REFORESTATION OF DENMARK 



which laid its eggs in the caterpillar, 

 and after nine years the pest almost 

 disappeared. 



The experiences and discoveries of 

 the Heath Society have been made fruit- 

 ful also on the Danish Islands, and have 

 been applied in neighboring countries ; 

 in fact, Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, 

 and Finns have all studied and applied 

 the methods developed by the society. 



An interesting experiment has been 

 made in connection with this work by 

 employing in the cultivation of the 

 heath prisoners from the state peniten- 

 tiary for hard labor. About ten years 

 ago. during the summer, a small num- 

 ber of prisoners were taken out to an 

 isolated part of the heath in the middle 

 of Jutland, at a placed called Geclhus, 

 and were there employed in all the va- 

 rious work connected with the prep- 

 aration of the soil and the planting of 

 the trees, under the supervision of two 

 prison officials. Difficulties of various 

 kinds had been anticipated, and many 

 people were strongly opposed to the ex- 

 periment, but it proved a complete suc- 

 cess. Every year an increasing number 

 of prisoners has been employed on the 

 heath. The behavior of the prisoners 

 has been perfect ; they have enjoyed 

 their work, the relative freedom and 

 the life in the open air, and they 



have had the great satisfaction <> 

 seeing the results of their wor 

 growing from year to year. Work o 

 the heath has, in fact, always been con 

 sidered by the prisoners a great privi 

 lege, and is granted only to those wh 

 stand highest in point of behavioi 

 There are now some forty or fifty pris 

 oners employed every summer on th 

 heath, and a considerable amount <: 

 work has already been done this way. 



The foregoing brief and imperfec 

 sketch is a summary of the informs 

 tion aivl impressions obtained by th 

 author during a visit to the Jutlan 

 heath and its plantations last summer 

 it is written for the purpose of dra\A 

 ing the attention of people in the Unite 

 States to the work done and the methoc 

 applied in a country which has alread 

 gone through all the phases ; abundanc 

 of primeval forests, deforestation, an 

 the preservation and planting of forest 



The United States stands at preset 

 in the midst of the second stage, the d< 

 forestation, which is proceeding at a 

 alarming rate ; it may, therefore, t 

 well for people of this country to tur 

 their eyes to Denmark, where, at an 

 rate, the natural difficulties to be ove: 

 come in point of climate and quality ( 

 soil far exceed those confronting tl 

 forester in the United States. 



