FOREST LOSSES ON THE ITALIAN FRONT 



1325 



cut off at an early age, for the making of charcoal which 

 is in heavy demand in Italy. 



The demand for charcoal is probably the greatest 

 single factor preventing better forestry in Italy. Sprout 

 forests of only from fifteen to thirty years of age are 

 frequently cut off for charcoal, and the trees are seldom 

 permitted to grow large enough to yield lumber. 



Silver fir and Norway spruce are, next to oak, the 

 most important producers of lumber and forest products 

 in Italy. There are a few fir forests in Calabria, in the 

 toe of Southern Italy, which have been so remote from 

 transportation facilities that the cost of cutting and 

 transporting them to market was greater than the cost 

 of importing lumber from foreign sources. The silver 

 fir and spruce forests are restricted to the higher eleva- 

 tions of the Apennine Mountains and the Alps, bordering 

 Switzerland and Austria. Although restricted in area, 

 these forests grow to such splendid height and size, and 

 so densely, that they are the most important forests from 

 the viewpoint of lumber production in all Italy. Some 

 of the most dense and heavily timbered forests in all 



iraph by Xvlson C, Brown 



A HAPPY, SATISFIED, WELL-FED HUNGARIAN PRISONER WORK- 

 IN!; ON ONE OF THE ITALIAN STATE FORESTS HIGH IT IN THE 

 ALPINE MOUNTAINS OF TUSCANY. 



Europe may be found at an elevation of about 2,000 feet 

 at Boscolungo, Valombrosa and Mandrioli. The spruce 

 is the same tree (Picea excelsa) which is so important 

 in lumber production in Sweden, Finland and Northern 

 Russia, and which is widely sold in the English lumber 

 market under the name of white wood. In general 

 characteristics and properties, it very closely resembles 

 the Adirondack or Canada spruce. It has been widely 

 planted in this country for both commercial planting and 

 for decorative purposes. The silver fir is very similar 

 to the balsam fir in the Northeast, but it grows to a very 

 much larger size. Its scientific name is Abies pectinata. 

 All of the trees found growing in Italy which have 



similar names to those used in this country, are of the 

 same botanical family, but they all differ somewhat in 

 the character of the wood, nature of the leaves, fruit 

 and bark. 



There are five varieties of the pine family in Italy. 

 They are found growing chiefly along the shore lines of 

 the peninsula. They are a particular feature of the 

 Italian Riviera where they lend a most pleasing aspect to 

 the already attractive landscape. All of these pines are 

 very similar in general appearance, and seldom attain a 

 height of over sixty feet or twenty-two inches in 



Photograph by Nelson C. Brown 



FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR 

 OF THE FOREST OF BOSCOLUNGO. MR MARTI NETTI OF FLOR- 

 ENCE, MR. CAMILLO PAR1SINI. CHIEF ENGINEER OF FOREST 

 CUTTINGS FOR THE ITALIAN ARMY, AND l'ROF. GIUSEPPE Dl 

 TELLA OF THE ROYAL FORESTRY COLLEGE AT FLORENCE. 



diameter. They yield a soft, light and workable wood 

 which is rather inferior on account of large knots and 

 other defects. They are commonly referred to as "um- 

 brella" or stone pines. Oftentimes the lower branches are 

 trimmed up leaving a short but broad crown which 

 gives the effect of an umbrella. One of these pines is 

 the same Scotch pine, or redwood as it is called in the 

 English lumber market (Pinus sylvestris) which is one 

 of the most important lumber producing trees of Europe, 

 and is exported in large quantities from Norway, Sweden, 

 Finland and Russia: Another is the well-known Cembran 

 pine which is held in very high esteem for wood carvings 

 of all kinds, and more especially for the world famous 

 Florentine frames and woodwork so much of which is 

 made and exported from Tuscany in Central Italy. 



Next to the pines, the Italian beech (Fagus sylvatica) 

 is the most important wood produced in Italy. It is a 

 favorite wood used for making charcoal. It is also used 

 for boxing and crating stock, flooring and for fuel wood. 

 In general appearance, it resembles very closely the beech 

 found in this country, but it grows much smaller and is 

 more defective than the beech found in our native for- 

 ests of Wisconsin and Michigan. 



The Italian poplar is regarded very highly, especially 

 for the purposes of making interior frames of airplanes 



