(JaiKidian Foicstri/ Journal, Fihrudit/. 1U17 



967 





Careful of Forests in Vi^ar Areas 



A unique descriplion of the effect 

 of war on the forests of Poland is 

 contained in a letter written by Dr. 

 G. A. Schenck, for sixteen years the 

 director of Biltmore Forest School, 

 Biltmore, N. Carolina, U.S.A., and 

 wounded some months ago while 

 fighting in the German Army. 



Due allowance will be made by the 

 reader for Dr. Schenck's unctiousness 

 in describing lands and peoples, tram- 

 pled under the Prussian invader, with 

 the solemn piety of an annual chari- 

 ties report. The description is taken 

 from a letter written to Prof. J. S. 

 Illick, and pubhshed i n "Forest 

 Leaves." 



In Poland. 



1, "Poland. — I have seen only that 

 part of Poland, during a stay or 

 rather a meandering of 5 months, 

 which lies south of Lodz — where I 

 was wounded quite unnecessarily. 

 The woods and forests belong to the 

 landed aristocracy and to the crown — 

 in this case the Czar. The poor farm- 

 ers have never had a show. It is 

 amazing to think that the poor were 

 formerly compelled to go begging for 

 fuel with gigantic forests lying at 

 their doors and the timber and wood 

 therein going to waste. Those poor 

 fellows were never allowed to gather 

 even the decaying stuff. I tell you, 

 if the land policy, from a national 

 point of view, has been wrong in the 

 good United States of America, then 

 it certainly has been infernally and 

 cursedly wrong in Poland. All these 

 forests are now placed in charge of 

 German foresters who have been tak- 

 en from their jobs at home. No 

 timber or wood is being cut without 

 being previously marked. Fire pa- 

 trols are maintained during the hot 

 season. Industries, such as sawmills, 

 paper mills, tannic acid factories, and 

 naval store establishments, are being 

 developed. Never have the woods 

 been handled better than they are now. 



II. "Belgium. — There are prac- 

 tically no forests in Belgium, except- 



ing that gorgeous stretch near Brus- 

 sels. The wooded areas in the Ar- 

 dennes are "woodlands" or, in a few 

 cases, park of the wealthy e. g., that 

 of Sir William Schlich. The rest is 

 scrubby stuff, so conspicuous in the 

 sandy plains of Flanders and the 

 province of Limburg. There is no- 

 thing I should like to own in the pro- 

 vince of Brabant, Hainan t, and Liege. 

 Such were the conditions before the 

 war. All that the Germans have 

 done, has been to insist th^t the 

 woods do not suffer from fire. I have 

 been active along this line myself. 

 There is no such thing as reckless 

 cutting In] the Germans. Wherever 

 the woodlands have been laid low by 

 the armies of both sides, it was done 

 to build trenches, log houses, and 

 above all to gain a free sight for the 

 guns. A few fine aVenues of trees 

 had to come down, but upon my best 

 knowledge and true belief less than 

 3 per cent, of all the avenues were 

 thus ruined. To speak of wholesale 

 destruction of fine woodlands by 

 reckless soldiers, is in the case of 

 Belgium absurd, because they did 

 not exist before the war, excepting 

 the famous ones at Brussels, which 

 stand as beautiful to-day as they 

 ever did. 



No Devastation. 



III. "Occupied Part of France. — 

 I have no personal knowledge of this 

 part of the war zones, for I have not 

 been there. My informants are my 

 relatives who have been fighting there 

 and forest ranger Pfeifer, of Linden- 

 fels, whom you may remember. They 

 tell me that there is a committee on 

 economic questions with each army 

 corps. A forest officer of rank is a 

 member of each committee. He is 

 assisted by forest rangers taken from 

 the ranks. Not a tree is cut without 

 being marked, except those cut by 

 shells. Whenever a battalion wants 

 wood for fuel, charcoal or building 

 purposes a forest ranger is sent out 

 to mark the trees. Naturally, no 



