American Forestry 



VOL. XXI 



JULY, 1915 



No. 7 



FORESTS IN THE RUSSIAN 

 WAR ZONE 



By Stanley Washburn 

 Chief War Correspondent of the London Times in Russia 



[Mr. Washburn wrote this article for American Forestry at the request of Mr. Charles 

 Lathrop Pack, a director of the American Forestry Association and a close friend of the famous 

 writer. Mr. Washburn's opinion is that the damage to forests in the war zone is not serious 

 and that the number of trees destroyed by shell fire, cut down for trenches and otherwise used 

 is but a small percentage of the standing timber. Editor's Note.] 



I 



N THE first place it is difficult for 

 me to write of forest conditions in a 

 way that can be of any value to the 

 readers of a forestry magazine, as 

 I have none of the knowledge of a 

 forester. The use of the forests has 

 appealed to me only from its military 

 side, and I am afraid that I can give 

 but meagre information as to the nature 

 of the growth in Poland and none at 

 all of that in East Prussia. 



"From what I have seen over here I 

 am not of the opinion that the forests as 

 a whole have suffered very severely 

 save in isolated patches. 



"The one thing, however, that has 

 grieved me to see has been the destruc- 

 tion of beautiful avenues of trees in 

 many different quarters. Poland as 

 well as parts of Galicia has a fair 

 number of main arteries of travel in 

 the shape of roads. Nearly all of these 

 are flanked by beautiful trees. I do not 

 know exactly what they are but to 

 me they resemble poplars. Some of 

 them are 2 feet and better in diameter 

 at the butt and from 60 to 75 feet in 

 height. Some of these avenues strike 

 one as almost as impressive as the 

 avenue of cryptomeria at Nikko, Japan 

 (the Nikaido). They look as though 

 they had been standing for centuries. 

 In many places where fighting has 

 taken place these beautiful trees have 

 been cut out at the very butt to give a 



field of fire. The main road running 

 from Warsaw to Sochaczew and Lo- 

 wiecz is such as I describe. I passed 

 up and down this unusual highway 

 many times in the early days of the 

 Great War and never failed to admire 

 its beauty. 



"When the second invasion of Poland 

 took place and the Blonie line was 

 being fortified these lovely trees all 

 came down for miles to clear the field 

 of fire for both artillery, machine-gun 

 and rifle fire. But when one considers 

 that all huts and dwellings within the 

 zone of fire must as a military necessity 

 be leveled, of course the trees are 

 accepted as a loss which must follow as 

 a matter of course. The roads running 

 through Brody toward Lwow, or as it 

 is known in America, Lemburg, were 

 similarly flanked with trees, whose 

 huge columns now lie in the ditches 

 along side the way. 



"Poland, as you know, is well patched 

 with timber, mostly spruce and fir. 

 I should say though, with my duties as 

 a War Correspondent ever uppermost, 

 I have always been preoccupied to 

 such an extent that I have never looked 

 at the woods from any point of view 

 than that of estimating its value as 

 cover. The groves that flank, some- 

 times on both sides, the Bazura-Rawka 

 position west of Warsaw have been of 

 excellent service to us. Where possible 



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