Canadian Foreslrij Journal, Janiiari/, J 91 7 



91 9 



FORESTS IN ITALIAN AND BALKAN 



WAR ZONES 



A Graphic and Detailed Picture of Forest Conditions 

 Where Armies Meet for Battle. 



Bij Prof. J. S. Illick 



The forests of the Mediterranean 

 peninsulas, viz: The Iberian, com- 

 prising Spain and Portugal; the 

 Italian, including Italy and a few 

 adjoining provinces of Austria; and 

 the Balkan, consisting of Servia, 

 Roumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, 

 Montenegro, European Turkey, and a 

 few of the southern provinces of 

 Austria have never been favored 

 naturally nor biologically. Nature 

 did not produce there, as in America, 

 vast and dense forests of valuable 

 species. The original forest was, as 

 a rule, only mediocre in density and 

 composition. Furthermore, man and 

 a score of other destructive agencies, 

 particularly goats, have been abusing 

 the forests ever since they have been 

 opened up to such an extent that 

 today one finds in the countries about 

 the Mediterranean some of the poorest 

 forests of continental Europe. They 

 stand in strong contrast with the 

 forests of Belgium, northern France, 

 eastern Prussia, western Russia, and 

 Galicia. 



In 1911 the writer had the privilege 

 of accompanying Prof. Gustav Hegi, 

 of the University of Munich, on a 

 botanical and dendrological study- 

 tour through a portion of the country 

 now occupied by the contending arm- 

 ies in the southeastern theatre of the 

 war. A considerable portion of the 

 trip was made afoot through rather 

 remote regions. This enabled the 

 participants to observe the forests 

 and other allied rural conditions at 

 close range. It would not be possible 

 to discuss within the space of a short 

 article the forest conditions found on 



the three Mediterranean peninsulas, 

 nor even of the countries comprising 

 the Italian and Balkan peninsulas, 

 most of which are engaged in the 

 present war. Therefore, it seemed 

 advisable to confine the present article 

 to a limited portion with forest con- 

 ditions fairly representative of the 

 whole. The region about the Austro- 

 Italian front has been selected for this 

 purpose. 



Once Forested. 

 The principal provinces which Italy 

 hopes to regain from Austria are 

 Trentino and Gorizia. In them most 

 of the recent battles between the 

 Austrian and Italian troops have 

 been fought. The former province 

 projects into northern Italy in the 

 form of a blunt wedge; the latter 

 borders Italy on the extrem.e north- 

 east above the Gulf of Trieste. These 

 two provinces form the backbone of 

 the 'Ttalia irredenta." History in- 

 forms us that these provinces were 

 originally forested with stands of 

 average density yielding a fair quality 

 of material. But conditions have 

 changed; Today forests are con- 

 spicuous by their absence, not only 

 upon limited areas, but over an 

 enormous territory. Thousands of 

 Italian immigrants have never seen a 

 real forest before coming to America. 

 The forests of their homeland have 

 been destroyed by the conjoint de- 

 structive work and devastating abuse 

 of many agencies. Excepting the 

 steep slopes of the Alps, the more 

 inaccessible tops of the Apennines, a 

 few remote plateaus and scattered 



