1326 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



and for miscellaneous wood work purposes. It is much 

 stronger and heavier than the native poplar and cotton- 

 wood found in this country. There are two species of 

 Italian poplar. 



It is estimated that there are over 1,000,000 acres of 

 chestnut forests alone, in Italy. It is composed entirely 

 of one species which, in external appearance, resembles 

 the American chestnut, but which seldom grows to such 

 large size. Its greatest utility is in the production of 

 sweet chestnuts of which around 800,000 tons were pro- 

 duced in Italy during the year 1918, and furnished an 



Photograph by Nelson C. Brown 



A LOG YARD IN ONE OF THE FOREST OPERATIONS FOR THE 

 WAR PROGRAM. THIS VIEW WAS TAKEN IN THE UPPER 

 CASF.NTINE VALLEY IN TUSCANY, IN CENTRAL ITALY. NOTH- 

 ING WAS ALLOWED TO WASTE ON THESE CUTTINGS, THE LUM- 

 BER BEING USED FOR BARRACKS, ETC., AND THE SMALL PIECES 

 BEING USED FOR FUELWOOD AND CHARCOAL. EVEN THE 

 LIMBS AND BRANCHES WERE USED FOR TRENCH FACING AND 

 CAMOUFLAGE PURPOSES AT THE FRONT. 



important part of the Italian food supply. In fact, it 

 may be truthfully said that most of the Italian chestnut 

 is protected and cultivated more for the production of 

 the nuts than for the production of wood. 



The larger size chestnut trees are used for poles, 

 piling, vineyard stakes, barrel staves and miscellaneous 

 lumber purposes. Most of the chestnut forests, however, 

 grow on poor, rocky soil above the vineyards and olive 

 groves, and the individual trees are exceedingly crooked, 

 small and mis-shapen. They are not the kind of tree 

 which lends itself readily to production of good lumber 

 for this reason. 



Italian larch (Larix Europea) is found only in the 

 Alps of the north, at a very high elevation. It is only 

 found as a scattered tree in the coniferous forests of the 

 Alps and has never played an important part in the 

 lumber markets owing to its scarcity. Its wood is very 

 highly valued, however, on account of its strong, durable 

 qualities. 



There is a variety of other woods found in the Italian 

 forests, and only one is of any commercial importance, 

 namely, walnut (Juglans regia). This tree is found 

 growing here and there with other kinds of hardwoods. 



It is very highly prized as it is a wood of excellent quali- 

 ties for use in cabinet, high-grade furniture and flooring 

 work. It is even exported to South America where it is 

 held in great demand. It is also used for wood carving, 

 inlaid work, paneling and interior finish. 



Other woods are alder, cypress, elm, mulberry, maple, 

 birch, ash and eucalyptus. 



Italy is one of the most important lumber importing 

 nations in Europe. It annually brings in about 1,000,000,- 

 000 board feet, valued at over $35,000,000 to make up the 

 deficiency of its local supply. During the war this normal 

 importation was practically shut off, and the native for- 

 ests were depended upon to supply a large share of not 

 only the normal demand, but for the requirements of 

 the war program, which were exceedingly large in Italy. 

 As a result of this situation, the Italian forests have 

 been very heavily depleted, and whereas they supplied 

 nearly half of the total amount of lumber and forest 



Photograph by courtesy of the Italian General Headquarters 



AN OLD ROMAN MOSAIC UNCOVERED IN DIGGING TRENCHES 

 ALONG THE ITALIAN FRONT IN THE JULIAN ALPS. IT WAS 

 PROBABLY PLACED HERE ABOUT 2000 YEARS AGO TO MARK THE 

 BOUNDARIES OF ONE OF THE ROMAN PROVINCES OF THAI- 

 TIME. ROMAN COINS HAVE ALSO BEEN FOUND IN PREPARING 

 TRENCHES ALONG THE FRONT LINES 



products required in the country before the war, it is 

 estimated that the local production will play only an 

 insignificant part in the future. 



First, the spruce and silver fir adjoining the battle- 

 front were cut off, and then the oak, beech and chestnut 

 forests of the northern provinces of Lombardy, Venetia 

 and Piedmont. This was done chiefly to save trans- 

 portation to the front because the Italian railways were 

 very heavily loaded by the necessities of the war pro- 

 gram. They were called upon not only to send troops, 

 ammunition and other supplies to the men at the front, 

 but they were also used for the transporting of English 



