1-0 ACr.iCULTURE OX THE RHINE. 



their woods have for centuries been managed in a peculiar 

 manner, very well suited to the wants of miners, founders, 

 and steel-manufacturers. The chief source of wealth for 

 the country lies in the sparry iron ore which abounds 

 about Siegen. The system of foresting practised at 

 Sicgen is founded upon the principle of obtaining the 

 greatest possible yield of wood suited for charcoal-burn- 

 ing, combined with the best crop of bark, an article 

 that latterly has very much improved in price. It is 

 well known that of late years the greatest production 

 both of charcoal and of bark for tanning has been as- 

 certained to be derived from young trees and branches, 

 and the forest system of Siegen turns both to the best 

 account. 



The woods lie everywhere on the hills, which are 

 steep and often rise to the height of 1000 feet above the 

 Sieg, being intersected with narrow valleys and glens, 

 to which the Sieg serves as a drain. A large portion of 

 the wood-land between Altenkirchen and Wissen belongs 

 to the crown, and on these tracts timber is more fre- 

 quently found than in the woods situated between Wissen 

 and Siegen, and which are the property of parishes, or of 

 companies formed by individuals. The system of culti- 

 vation adopted is a roiation of sixteen, eighteen, or twenty 

 years, the brushwood having at that age attained its best 

 size and strength for charcoal, and, when the stock is 

 oak, the bark yielding at those periods its greatest profit. 

 The woods of this last-named description form a curious 

 illustration of the spirit of association, which is a charac- 

 teristic trait in the German character, united with all the 

 peculiarities that spring from the kind of education which 

 the peasant works out for himself in the spirit of mistrust 



