114 THE FORESTS OF FINLAND 



similar soils in other parts of the country mixed woods 

 probably existed, containing in the centre and south, 

 amongst other species, the maple, ash, elms, lime, 

 etc. The water-courses were bounded by meadows 

 and fringed with narrow belts of birch and alder. 



This period was followed by the drying-up of the 

 lakes and the flooding of the forest soil by water which 

 gave rise to vast marshes. The peat areas grew 

 stunted pines, the swampy ones spruce or birch, or, in 

 places in the south, the glutinous alder. Man has 

 since then considerably modified the nature of the 

 forests, the marked transition following the period at 

 which he settled down on the soil in organised com- 

 munities. Fire played an important part in the change. 

 There are probably few of the afforested areas in Fin- 

 land which at one time or other have not been ravaged 

 by fire. For example, fires destroyed either wholly or 

 partially 160,752, 135,557, and 168,905 acres of State 

 forest in 1868, 1883, and 1894 respectively. These 

 fires have considerably altered the distribution of the 

 pine and spruce. The former, having a thick bark and 

 deep-going roots, is easier able to resist fire than the 

 thin-barked, shallow-rooted spruce. Also the young 

 pines suffered less from frost and drought, and were 

 thus able to occupy, with greater ease, the burnt, ex- 

 posed and dried-up areas. The more often fire passed 

 over an area the quicker was the disappearance of the 

 spruce from the locality, the species only remaining 

 in deep damp hollows into which the fire could not pene- 

 trate. In areas which suffered in this way in the past, 

 the drier sandy soils are now occupied by forests of pure 

 pine, the more fertile soils being covered with birch. 



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