. 

 All of these maritime pine trees have been stripped of their branches 

 nearly to the tops to provide fuel. Spain produces practically no coal 

 and with the importation shut off, prices for fuel wood have risen 

 from 100 per cent to 200 per cent or more above the pre-war price level. 



was initiated in 1886 when the Madrid Government leased 

 the monastery of Piedra and established there the first 

 fish hatchery. 



The Spanish forests consist very largely of pine and 

 oak. These are found chiefly in the Pyrenees and the 

 Cantabrian Range, which is a western continuation of 

 the Pyrenees and which borders closely the northern 

 coast of Spain. In the south, are the highest mountains 

 of the whole country, the Sierra Nevadas, near Granada, 

 which attain an elevation of 11,400 feet, and are snow 

 capped a good portion of the year. On the very highest 



