74 



THE FORESTER. 



Apri i 



growing between the cobble-stones of its 

 streets. En route to Ravenna the train 

 passed through a region of heavy alluvial 

 soil. Peasants were ploughing in the 

 fields with teams of four and six large, 

 white oxen. At certain times this region 

 is infested with fever. 



The town of Ravenna is attractive to 

 those persons who are interested in old 

 cathedrals and church relics, but to others 

 is dull. We hunted in vain for an attrac- 

 tive hotel and were haunted by the valu- 

 able caution of Baedeker that the hotel- 

 keepers of Ravenna bear considerable 

 watching. 



After a great deal of bargaining we 

 were able to secure a wagon drawn by two 

 ponies which were not overfed and were 

 fit only for a very short journey. The 

 road was good and on both sides were rice 

 fields. The natives were \vorking knee- 

 deep in the mud. This is a region of 

 great fertility, but of course, at times 

 visited by fever. After a short drive we 

 crossed the bridge shown in the frontis- 

 piece. The driver pointed out in the dis- 

 tance to the south of us, on the top of a 

 hill, San Marino, the smallest republic in 

 the world. 



At the entrance to the forest there were 

 many donkeys and women loaded with 

 wood. They were waiting their turns to 

 have their burdens weighed. This wood 

 consisted mostly of small limbs and twigs, 

 split stumps and roots. 



Upon entering the forest a short distance 

 we struck a sandy road over which a pair 

 of good horses could have sped at a ten- 

 mile gait but our team was stalled, so we 

 alighted and walked. 



The Stone-pine {Pinus pined) is a tall, 

 picturesque tree with a large parasol-like 

 head. It was planted in very early times 

 in gardens and is always given a very 

 prominent place by artists in classic pic- 

 tures. It is associated with porticoes, pil- 

 lars, fragments of old temples and other 

 historic objects of the Italian landscape. 



The trees are often far apart in this for- 

 est and there are many bare places. Many 

 ponies were browsing on the herbage. 

 Few forests of the world have had as 

 many ups and downs. It is now owned 



by the city of Ravenna and shows th 

 effects of the manv vicissitudes throu<j 



^ o 



which it has passed. The oldest Pine 

 are probably about two hundred years c 

 age. Although of great value in Italv 

 the wood of this Pine is only of a mediur 

 quality. In 1836 Pope Gregory sold thi 

 forest "in a way " to the brotherhood c 

 St. Peter in Rome for 186,170 francs an 

 a yearly donation of three pounds of wa 

 and thirty-two loads of wood, reservin 

 the privilege of using eighteen trees pe 

 annum for building purposes. This wa 

 really however only a sale of privilege 

 which allowed the collection of Pine cones 

 the utilization of dying trees, windfall 

 and the fisheries. It was forbidden t 

 cut a sound tree and it was further speci 

 fied that the wood should be improve 

 owing to its importance as a windbrea 

 against the Sirocco and Bora, and as a safe 

 guard against the fevers of the flats nea 

 Comacchio. The Bora is a blustering dr 

 wind from the Julian Alps blowing acros 

 the Adriatic Sea. The brotherhood c 

 St. Peter farmed out the woods for 957 

 francs, eight loads of wood and thirty-fiv 

 kilograms of hulled Pine seed per annum 

 In addition to this the natives of Ravenn 

 had the continuous right to gather sma! 

 twigs, etc., and to use the woodland fo 

 pasturage. 



The seeds of the Stone-pine are edibl 

 and have the flavor of almonds. Th 

 cones are the largest of native ' Europea 

 conifers and have always been much prize 

 for fuel. The collection of the seeds is a 

 important industry. Women and childre 

 pick the cones from the ground while th 

 men, called " pinajuoli," armed with 

 hatchet fastened to a long willow pol 

 climb the trees. The hatchet is hooke 

 over a lower limb and then, with hand 

 on the pole and feet on the trunk, the 

 clamber hand over hand into the tree 

 After cutting the cones from the tree the 

 descend in the same fashion. 



The cones are piled in heaps near th 

 dwellings of the wood-guards, where the 

 remain until spring time. Then they ar 

 spread on a stone threshing-floor an 

 turned often until the heat of the sun open 

 the cones and the seeds drop out. 



