studies are mostly of a practical character, and include forest 

 accounting, ditching, loggers' camp construction and other 

 co-related subjects. The school maintains a nursery as well 

 as an experimental plot. It also operates an extensive plant 

 for the extraction of seeds from tree cones. It buys the cones 

 in large quantities from the private forests and other sources 

 and markets the seeds all over the world and derives a large 

 revenue therefrom. 



The work that this school and its fellows are doing in 

 training men for practical work in the forests cannot be over- 

 estimated. In the opinion of the visitors it supplies one of the 

 most important elements in Sweden's progressive forest policy. 



Reforestation as practiced in Sweden and forest fire pro- 

 tection will be treated in future articles. 



ARTICLE No. III. 



HOW SWEDISH FORESTS ARE PROTECTED FROM 

 DEVASTATION BY FIRE 



STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, JUNE 15. Devastating forest fires, 

 common in Canada, are practically unknown in Sweden. 

 There are no vast stretches of burnt-over lands such as offend 

 the eyes of the traveller along the north shores of Lake Su- 

 perior and that represent the complete waste of untold millions 

 of potential wealth. It was not always so. There are evi- 

 dences that most of Sweden's forest areas have been burned 

 over at some time in their history, and most of what has not 

 been burned has been logged. Few virgin forests remain. 

 Those that do are highly prized and well cared for. A visit 

 to one of the best of these, under the guidance of Mr. Hol- 

 gren, chief of the Government Forest Service, and head of 

 the Colonization Board, near Fagelsjo in the Norrlands dis- 

 trict, disclosed a fine stand of spruce and pine about three 

 hundred years old, which was said to be one of the oldest 

 and best in the country. 



Swedish forests are, however, not entirely immune to fire, 

 but fire hazards and losses have been reduced to a minimum. 

 A Swedish forest authority estimates that the wood lost by 

 fire does not exceed one-half of one per cent, of the standing 

 timber in any one year. In money value this has been cal- 

 culated at $250,000 a year for the whole of Sweden, and in 



