848 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



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DAVOS, SWITZERLAND, IX SUMMER 



Showing the type of nuinicipal and cantonal forests, some of the former of which produce an annual net profit of as much as $14 an acre, and 

 some of the latter yield as high at $8 an acre, which steady and ever-increasing revenue helps to reduce taxation in Switzerland to a 

 minimum. 



However, only in the eighteenth century was there 

 voiced a general demand for better cultivation and pres- 

 ervation of the forests and in this respect the cantons 

 of Zurich, lierne and Aargau were the leaders, with the 

 others following after a short interval. 



The latest statistics of forestation in Switzerland show 

 that 22. T per cent oi the entire area of Switzerland is 

 covered with forests; '>2A per cent is devoted to agri- 

 culture and pastures and 25.2 per cent is non-productive 

 soil (rivers, lakes, roads, railways, building sites, rocks, 

 glaciers, etc.). 



Of the productive soil in Switzerland, 30.4 per cent 

 i? thus devoted to forests and (i!i.() to agricultural pur- 

 poses. Statistics further show that about 67 per cent 

 of these forests belong to individual villages or cities ; 

 28.5 per cent are private property and 4.5 per cent only 

 pertain to individual cantons. The ownership by canton, 

 village or private ])ersons shmvs a remarkable variation 

 in the case of each canton and we thus find that the 

 cantonal governments of \alais, Ticino, Grisons and Uri 

 possess practically no forests. The biggest percentage of 

 forests owned by villages !)4.3 per cent is however. 

 found in the \alais, and the highest percentage of 

 private-owned forests 7s., s per cent is to be found in 

 the canton of Lucerne. 



The most extensive forest conservation is found in 

 the Jura region of Switzerland, in the cantons of Schaff- 

 hausen, Aargau, Hasel (Land), Solcure, I'.erne, Xeucha- 



tel and \'aud, where as much as (iO per cent of the pro- 

 ductive soil is devoted to forestation. While the high 



A GIANT 



This enormous white willow tree (sails alba) is close to the shore of 

 the Lake of Zurich, Switzerland, at an altitude of about 1*440 feet. 



