1322 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



BARRACKS OF THE ITALIAN TROOPS ON A PROTECTED SLOPE 

 IMMEDIATELY BACK OF THE FRONT "SOMEWHERE" IN THE 

 ITALIAN ALPS. NOTE THE TELIFERRICO USED TO BRING UP 

 SUPPLIES AND TAKE DOWN THE WOUNDED. 



most highly developed lumber manufacturing industry, as 

 compared with similar features in Italy. 



Forestry in Italy may be described as a direct reflec- 

 tion of her political and economic history. It must be 

 remembered that Italy, although old historically, is young 

 politically, and that until comparatively recent times, 

 she has passed through a rapid succession of political 

 changes which have wrought great havoc not only with 

 her forests, but her industrial and economic development 

 as well. Italy is often regarded in this country as a land 

 of old historical associations, of interesting old Roman 

 ruins, the land of poetry, painting and the opera — a sort 

 of "dream land" which annually attracts its large quota 

 of tourist travel. This impression is quite a natural 

 one, but Italy is much more than is most often associated 

 with it. The war has greatly unified and strengthened 

 the nation, and with the development of her important 

 water power properties and the conversion of her great 

 munition plants to peace-time activities, her industrial 

 future is well assured in spite of the lack of such import- 



ant fundamentals for development as coal and iron 

 resources. 



For many centuries and until the year 1870, Italy was 

 under Austrian and Spanish rule or was largely made of 

 small individual kingdoms, principalities and papal states, 

 which were highly jealous of each other. As a result 

 of these long continued and seriously disturbed condi- 

 tions, forestry has suffered severely. Early Roman 

 records show that the practice of forestry was considered, 

 and even adopted in some of its primitive forms, in the 

 days of the old Roman Republic as written records of 

 Pliny and Horace give evidence to posterity. Although 

 one is impressed with the small size of trees, and the 

 unsatisfactory condition of a large portion of the Italian 

 forests, there are many evidences still extant which bear 

 witness to the fact that the country was, at one time, well 

 forested. The Italian peninsula is essentially a mountain- 

 ous section, and the greater part of the entire Apennine 

 Range was once well covered with beautiful forests. 

 For example, in such splendid old structures as the 

 Palazzo Vecchia in Florence, there are many large beams 

 up to 16 x 16 inches in cross-section, and some even as 

 large as 20 x 24 inches, and from 50 to 70 feet in length, 

 which have been in constant service for practically a 

 thousand years. 



With the establishment of the present unified Italian 

 Kingdom in 1870, forestry in Italy received considerable 

 attention from the government authorities, but there were 

 many difficulties and drawbacks in the way of govern- 

 mental control, and the better handling of the forest re- 

 sources. In the first place, the government was embar- 

 rassed with the lack of sufficient available funds, and 

 most of the forests had been so heavily cut over and 

 burned that there was a scant remnant of the original 

 forest cover. Then too, the old practice of cutting the 

 young and growing forests for charcoal had a most 



Photograph by Nelson C. Brown 



THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT IN- 

 SPECTOR AT ABETONE IN THE FOREST OF BOSCULUNGO. THE 

 FOREST INSPECTOR HAS HIS HOME HERE, AS WELL AS OFFICE. 

 THIS IS A FAVORITE RESORT OF THE ITALIANS DURING THE 

 HOT DRY SUMMERS. 



