VALLOMBROSA FOREST IN ITALY 



653 



urgent it was even used in 

 the green state. 



It is estimated that the 

 cost for sawing silver fir 

 before the war was be- 

 tween 70 cents and $1.00 

 per cubic meter, whereas it 

 was considerably higher 

 during 1918. The sawing 

 costs, however, were kept 

 down on account of the 

 mill running to full capacity 

 nearly every day and com- 

 plete utilization of the 

 product was possible. 



As noted above, the fir 

 lumber was used for bar- 

 racks and general war pur- 

 poses. The best clear stock 

 of beech was used for air- 

 plane propellers and for 

 cars, the remainder being 

 used by the navy and for 

 trench timber, railway and 

 artillery purposes, etc. 



The lumber product from 

 this forest was transported by motor truck to Pontas- 

 sieve, the closest point on the railway about twelve miles 

 distant. Six cubic meters of fir or approximately 2,500 

 board feet were considered a load whereas only four 

 cubic meters of beech or 

 1700 board feet of this 

 heavier wood was trans- 

 ported in each load. Two 

 round trips were made per 

 day in the winter time and 

 three during the summer 

 when the roads were in 

 better condition. 



The consumption of 

 charcoal in Italy has always 

 been very heavy because of 

 its almost universal use for 

 domestic purposes, both for 

 cooking and heating. At 

 ' Vallombrosa a large quan- 

 tity had always been 

 made, even in the time 

 of the monks during 

 the Middle Ages. Prior to 

 the war, this forest alone 

 produced annually about 

 220,000 pounds of char- 

 coal. This forest had al- 

 ways contained a great deal 

 of beech, and up to recent 

 years the only method of 

 utilizing this wood was by 

 means of converting it into 



SILVER FIR FOREST IN ITALY 



A view over the silver fir forests of Vallombrosa showing the areas of 

 mature forests cut clear for war purposes and the little settlement 

 near the Monastery in the distance. As a summer resort this is a 

 favorite vacation place for the diplomatic corps and government 

 officials from Rome. From the cool forests one can look 2,000 feet 

 below in elevation to the hot, dry valley of the Arno, with its pic- 

 turesque vineyards, olive groves and cypress-dotted hills about Florence. 



A TWELFTH CENTURY TOWER 



The picturesque old bell tower of the Monastery at Vallombrosa. One 

 of the most pleasing and attractive features of the little woodland 

 settlement at Vallombrosa was the periodic ringing of the Monastery 

 bells. This is the oldest part of the Monastery, which was built 

 in the Twelfth Century 



charcoal, thus reducing this 

 wood in weight so that 

 cheap transportation to 

 market was permissible. 

 The principal centers of 

 consumption were at Flor- 

 ence, Pontassieve and many 

 cities in the thickly settled 

 lower valley of the Arno. 

 The best wood for char- 

 coal in Italy is beech on 

 account of its density, but 

 during the war limbwood, 

 stumps and defective pieces 

 of fir, chestnut and pine 

 were used as well in spite 

 of the fact that they were 

 considered much inferior. 

 The process of making 

 charcoal consists of cutting 

 the wood into small' sizes 

 by splitting. The best size 

 was considered to be one 

 meter or about three and 

 one-third feet long and 

 pieces from two to three 

 inches in diameter. It was seldom possible to have all 

 the sizes of this shape inasmuch as tops, limbwood, 

 chunks of stumps, slabs, and edgings constituted a large 

 share of the material. A level round space about 60 



feet in diameter is cleared 

 and the pieces are built up 

 in the form of an obtuse 

 cone. No standard sizes of 

 piles were used, although 

 the usual size consisted of a 

 quantity of forty cubic 

 meters or forty sters. Over 

 the pile is placed earth and 

 sod to prevent too rapid 

 combustion, and the pile is 

 lighted from the outside, a 

 chimney being left at the 

 top in the center to form 

 a draft. The reduction of 

 the wood to charcoal form 

 requires about a week, but 

 this varies considerably de- 

 pending upon the amount 

 of wood, its size and dry- 

 ness and the state of the 

 weather. When the wood 

 is of average dryness the 

 resultant charcoal consists 

 of only about 20 per cent 

 of the original weight of 

 the wood and only about 

 one-half of its original 

 size. The charcoal is trans- 



